Football Falls to Lafayette, 24-10, in Season-Opener
Dolegala throws for 269 yards and a touchdown in home loss
The Central Connecticut football team erased an early deficit to tie the game in the second half before falling, 24-10, to Lafayette in the season-opener on Friday night at Arute Field. The Blue Devils tied the game at 10-10 before the Leopards scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win the opener.
The Leopards forced turnovers on the Blue Devils' first four possessions to build a 10-0 lead in the first half. Lafayette recovered a CCSU fumble on its own 38 to begin its first drive. An 18-yard touchdown pass from Drew Reed to Matt Mrazek capped the 62-yard drive and the extra point made it 7-0.
An interception on the ensuing drive gave the Leopards the ball back on the CCSU 25. A 35-yard field goal from Jacob Bissell made it 10-0.
After the Central defense forced a three-and-out, junior Najae Brown returned the punt 38 yards to set CCSU up on the Lafayette 27. Senior Ed Groth got the Blue Devils on the board three plays later with a 43-yard field goal to make it 10-3.
Central would tie the score with a six-play 75-yard drive in the third quarter. Redshirt freshman Drew Jean-Guillaume ripped off a 21-yard rush on second down to move the ball to the LU 46 yard line. Three more rushes by Jean-Guillaume moved the ball to the 25 yard line. On first-and-10, sophomore Jacob Dolegala sent a pass to the left side of the endzone where he found sophomore Alex Jamele for the touchdown. Groth's PAT made it 10-10.
The Leopards responded on their next possession with a 14-play, 89-yard drive over 5:06 to retake the lead. Reed connected with Mrazek for a 21-yard strike and the PAT made it 17-10 with 12:53 left in the game.
Reed would hit Mrazek for their third touchdown connection of the night with 5:12 to play. The 15-yard pass capped a nine-play, 81-yard drive and extended the Leopards' lead to 24-10.
The Blue Devils finished with 354 total yards, including 269 yards through the air. Senior Dan Hebert collected eight passes for 79 yards, while Jamele finished with three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Jean-Guillaume led the Blue Devils on the ground with six carries for 49 yards.
The Leopards totalled 338 yards, including 316 yards passing. Reed went 31-of-42 with three touchdowns. Mrazek caught all three touchdown passes and finished with six catches for 93 yards. DeSean Brown ran for 30 yards on 12 carries.
Central travels to James Madison for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 10.
