Football Heads to St. Francis U to Play on ESPN3
Blue Devils coming off a 37-36 home win over Sacred Heart last week
The Central Connecticut football team travels to conference-leader St. Francis U this Saturday for a 12 p.m. kickoff live on ESPN3. The Blue Devils are coming off a 37-35 home victory over Sacred Heart last Saturday. St. Francis had a bye last week, and has a chance to claim the league's FCS playoff berth with a win on Saturday.
Today's Game • The Blue Devils play their final road game of the season this afternoon on the road at St. Francis U. For the third time this season the Blue Devils will play on ESPN3, as the league has chosen this as the NEC Wild Card game. The Red Flash can clinch at least a share of the NEC title and the league's automatics berth to the FCS playoffs with a victory today. The Blue Devils are looking for their second straight win after topping Sacred Heart 37-35 at home last weekend. They'll finish their season next weekend at home on SENIOR DAY, hosting second place Duquesne at 12 pm.
Trio Honored by NEC • Following a 37-35 home victory over Sacred Heart on Arute Field last weekend, a trio of Blue Devils earned Northeast Conference weekly awards on Monday. On Monday the league announced that junior Joey Fields, sophomore Tymir Hinton and senior Ed Groth earned week honors. Fields shared Offensive Player of the Week honors, Hinton was named the Defensive Player of the Week and Groth took home Special Teams Player of the Week honors for their efforts in the home victory. Fields had his best game in a CCSU uniform in a 37-35 victory at home over Sacred Heart on Saturday. Field caught a career-high eight passes for a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown in the victory. He also produced 103 kick return yards on three kick returns to help the Blue Devils win the field position battle. Fields caught a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter to push the Blue Devil lead to 31-21 late in the quarter. Fields also had kickoff returns of 37, 36 and 30 and gave the Blue Devils starting position of the SHU 41, CCSU 45 and CCSU 40 yardlines on those returns. All three led to CCSU scores, including the game-winner. Of his eight catches, five went for first downs. Groth made the most out of his first career attempt at a game-winning field goal on Saturday. He hit the game-winning 35-yard field goal with 15 seconds on the clock to give the Blue Devils the win. Groth finished the game 3-of-3 on field goals, including a 29-yarder and a 39-yarder in the game. Groth is now 10-of-13 on the year after starting the season 1-of-3 in the first week. His three field goals gave him 13 points in the game, and 130 in his career, good for 10th in school history. His 24 career field goals in third in school history. Hinton provided the game's first points, intercepting an RJ Noel pass and returning it 11 yards for a defensive touchdown and the 7-0 lead. The pick 6 was the second of the season for Hinton, and the third for the Blue Devils. Hinton finished the game with eight tackles, and two pass break-ups. With one final play, Noel sent the ball to the end zone as time expired and Hinton knocked it down to secure the win.
Groth's Season to Date • Senior placekicker Ed Groth was 3-for-3 last week in the win over Sacred Heart, including the game-winning 35-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play. It was the second time this season that Groth had hit three field goals in a game. Groth, now 10-of-13 in FG attempts on the season. Groth now has 130 career points, 10th all-time in scoring at CCSU. His 24 career field goals is third in school history.
LaGuerre Continues to Produce • Junior captain Randall LaGuerre continues to produce defensively for the Blue Devils this year. He leads the Blue Devils with 91 tackles this season, including 13 or more in a game three times. He had 13 in the opener vs. Lafayette, 13 on the road at Bryant and then 14 in the home loss to Wagner on Oct. 15. He has a pair of sacks on the year and has not posted fewer than eight tackles in a game all season long. LaGuerre leads the NEC in tackles and is 15th in the country at 10.1 tackles per game.
Dolegala Sets a New Record • Sophomore quarterback Jacob Dolegala set a new single season yardage record last week. Dolegala enters today's game with 2,325 yards passing this season, first in the conference and 14th in the country in total yards passing. He leads the league and is 36th in the country in completion percentage (60.0%) and leads the league and is eighth in the country in completions per game (23.67). Dolegala passed Sam Tirone (2,116 yards in 1994) on the single season yardage list last week. He is the third Blue Devil to eclipse 2,000 yards in a single season (Tirone, Nick SanGiacomo twice in 2013, 2014).
Pick 6x3 • The Blue Devils returned an interception for a touchdown for the third time this season in the win over Sacred Heart last weekend. Sophomore safety Tymir Hinton picked off a pass and returned it 11 yards for the game's first touchdown. It was his second pick 6 of the season. He also had one in the loss on the road at Bryant. Earlier this season junior Najae Brown returned an interception in the loss at James Madison.
Rushing Defense • For the third time this season the Blue Devils held their opponent to under 100 yards rushing two weeks ago at Robert Morris. The Colonials managed just 87 yards on the ground (and 219 yards of total offense) in the game. The Blue Devils also held Bowie State (13) and Lafayette (22) under 100 yards on the ground this season.
Passing Offense • The Blue Devils threw for 328 yards in the win over Sacred Heart at home on Saturday, marking the sixth consecutive game (and the seventh time this season) with 200 or more yards passing in a game. The Blue Devils have passed for 2,330 yards this season, just 232 yards shy of the school record of 2,562 yards set during the 1994 season.
Fumbles Recovered • The Blue Devils have recovered nine fumbles this season, the second-highest number in the conference and good for 22nd in the country in total fumble recoveries. Senior Carlton Nash and junior Randall LaGuerre, who have both recovered two fumbles on the year, are third in the conference and 15th in the country in that category.
Last Time Out • Senior placekicker Ed Groth kicked his third field goal of the game with 15 seconds left and the Central Connecticut football team topped Sacred Heart 37-35 on Arute Field on Saturday afternoon. The win moves the Blue Devils to 2-7 overall on the season and 1-3 in Northeast Conference play. Sacred Heart is 6-3 overall and 1-3 in the league. Groth hit from 29, 39 and 35 in the victory and is now 10-of-13 on the season. The game-winner came after the Blue Devils fell behind 35-34 on a four-yard pass from R.J. Noel to Moses Webb with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devil offense, led by junior quarterback Jacob Dolegala, went 47 yards on eight plays to set up the game-winner from Groth. After a Sacred Heart timeout he struck his third field goal of the game and gave the Blue Devils the win, their second straight over Sacred Heart. Dolegala finished the game 25-of-43 for 328 yards and one touchdown. He set the single season yardage record for the Blue Devils in the process, and now has 2,325 on the year. His 300 yard performance on Saturday was the second of his career. Junior Joey Fields caught eight passes for 122 yards and a score. Junior running back Cameron Nash had 24 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown in the win. Central got the scoring started in the first quarter when they pinned the Pioneers at the SHU four-yard line after being forced to punt on their opening possession. On third down, sophomore Tymir Hinton picked off Noel's pass at the 11-yard line and returned it for the touchdown. The extra point made it 7-0. The Pioneers went 69 yards over nine plays late in the first quarter to tie the score. Noel hit Moses Webb off a play-action pass for 21 yards and the extra point made it 7-7. Central scored on consecutive drives to take a 10-point lead heading into halftime. First, the Blue Devils went 51 yards over 11 plays and got to the Sacred Heart 12 yard line. Groth converted a 29-yard field goal to make it 10-7 with 12:21 left in the second quarter. On the next SHU possession the Blue Devils forced a three-and-out to take over on their own 32-yard line. CCSU went 68 yards in 12 plays and Nash capped the drive with a two-yard run for the touchdown to make it 17-7 with 5:09 to play before halftime. Sacred Heart began the second half with a scoring drive that took just two plays and 22 seconds. Jay Croom scored from 29 yards out to cut the Blue Devil lead to 17-14. The Blue Devils answered as Dolegala scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season to push the lead back to 24-14. His run capped a quick seven-play, 41 yard drive that was aided by a big kickoff return from junior Joey Field and an SHU penalty. The Pioneers had their own answer as they went 80 yards in eight plays to score again and cut the lead to 24-21 with 5:39 to play in the third quarter. Noel hit Andrew O'Neill from 39 yards out for the score. Central pushed the lead to 31-21 with 22 seconds left in the third quarter when Dolegala hit Fields from 37 yards out for a touchdown and the 10 point lead. Dolegala was 2-for-2 for 84 yards on the drive, including the touchdown. With 7:53 left in the fourth quarter the Pioneers cut the lead to 31-28. Noel rushed it in from one yard out to cap a 66-yard drive that took nine plays and cut the lead to three. A 39-yard field goal from Groth pushed the Blue Devil lead to 34-28 with 4:53 to play in the fourth quarter. The Pioneers took the 35-34 lead with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter on a four yard pass from Noel to Webb. Groth hit the game-winner with 15 seconds on the clock and the Blue Devil defense knocked down a late hail mary from Noel to secure the victory.
25 or More Almost Perfect • Since the start of 2004 the Blue Devils are 54-15 when scoring 25 or more points in a game. They are 64-30 when scoring at least 20.
News Radio 1410 • Every Central Connecticut football and men's basketball game will air live on radio. News Radio 1410 will carry the action with Bruce Biel and Marc Robbins on the call. Fans can also listen to every game online at www.iHeartRadio.com or with the iHeartRadio app.
NEC Front Row • Thanks to a continued partnership between the Northeast Conference and the Pack Network, live webcasts of NEC sports will be available free of charge on NECFrontRow.com. The site will carry every CCSU NEC football game this season (Excluding the two games broadcast on ESPN3.com, home vs. Wagner on Oct. 15, and on the road at Bryant on Sept. 24).
Social Media • Follow the Blue Devils all season long on Social Media: Twitter: @CCSUBlueDevils In Game Twitter Updates: @KizerBlueDevil Facebook: CCSUBlueDevils Instagram: CCSUBlueDevils
