#25 Football Wins Big on Homecoming, Topping Bryant 52-14 to Move to 6-1

The No. 25 Central Connecticut football team returned home for the first time in six weeks and put up a convincing 52-14 victory over visiting Bryant University on Saturday afternoon.  The Blue Devils, playing in front of a Homecoming crowd of over 5,000, put up 555 total yards of offense and scored their fourth defensive touchdown of the season as they moved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in Northeast Conference play with the victory.  Senior quarterback Aaron Winchester ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and threw for 228 yards and two more scores as Central rolled to its third straight win.  The Blue Devils allowed 14 or fewer points in a game for the fourth time this season.

POST GAME INTERVIEWS

HIGHLIGHTS

The Central defense was solid once again, allowing just 279 yards of total offense, marking the third straight game of allowing less than 300 total yards.  They also scored their nation-leading fourth defensive touchdown of the season.  Junior DJ Exilhomme scooped a Bryant fumble and ran 40 yards for the score.  It is his second fumble return for a touchdown this season. The Central defense had four sacks in the game and allowed only 73 yards rushing by Bryant.  It was the fifth time this season the Blue Devils have allowed under 100 rushing yards in a game.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: #25 Central Connecticut 52, Bryant 14
Records: CCSU (6-1, 2-0 NEC), Bryant (2-6, 1-2 NEC)
Location: Arute Field Field | New Britain, CT

COACH QUOTE

• "Offensively we were able to get the ball outside with Aaron, and get the ball outside," head coach Ryan McCarthy said.  "We were also able to do some things in the play action game, getting the ball down the field.  That's one of the things that Aaron has improved upon this year, getting the ball down the field. We continue to be balanced offensively. We were a lot more productive in the second half than we were last week, and obviously the defense helped us out with a touchdown as well."

KEY MOMENTS

• Freshman wide receiver Kyren Petteway, who had one catch this season, caught a pair of first quarter touchdowns to give CCSU a 14-0 lead.  He had scoring catches of 41 and 34 yards and finished the day with 75 receiving yards.
• Winchester rushed for a career-high 161 yards and two touchdowns in the game.  He had scoring runs of 42 and 56 yards.
• DJ Exilhomme picked up a fumble and ran 40 yards for his second fumble return for a touchdown this season.  
• Both Exilhomme brothers scored in the game.  D.J. had a fumble return and junior Danley Exilhomme rushed for a two yard touchdown in the third quarter.

NUMBER TO KNOW

4 - The number of defensive touchdowns for the Blue Devils this season.  

NOTES

• CCSU has now won three straight in the series vs. Bryant.
• The Blue Devils are now 12-2 in their last 14 NEC games.
• The Blue Devils posted 555 yards of total offense, including 312 on the ground and 243 in the air.  They averaged 8.0 yards per rush and 9.3 yards per offensive play in the game.
• Winchester finished the game with 389 of total offense, including 161 on the ground and 228 in the air.
• Danley Exilhomme finished the game with 84 rushing yards on just 14 carries, and a touchdown.
• Sophomore Foday Jalloh led the defense with 11 total tackles.
• Junior Tre Jones had a pair of sacks for the defense, in addition to four tackles, two of them for a loss.

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils return home to host LIU next Saturday at 12 p.m.