Football Wins 51-44 Over Delaware St. on Homecoming

Central Connecticut won a high-scoring 51-44 homecoming game against Delaware State at Arute Field in New Britain, CT. The Blue Devils ran for a program-record 497 yards, including 256 by Elijah Howard and 113 by Malik Thomas and a touchdown for each.

Howard became the first Blue Devil to run for over 200 yards since Nasir Smith in 2022. Ricky Ortega ran for three touchdowns and 78 yards on 10 carries. Matt Jenner threw for a pair of scores.

The Blue Devils defense forced four turnovers. Gavin Bryson had a team-high seven tackles, while Luquay Washington had four tackles, including a pair of tackles for loss. Malachi Wright and Dan Toatley each had a sack for CCSU.

The Blue Devils will play six Northeast conference games the rest of  the way, beginning with a trip to Duquesne next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION

Score:  CCSU 51, Delaware St. 44
Records: CCSU (2-3), DSU (1-5)
Location: Arute Field | New Britain, CT 

KEY MOMENTS

• CCSU went 75 yards on the opening drive, capped off with a 15-yard toss by Matt Jenner to Isiah Williams. The Blue Devils took a 7-0 lead with 9:40 to go in the opening quarter. Jenner completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive to lead Central to the endzone.
• Delaware State took the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to open their drive in CCSU territory. The Hornets would advance to the Central 1-yard line, but the Blue Devils defense would stop the drive on fourth down to take over. The Hornets would eventually manage to get on the board in the second quarter with a 38-yard touchdown reception by EJ Core. The PAT was blocked by Dylan Jones of CCSU to make it 7-6.
• The Blue Devils would answer on the ensuing drive, covering 69 yards in nine plays. Central converted a pair of third downs on the drive, capped on with a three-yard scoring run by Ricky Ortega to put CCSU ahead 14-6.
• A Tavian Montgomery interception would force the second DSU turnover of the half and gave CCSU the ball at the DSU 29 yard line. The Blue Devils would cash in the turnover on a five-play drive capped off with a eight-yard pass from Jenner to Paul Marsh and make it 21-6 with 0:07 to play in the half.
• The Hornets would open the second half with a quick scoring drive that covered 65 yards in 2:19. Marqui Adams would run it in from seven yards out to cut the CCSU lead to 21-13. DSU then fielded a CCSU punt at its 15 and Wade Inge ran it back 85 yards for a score to make it 21-20.
• DSU scored on its third straight drive to open the third quarter and would take the lead with 8:14 to play in the third quarter. A 17-yard pass from Adams  to Jordan Hull gave the Hornets a 26-21 lead after the two-point conversion failed.
• The teams would then trade touchdowns on consecutive plays. After Malik Thomas took a handoff 53 yards to put CCSU ahead 27-26, the Hornets would run the kick back 96 yards. Rahkeem Smith's score put DSU in front 33-27.
• The Blue Devils went 75 yards on the ground in four plays to regain the lead on the next possession. Ortega and Elijah Howard would trade 18-yard runs before Howard broke off a20-yard run to put it at the DSU 19. On the next play, Ortega would keep it and spin past the defense to score his second of the day and put CCSU ahead, 34-33.
• After the Hornets missed a 28-yard field goal, Howard would take the handoff on the first play from scrimmage for Central and go 80 yards for the score to make it 41-33 with 14:30 left.
• Delaware State would tie the game on its next drive. A 57-yard pass from Adams to NyGhee Lolley on third down would tie the game following the two-point conversion.
• After a missed field goal of 52 yards by Delaware State CCSU would score on back-to-back possessions to take a 10-point lead. Ortega would take the snap and score from 13 yards out for the third time in the game to give CCSU the lead. Kimal Clark would grab an interception on the next DSU possession and Jack Barnum capped it off with a 34-yard field goal to make it 51-41 with 1:55 to play.
• The Hornets would kick a 34-yard field goal to make it a one-score game, but the onside kick went out of bounds and CCSU would kneel down to end the game.

NUMBER TO KNOW

95  – The teams combined for 95 points, the most in a CCSU game since the final game of 2012 at UAlbany (97 – 63-34). The teams combined for 40 points in the opening 10:23 of the second half enroute to a total of 68 combined points after halftime.

NOTES

• The Blue Devils ran for a program-record 497 yards, topping the total of 462 yard total against Saint Francis U in 2006.
• Jones' blocked kick marked the fourth straight game the Blue Devils have recorded a blocked kick.
• With 583 total yards for the Blue Devils is a season-high, topping the 528 yards against AIC in the season-opener.
• Central ran for 497 yards, marking the first time since Nov. 16, 2019, the Blue Devils ran for 300+ yards. CCSU had 389 rushing yards against Robert Morris.
• Howard (256) and Thomas (113) each ran for over 100 yards, marking the first time since Oct. 6, 2018 vs. Robert Morris that CCSU had two runners gain over 100 yards.
• The 51 points by CCSU is its highest total since scoring 52 against Bryant in 2019.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils will play six conference games the rest of  the way, beginning with a trip to Duquesne next Saturday.

Follow @CCSUBlueDevils on Twitter and CCSUBlueDevils.com for updates.