Football Tops Stonehill 21-17 To Remain In Championship Hunt

The Central Connecticut State football team scored the lone touchdown of the fourth quarter, and then sealed the game with two strong defensive stops to earn a 21-17 Northeast Conference win at Stonehill on Saturday.

The victory keeps the Blue Devils NEC Football championship hopes alive. Duquesne beat Robert Morris 31-6 on Saturday. The Blue Devils host RMU next Saturday and Duquesne a week later on November 23^rd.  If CCSU wins both of those games they will secure the NEC Championship.

The Blue Devils hopped out to a 14-3 advantage at halftime. Central held Stonehill to only 97 yards of offense in the opening half.  The Skyhawks scored twice in the third quarter, both on Jack O'Connell passes, to take a 17-14 lead with 2:54 to play in the third quarter.

After trading short possession, the Blue Devils took over on their own 360tard line with 11:01 to play in the game. Elijah Howard took a second down run for seven yards, that had a 15-yhard personal foul tacked on for a first down in Stonehill territory. After another 10-yard run from Howard, Donny Marcus went two-yards up the middle to the Stonehill 30-yard line. On the next play, Brady Olson found Marcus over the middle for a 30-yard go-ahead touchdown, with 8:54 to play.

The Blue Devils defense took over there, stopping Stonehill on 4^th and 2 from the CCSU 32 yard-line with 4:24 to play. After the offense burned off some clock, Aidan Clark pinned the Skyhawks on their own 10-yard line. Dan Toatley and Jalen Howard secured the win with a sack on fourth-down.

GAME INFORMATION

Score: CCSU 21, Stonehill 17

Records: CCSU (5-5; 3-1 NEC), Stonehill (1-8; 0-5 NEC)

Location: W.B. Mason Stadium | North Easton, MA

KEY MOMENTS

• Ricky Ortega put the Blue Devils on top on the team's first possession, with a one-yard TD run, that capped a drive that went 75 yards on 18 plays and ate up 10:17 of the opening quarter
• Stonehill got on the board three drives later when Danny Hurley knocked home a 49-yard field goal 4:59 into the second quarter
• The Blue Devils extended the lead on the next drive, this one encompassing 15-plays, 73-yards and 8:06 of game clock and was topped off by an eight-yard Howard touchdown run
• O'Connell started the Skyhawks comeback on heir first drive of the third-quarter as he engineered a drive that went 55 yards on eight plays before finish Jake Newsham for a 15-yard touchdown pass
• Two drives later, O'Connell hit Chase Miller for a 14-yard touchdown competition, putting the Skyhawks up 17-14 with 2:54 to play

NUMBER TO KNOW

4 – The consecutive game streak that CCSU has not allowed a sack, bringing its season total to seven games

NOTES

• The Blue Devils held the ball for 35:33 of the game, including 20:31 of game clock in the opening half
• Elijah Howard finished with 70 yards of rushing, including his touchdown, and he is now 14^th at CCSU with 1,647 yards rushing
• The Blue Devils converted 9-16 third down opportunities, and were 2-2 on fourth down tries
• Jack Stoll led the defense with 10 tackles, including 1.0 TFL and a QBH in the game
• CCSU possessed the ball for 9:02 in the fourth quarter and snuffed Stonehill on both of its fourth down attempts; forcing a fumble on one of them and ending the game with a sack on the other
• The defensive unit snuffed eight (3-11) Stonehill third down attempts and held the Skyhawks to 1-3 on fourth down conversions
• Kimal Clark and Malachi Wright both recorded seven tackles
• The CCSU defense finished with 4.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks
• Mike Plaskon caught four passes for 41 yards, while Marcus had two catches for 40 yards
• CCSU finished with 110 yards of passing, Olson went 10-16, with 54 yards coming after the catch
• Aidan Clark averaged 34.8 yards per punt, in windy conditions, and had one punt inside the 20, but it came at a key time, pinning Stonehill on its own 10-yard line for 1:44 to play to start its last ditch effort at a game-winning drive
• Jadon Turner finished with a game-high 137 yards of total offense, averaging 28.3 yards per kickoff return
• The CCSU defense allowed just 75 yards rushing on Saturday, the fourth time this season, and second consecutive game they have held their foe under the century mark on the ground