Brady Olson threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns, Donny Marcus added two rushing scores, and defending Northeast Conference champion Central Connecticut beat visiting Saint Francis, Pa., 31-7 on Saturday in New Britain to begin league play for both teams.
CCSU (2-1) improved to 25-7 in its series with Saint Francis (0-3). It marked the final matchup between the two teams as conference rivals as the Red Flash will begin the transition to Division III following the season.
The CCSU defense forced five turnovers, with two interceptions and three fumble recoveries. DB Christopher Jean had five tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. The Blue Devils also held Saint Francis to 210 total yards and 11 first downs.
Elijah Howard made two touchdown catches for CCSU, which has won seven consecutive home games. Donovan Wadley added 72 yards receiving on two grabs.
Colby 13, Trinity 6: At Waterville, Maine, Trinity scored midway in the first quarter then was shut out the rest of the way in a stunning opening loss to start the NESCAC season.
The Bantams, perennial contenders for the league title, lost their week one game for the first time since 2000. The loss also snapped Trinity’s 11-game win streak against Colby, a run in which it averaged more than 30 points in the victories.
The Bantams got on the board when Jaxon Carroll connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Nolan O’Brien at 7:37 of the opening period. A failed point after and that was it.
After a scoreless second quarter, the White Mules took the lead on a Montrail Homes 8-yard interception return. It was one of four Trinity picks thrown on the day: One by Carroll and three by Tyler Aronson. Colby closed out the scoring early in the fourth on a 2-yard run by Antone Morris.
Meanwhile the Bantam offense was limited to 195 yards: 143 passing and 52 rushing. Trinity’s last chance came late in the fourth and ended on a Christopher Mil pick of an Aronson pass with 1:54 left, allowing the Mules to run out the clock.
Wesleyan 31, Middlebury 17: At Middletown, after falling behind on an early field goal, the Cardinals ran off 24 unanswered points on the way to the opening NESCAC win.
Quarterback Matt Fitzsimons led the Wesleyan offense, completing 15 of 22 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Donte Kelly caught seven of those passes for 118 yards and the team’s first touchdown, an 11-yard score early in the second quarter. Keith Caputo caught the other Fitzsimons TD, a 6-yard reception in the fourth.
The Cardinals also scored on a Matt Diaz 1-yard run and a 60-yard interception return by AJ Morris. Brian Moran completed 22 of 27 passes for 261 yards for Middlebury with a TD and two picks.
Sacred Heart 24, Long Island U. 21: At Old Westbury, N.Y., Matt Kling kicked a 21-yard field goal as time ran out as the Pioneers rallied from a 14-point deficit. Jack Snyder connected with Payton Rhoades on a 42-yard gain to the 10-yard line with a minute to go and three rushing plays set up the game-winning kick.
The Pioneers (2-1) trailed 21-7 after the Sharks’ Jaylin Lucas recovered a muffed line-drive punt that went off the receiver’s fingertips and into the end zone early in the third quarter.
The Pioneers cut the lead to seven on John Michalski’s 3-yard run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive late in the third and tied the game on Curtis Whiting’s 5-yard run after the Sharks (1-2) muffed a punt with 12 minutes remaining.
