BOX SCORE WORCESTER, Mass. - The University of New Haven football team won its 20th straight Northeast-10 Conference game in a 21-18 victory at Assumption Friday night. The Chargers, who pulled ahead 21-10 midway through the fourth quarter, needed a last minute defensive stand to hold on and improve to 4-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play this season. Assumption fell to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

Senior quarterback Ronnie Nelson (Stuart, Fla./South Fork ) led the was for the Chargers with 217 yards and two touchdowns on 16-for-24 passing. He added 48 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. Mike DeCaro (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay ) led the team rushing with 67 yards on 12 carries, while Courtney Moshood (Miami, Fla./Miami Palmetto) led all receivers with five catches, 93 yards and one touchdown. 

Defensively, Kervin Edouard (Somerville, Mass./Somerville ) and Jaylen Johnson (Linden, N.J./Linden) led the Chargers with eight total tackles.

As a team, the Chargers ran for 133 yards on 36 carries and threw for 217 yards on 16-of-24 passing. The Greyhounds totalled 319 yards with 144 rushing and 175 passing.

On the opening three drives of the game, UNH went three-and-out on twice and the Greyhounds went three-and-out once. Assumption started the game's first scoring drive with 9:28 on the clock in the first quarter. The Greyhounds went 88-yards on six plays, highlighted by a 53-yard carry by Matt Heriveaux inside New Haven's red zone.

New Haven answered with a 10-play, 65-yard drive to bring the ball down inside Assumption's red zone. A pair of penalties backed the Chargers out of the red zone and on fourth-and-10, a Nelson pass sailed incomplete for DeCaro and UNH turned the ball over on downs.

The Greyhounds controlled possession through the end of the first quarter and their drive took the ball all the way to New Haven's 25-yard line. On fourth-and-five, Assumption attempted a 42-yard field goal with 13:17 on the clock. Sean Berglund (Wolcott, Conn./Wolcott) burst through the line and blocked the attempt which was recovered by Herbens Antenor (Malden, Mass./Malden) and returned it to the Assumption 40-yard line.

The Chargers ensuing drive was just two plays and was capped by a 27-yard touchdown catch from Nelson to Courtney Moshood (Miami, Fla./Miami Palmetto). The extra point was blocked and the Chargers continued to trail 6-7 with 12:38 left in the second quarter.

Both teams were held scoreless for the remainder of the first half, but both teams worked inside the red zone. The Chargers made their way to Assumption's 10-yard line before a Nelson passed was intercepted by Matt Colangelo on third-and-goal.

Assumption's next drive went 51-yards on 13 plays and got as close as New Haven's 11-yard line. Holding possession for nearly six minutes, the Greyhounds went for its on fourth-and-12 on New Haven's 14-yard line. Bobby Jordan's pass was caught by Heriveaux for just four yards and the Chargers took over with 34-second left in the first half.

The Chargers went 34 yards on four plays before time ran out on the first half.

Trailing 7-6 at the break, New Haven's second-half adjustments began working on its second drive of the stanza. DeCaro returned a punt 23 yards to Assumption's 30-yard line to setup a short field for the UNH offense. Nelson then led the three-play series with passes to three different receivers before finding Michael Flacco (Audobon, N.J./Gateway Regional / The Community College of Baltimore County - Catonsville) on a 17-yard fade to put the Chargers ahead 12-7. The Chargers two-point conversion attempt, an option reverse, was converted and New  Haven held a seven-point lead with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

The Greyhound offense struggled to get started, but their defense held the Chargers in check on each of the next two drives. Assumption eventually put together a seven-play, 35-yard drive early in the fourth quarter. Tad Beuchert completed the drive with a 27-yard field goal to bring Assumption back within four, 14-10, with 14:12 remaining.

The Chargers immediately answered with one of their better drives of the evening. UNH took over at its own 25-yard line and Moshood immediately brought New Haven into Assumption territory when he hooked up with Nelson on a 51-yard bomb. Six plays later, Nelson ran in a touchdown and made the Chargers lead even larger. The drive was kept alive on fourth-and-four with a pass interference penalty on the Greyhounds. Anthony Greenfield (Bloomfield, N.J./Paramus Catholic / Wagner) connected on the extra point and the Chargers led 21-10 with 11:50 left in the fourth.

New Haven was forced into a punting situation after the Greyhounds were forced to punt on their next possession. The Chargers' punt was blocked and picked up by Assumption at New Haven's own four-yard line. Assumption first place went in for a score and the successful two-point conversion put UNH ahead by just three, 21-18, with 6:11 remaining.

The Chargers ran 4:29 off the clock on their next possession, which ended on a punt from Greenfield. He pinned the Greyhounds inside their own 10-yard line, forcing Assumption to drive the length of the field in order to pull off a victory.

Assumption first play from scrimmage was a long pass attempt and after being batted around once, Najae Brown (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount St. Michael / Trinity Pawling) collected his second interception in as many weeks and the Chargers took over to seal the victory.

The Chargers ran all-but two seconds off the clock before the Greyhounds took over on downs. The long pass was batted down and New Haven won its 20th straight NE-10 regular season game.

New Haven returns to action at Merrimack on Saturday, Oct. 12 in North Andover, Mass. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.