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WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) capped off his collegiate career with a 271 yard afternoon as the New Haven football team had its postseason run come to an end on Saturday, falling by a 59-20 margin to Slippery Rock in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship.
Patterson closed out his day connecting on 20 of his 31 pass attempts, a 65 percent completion average, while he also scored both of the Chargers touchdowns on the afternoon in the running game. Among six total carries, he net 32 yards without a loss, with his two touchdowns coming from distances of five and four yards out.
Among his 271 yards in the air, Patterson spread the wealth, utilizing eight different receivers. Leading the way was graduate transfer Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) who finished with 136 yards on six catches, his fifth game of the season surpassing the century mark. Included in his haul was a 46-yard catch that set New Haven up with a new set of downs on the Rock's 13 yard line. That catch led to an eventual 26-yard field goal, the second of the day for Michael Stalenyj (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway), who closed out his rookie campaign a perfect 9-for-9 in field goal attempts.
Also among Williams' haul was a 36-yard catch in the second quarter, this time coming on a first down and setting up the Chargers with another new set of downs at the Slippery Rock 12 yard line. Yet again, the catch led to three points for the Blue and Gold as Stalenyj net his first field goal from a distance of 24 yards.
Joining Williams in leading the receiving corps was redshirt freshman Paul Cooper (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) and sophomore Brett Huber (Milford, Conn./Foran) who finished with 56 and 30 yards, respectively. In the ground game, Patterson was one of four different players to run the ball with senior Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) leading the way with 36 yards on 10 carries. Junior Ryan McCarthy (Montclair, N.J./Bergen Catholic) finished right behind him with 35 net yards. He was also the only running back to suffer a loss as the Blue and Gold ran the ball 27 times for 108 total yards.
Defensively, New Haven was led by senior linebacker C.J. Fitzpatrick (Pearl River, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) who finished with nine total tackles, six of which were solo stops. Three different players followed him with six tackles apiece; Mark Clements (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest / Worcester Academy), Keiran Ryan (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) and Miles Pease (Sicklerville, N.J./Saint Joseph / Milford Academy). Among the four leaders, Ryan led the Chargers with two tackles for loss as New Haven finished with five total on the afternoon. The Chargers defense also forced one fumble on the afternoon with BJ Morgan (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) punching the ball out and Affiz Din-Gabisi (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) registering his first fumble recovery of the season.
New Haven closed out its season with a 9-3 record, earning the program's seventh bid to the national tournament and sixth appearance in the NCAA Championship second round. In addition to the postseason run, a pair of Chargers set program records. Patterson's 271 yards against Slippery Rock pushed the senior quarterback over the 10,000 passing yard plateau, the first ever Charger to reach that number and just the third in the history of the Northeast-10 Conference. Additionally, Williams closed out his first season in a Blue and Gold uniform with a single season school record, with his 136 against The Rock leading him to a total of 1,171, passing Pierre Fils who held the record with 1,121 yards.
