WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A sack on third down and a crucial stop on fourth-and-eight led the University of New Haven football team to a 31-27 Homecoming victory over Bentley on Saturday afternoon at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium. The Blue and Gold's running game led the way against the Falcons with a pair of rushers surpassing the century mark as senior Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) and junior Ryan McCarthy (Montclair, N.J./Bergen Catholic) each garnered Connecticut National Guard Player of the Game honors and were presented with the Lew Adams Memorial Award.
Combined, Liggio and McCarthy collected 214 yards on the ground with the senior running back leading the duo with 109 yards without registering a loss. He averaged just over six yards a rush with his longest run of the day 27 yards. McCarthy collected 105 net yards with his longest of the afternoon a 32 yard pickup, while he also scored a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Overall, New Haven finished with 277 rushing yards the most in a single game since a 420 yard afternoon against Saint Anselm in 2015. Joining Liggio and McCarthy in racking up an impressive afternoon on the ground was senior quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) who ran for 61 yards, not losing a single yard, while also scoring a pair of touchdowns. Overall, all of the Chargers touchdowns came in the running game.
Patterson also closed out his afternoon with 202 yards in the air, connecting on all but six of his 25 attempts, a 76-percent effort. Leading eight different receivers that Patterson targeted was junior wide out A.J. Green who finished with 94 yards on seven catches, including the longest haul of the day at 31 yards. Sophomore Chris Carlyle (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) finished just behind him with 31 yards as he earned his first collegiate start.
Rounding out the Blue and Gold's scoring on the afternoon was the a 36 yard field goal, his longest of the season as he has still yet to miss an attempt when called upon to add points to the board. The Chargers kickers overall had an impressive outing with transfer Francis Palmer (Brewster, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) averaging 41 yards on four punts and freshman Calogero Caruso (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) averaging just shy of 50 yards in six kickoffs.
For the first time this season, Scott Lavelle (West Milford, N.J./DePaul Catholic) led the Chargers defense collecting nine total tackles including 1.5 for loss, the half of which came on a sack. Joining him in leading the defense was Mcprecia Remy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millwood) and Jordan Franklin who each finished with seven tackles. Remy also picked up a half sack, the only other tackle for loss on the day for New Haven.
After a quick three-and-out by New Haven on the opening drive of the game, Bentley came out gunning on its first drive of the day, marching 59 yards to take an early 7-0 lead. New Haven would answer back on the next drive of the game, knotting the game at seven just over the midway point of the first quarter.
McCarthy was the first Charger to cross into the end zone, ending a 71 yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run on first down. The overall drive was split down the middle across the Chargers offense with 35 yards coming on the ground and 36 yards in the air as Patterson completed all but one of his three attempts over the 10 play drive.
After forcing the Falcons into a three-and-out series on the next drive, New Haven went to work again, taking its first lead of the day courtesy of Stalenyj's boot, connecting from 36 yards out for a season-high. Patterson opened up the drive with an impressive throw down field, finding Greene for a 30-yard haul that out New Haven at Bentley's 26 yard line.
The Owls would respond, however, completing a 75 yard drive that bridged the end of the first quarter and the start of the second quarter to regain a 13-10 lead after the extra point attempt was blocked by Devon Nzepuome (Milton, Mass./Milton). Bentley would take that advantage into the locker room at the break.
The Chargers defense came out of the break holding Bentley to a quick three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half while the offense quickly responded to that with a three play drive that ended on a 32 yard rush by McCarthy as he spun out of a pair of tackles to give New Haven a 17-13 lead.
Bentley would regain the lead one more time, scoring just under four minutes after McCarthy's long run as they took advantage of a short field with a rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion to take a 21-17 lead.
New Haven responded by using the next 6:30 on the clock to complete the longest drive of the day at 80 yards with a one-yard rush by Patterson for a 24-21 lead in the final seconds of the third quarter. Despite a 31 yard pass from Patterson to Greene the bulk of the drive took place on the ground for New Haven, only fitting that it would end on the ground with Patterson's first TD of the day.
The Chargers defense built off that momentum as they held limited Bentley to a 37 second drive after that touchdown, only to have Patterson close out the next drive in the exact same fashion on a one-yard rush that provided a 10-point lead, 31-21. The entire drive came on the ground for New haven with four of the rushing attempts going for double digit yardage, including a 27 yard pickup by Liggio.
After holding Bentley scoreless on its next drive, the Chargers were unable to run a significant amount of time off the clock, providing Bentley with possession with 7:53 remaining. The Falcons answered with a 60-yard drive that pulled them within four after failing to convert the two-point conversion.
New Haven would again be unable to run the clock down, providing the Falcons with one more opportunity with just under two minutes remaining. After the Falcons picked up a quick first down on a 23-yard passing play, the Chargers would hold Bentley shy of another first down thanks to a massive sack for a seven yard loss with Remy and Lavelle doing the work. A fourth down pass looking to make up eight yards fell incomplete handing the victory to New Haven.
UP NEXT
At the midway point of the season, New Haven will enjoy the NE10 bye week with no game scheduled for October 6. Overall, just one conference team will play during the bye week, that being LIU Post who will take on the PSAC's Shippensburg. The Chargers will return to action with a trip north on Interstate 91 for a date with the American International Yellow Jackets in Springfield on Saturday, October 13. Kickoff against AIC is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
