PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The New Haven defense held Pace scoreless over the final 32-plus minutes as the Chargers opened up Northeast-10 play in solid fashion with a 36-10 victory over the Pace University Setters. Quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) highlighted the Chargers offense on the day, throwing for 305 yards and two touchdowns while also gaining 28 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown.
On the ground, New Haven gained a season-high 166 yards with four backs racking up a total of 35 attempts. Leading the way was Ryan McCarthy (Montclair, N.J./Bergen Catholic) who gained a season-high 90 yards on 10 carries, including a 50-yard rush which was the first play of the second half for the Blue and Gold offense.
Following McCarthy was Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) who picked up 48 yards and a touchdown while Patterson and Nyshere Woodson also scored on the ground while racking up 28 and 16 yards, respectively.
Patterson relied on six targets overall on the day with graduate student transfer Ju'An Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) leading the Chargers with his second-straight 100-yard game, finishing with eight catches for 144 total yards and a touchdown. Damon Rodgers (Charlotte, N.C./Cheshire Academy) and AJ Greene (Middle Island, N.Y./Newfield) each followed Williams with 64 and 45 yards, respectively while tight end Jonathan Badyna (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) scored his first touchdown of the season on a fourth down conversion in the first quarter.
Defensively, New Haven was led for the second game in a row by senior linebacker Jordan Francklin (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) who collected 10 total tackles, two of which went for losses while also intercepting a Setters pass and returning it 43 yards to midfield. Following Francklin in leading the defense was senior Miles Pease (Sicklerville, N.J./Saint Joseph / Milford Academy) who finished with nine tackles, while Mcprecia Remy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millwood) and Scott Lavelle (West Milford, N.J./DePaul Catholic) each finished with six stops.
FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
After Pace won the coin toss and deferred, the Chargers made quick work of their opening drive, needing less than four minutes before breaking the goal line for the first score of the game. Nyshere Woodson capped off an eight play drive with a seven yard gain on the ground for the Blue and Gold's first rushing touchdown of the season.
Big plays were the name of the game in the opening drive with Patterson completing a pair of passes for more than 25 yards, the first of which was on a second-and-nine with Williams hauling in a 29-yard gain into Pace territory. Liggio followed that with a big gain on the ground, picking up nine yards and after a pair of no gains, the Chargers faced their first fourth-down with Patterson finding Rodgers for a 32-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal from the Pace seven yard line from where Woodson completed the drive on second down.
After a quick three and out defensively, the Chargers struck again making it two straight touchdowns on back-to-back drives. This time around New Haven used 11 plays to go 76 yards, taking a 12-0 lead.
Back-to-back double digit gains opened up the drive with McCarthy rushing for 14 yards followed by a 20-yard completion to Williams which left the Blue and Gold in Pace territory at the 42 yard line. Facing third down, the Chargers went to the air again with Patterson connecting with Greene for the first time, picking up 14 yards.
Following an automatic first down, the Chargers picked up eight yards on a pair of rushes from McCarthy before a no-gain left New Haven facing fourth-and-one. From the shotgun, the Chargers put the ball in Patterson's hands where he found a wide open Badyna in the end zone.
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
The first of two scores in the second quarter for the Blue and Gold came courtesy of a one-yard rush from Patterson, one that capped off a nine play drive and left New Haven with a 19-10 lead. Patterson opened up the drive with a 12-yard rush and after a pass interference call against the Setters put the ball at midfield, Patterson went to the air where he found Williams deep down field for a 25-yard pickup.
A brief attempt on the ground by Liggio picked up five yards before Patterson turned to his tight end, Badyna for a 15-yard gain that set New Haven up with first-and-goal at the Pace five yard line. From that point, Liggio picked up four yards on first down followed by Patterson's one-yard saunter into the end zone for the second rushing score of the day.
New Haven would add three more points before the siesta with rookie kicker Calogero Caruso (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) converting his first collegiate field goal from 28 yards out capping off a 10-play, 66-yard drive as time expired in the first half.
THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
The Chargers opened up the second half with a pair of big plays one on defense and one on offense. With the Setters deferring to the second half they would receive the ball from placekicker Francis Palmer (Brewster, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) but they wouldn't stay on offense long. On the very first play of the half, Pease forced a Setter fumble at the New Haven 26 yard line with Francklin recovering for the Chargers.
On New Haven's first play on offense following the fumble recovery, McCarthy picked up the longest gain of the day, running for 50 yards into Pace territory. The Chargers would come up empty in that opening drive, unable to convert on a 26-yard field goal attempt.
After holding pace to just 18 yards on 11 plays on their first full drive of the quarter, the Chargers took over with just under five minutes left in the period. This time around, the Blue and Gold would march 80 yards down field ending with a 29-yard completion to Williams for the second passing TD of the day and a 29-10 New Haven lead.
The majority of the Chargers offense on the drive came in the air with Patterson completing five passes for a total of 74 yards, including a pair of 20-plus yard pickups, both of which went to Williams.
FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
The defense would strike again for New Haven in the fourth quarter, first limiting Pace to a three-and-out on its first drive, before Clements forced another Setters fumble erasing what was a 48-yard completion by Brandon Simmons that would have left Pace at the New Haven 11 yard line.
New Haven was halted to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive but the defense would come up big yet again on Pace's next drive. After a quick first down by the Setters, Francklin stepped in front of a Dan Anerella pass for his first pick of the season, running it back 43 yards to the Pace 45 yard line.
That interception left New Haven with a short field, which they converted into seven points and a 36-10 lead with four minutes to play. New Haven went to the air just once in the drive, that being a 19-yard completion to Rodgers, but the running game took care of the rest with a nine yard push up the middle, straight through the Pace defensive line by Liggio capping off the scoring drive.
Pace looked to convert in the final seconds to break up the second half shut out, but a last ditch attempt from the two-yard line fell incomplete as time expired.
UP NEXT
New Haven will make its first appearance at DellaCamera Stadium in 2018 when they host crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University. The Chargers and Owls will match up in a game being produced by the NCAA as part of the Division II Football Showcase and air live on the NCAA's Social Media channels. The game will also be televised throughout Connecticut on MyTV9. Fans will be able to find the game on Comcast channel 1035, Cox channel 1009 and channel 59 on Direct TV and Dish Network.
