GAME DAY INFORMATION   DATE: October 18, 2019 LOCATION: Jess Dow Stadium | New Haven, Conn.   GAME DAY LINKS   LIVE STATS  |  LIVE VIDEO

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THE FIRST LOOK
New Haven looks to bounce back from a loss at Saint Anselm when they return to the gridiron Saturday for the annual battle of the Elm City. The Chargers will enter Jess Dow Field looking to maintain possession of the Elm City Trophy for a 10th straight season while the Owls look to build off the momentum of a 31-17 win over Bentley last weekend.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• New Haven and Southern Connecticut State meet for the 31st time in the history of the two programs.
• The Chargers hold a 23-6-1 record in the previous 30 meetings, with the all-time series dating back to 1981.
• In the 11 meetings since football returned to the Blue and Gold in 2009, the Chargers hold an 10-1 record, including winning the last 10 meetings.
• In the current streak of 10-straight wins, the Chargers have outscored the Owls by an average of two touchdowns, including a 48-9 rout in 2012.
• Among the current 10 game win streak for New Haven is nine straight Elm City Trophy victories with final of those nine meetings coming during NE10 Championship weekend (2016).

A WIN OVER SOUTHERN CONN. WOULD...

• be the 11th straight win for the Blue and Gold against their crosstown rival
• drop the Owls below .500 in Northeast-10 play
• be the 253rd overall victory in the 41-plus year history of Charger Football.
• be the 222nd victory since the Chargers began playing at the Division II level - first DII season was 1982.

GAME DAY FORECAST
New Haven and Southern Connecticut will meet under ideal conditions at Jess Dow Field with sunny skies allowing for a high of 60 degrees with a minimal 10% chance of precipitation and a 60% humidity level. Winds on Saturday will come from the west-north-west at seven miles per hour.  

NEXT ON TAP
New Haven will not return to the field until the month of November, enjoying a bye week before facing the newest member of the Northeast-10 on November 2nd when Franklin Pierce visits DellaCamera Stadium. Kick off against the Ravens is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven looks to bounce back from its second loss under the lights this season, falling to Saint Anselm 37-31 last weekend. Junior transfer quarterback Christian Lupoli (Branford, Conn./Notre Dame) will make his third start under center for New Haven and looks to build upon a 54 percent completion average from his first two starts against Pace and Saint Anselm. Over those two games, Lupoli has racked up 420 yards and five touchdowns, completing 33-of-61 pass attempts. Through the first six games, the Chargers have gained an average of 195.7 points on the ground and 183.2 in the air. Last week alone, the Chargers gained more than 500 yards total, the most since Nov. 4, 2017. Leading the ground assault is sophomore Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development) who has racked up 632 net yards on 105 attempts for an average of 6.0 yards per carry. Following Logan in the ground game is senior captain Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) who has picked up 250 net yards on 47 attempts for an average of 5.3 per carry. Graduate wide receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) leads a group of eight wide outs with 30 catches for 406 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, the Chargers are led by Zach Cofrancesco (East Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) and Allah Sessions (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) who have 46 and 36 tackles, respectively. The Chargers defense has also forced 14 turnovers with junior Shawn Tafe (Bronx, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) pulling in four of the team's nine total interceptions, one shy of the single season top-10 in program history.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Southern Connecticut is coming off of a big win last week, defeating Bentley on the road in Waltham which was the second of back-to-back wins for the Owls who improved to 2-2 in NE10 play. Leading the Owls last week at Bentley was rookie quarterback who closed out his afternoon completing 28-of-36 attempts for an impressive 405 yards and four touchdowns. For the season, Ostrowsky leads a trio of QB's with 954 yards, completing 65 percent of his passes. On the ground, SCSU is averaging 126 yards per game with Jonmichael Bivona leading the team with 390 net yards on 93 attempts. Look for Bivona to take most of the attempts out of the backfield as next in line is back-up quarterback Matt Sanzaro who has racked up 102 yards on 44 attempts. Defensively, the biggest threat to keep an eye on is Rich Souffrant who is second on the team with 26 tackles but leads the squad with seven tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks. Matthew Weiss has also been known to get through the line as he leads the team with four sacks that are part of 5.5 tackles for loss.

HONOR ROLL
Rookie RB Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development) and junior DB Shawn Tafe (Bronx, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) each hauled in some brass following week two earning Rookie of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. Against Stonehill, Logan ran all over the O-Line racking up 157 rushing yards on 22 carries with a pair of touchdowns. His first collegiate score came in the first quarter when he broke through the middle of the line and sprinted straight down the left hash marks to the end zone to put the Chargers on the board. He then took the ball for both plays of a two play, 19-yard drive that ended with his second touchdown of the afternoon. For the season, Logan has amassed 218 rushing yards and an average of 6.2 yards per carry. Tafe picked apart the Stonehill passing game, intercepting a pair of Skyhawk passes, returning them for a total of 33 yards. He also added five tackles.

HONOR ROLL PART DEUX
Graduate transfer defensive back Zach Cofrancesco (East Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) racked up 10 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble, all leading to NE10 Defensive Player of the Week honors following week five. His 10 tackles were tied for the team lead against the Setters while it is the second time this season he has recorded double digit stops. He began with both of his interceptions coming in the first half, both setting up scoring drives as he led his squad to a 28-7 lead at the intermission. After hearing his name called numerous times over the second half, Cofrancesco came up clutch in the final minutes when came off the side of the line to hit the Setters quarterback forcing a fumble his teammate would recover, effectively ending the game as the Chargers were able to run the remaining time off the clock.

GOING FOR DISTANCE
Through five games, the Chargers have not been shy of looking for big plays, racking up 38 plays of 20 yards or more, including 11 or more of 40+ yards. Among those 38 plays are eight that resulted in a touchdown. The longest of the season so far was a pair of 58-yard plays against American International, the first a pass from Nick Robins (Nephi, Utah/Juab) to AJ Greene (Middle Island, N.Y./Newfield) and the second a pick-six from Allah Sessions (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira). On the ground, Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development) has broken through the line on three occasions for 40+ yards, including twice against Stonehill for 47 and 42 yards, the first of those going for a touchdown. Last season the Chargers finished the year with 84 plays of 20 yards or more, including six of 50-plus yards.

RETURNING IN 2019
The Chargers boast 42 total lettermen returning in 2019, including 23 on offense, 17 on defense and a pair of kicker/punters. Additionally, the Chargers return 14 starters from a year ago, including four of the five starters on the offensive line. Finally, the Chargers return six of 13 players who received all-conference honors last season, highlighted by the lone first teamer to return; wide receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central).

IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
The Chargers offensive line was nothing but exceptional last season and this year expect much of the same as the Blue and Gold return four of their five starters. Add to that, all 10 players on the depth chart have significant playing time under their belts on the line. Last season, the Chargers O-Line contributed to 4,827 total yards on offense, the most in the NE10, which included just shy of 2,000 rushing yards. Additionally, the O-Line allowed opponents to sack quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) just three times through the 10-game regular season.

BIG BOOT
The Chargers will return a big boot in 2019 with Michael Stalenyj (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) returning as one of two kicker/punters. Stalenyj closed out his rookie campaign in 2018 a perfect 9-of-9 in field goal attempts while he was also 34-of-38 in extra point attempts. So far in 2019, Stalenyj stands at 4-of-5 in field goal attempts, with his longest conversion of the season from 35 yards. He has also converted 15 extra point attempts. For his career, his 53 PAT conversions stands 10th all-time in program history, while his 14 field goals made is currently tied for sixth all-time.

FLIPPING THE FIELD
One area the Chargers will look to recover from a large loss is their punting game. Last season, graduate student Francis Palmer (Brewster, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) averaged 40.4 yards on 31 punts including a pair of 50+ yard boots. He also pinned Charger opponents inside the 20 eight times with his longest punt of the season going for 59 yards. The lone Charger who returns after attempting punts last season is wide receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) who on seven kicks averaged 36.6 yards and pinned the opposition inside the 20 once.

WELL OILED MACHINE
Second-year transfer wide receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) has quite the resume heading into his final season on the gridiron. The Springfield, Mass. native closed out his first season wearing the Blue and Gold by hauling in a single season school record 1,171 yards on 65 catches with 11 touchdowns. In addition to his yardage record, Williams' 11 touchdowns was also tied for fifth most in a single season among wide receivers in program history. So far in 2019, Williams has completed 30 catches for 406 yards with four touchdowns. Overall, Williams enters Saturday's game needing 355 yards to reach the top-10 in program history for receiving yards.

TRANSFER SUCCESS
Head coach Chris Pincince is hoping that last year's success of graduate transfer Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) will carry over to 2019 with the addition of five graduate transfers this season. A pair of the transfers, Zach Cofrancesco (East Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) and Dennis James (Hillside, N.J./St. Peter's Prep), are high up on the depth chart, both defensively. Cofrancesco hails from East Haven, Conn. transferring to New Haven after completing his undergraduate degree at LIU Post. James (St. Francis, Pa.) is one of two players transferring from Division I schools, joined by Nigel Beckford (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame) (Maine). Rounding out the graduate transfers for 2019 is Mohammed Berry, a defensive back who comes from Seton Hill.

ON THE RADAR
The postseason run for New Haven didn't go unnoticed as the Chargers were among teams receiving votes in the preseason AFCA Division II Coaches poll released by the organization on August 26. New Haven garnered 65 votes in the initial poll with that total placing them 29th in the tally. Following last year's NCAA Tournament run New Haven was slated 23rd in the final AFCA poll which was released following the national championship game.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO
Among 13 players who were named to All-Conference teams following the 2018 campaign, the Chargers return six. Highlighting the group is a First Team selection in Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) who led the Chargers with 65 catches and 1,171 total receiving yards. Joining him offensively are o-lineman Osaro Eromosele (Hillside, N.J./DePaul Catholic) and Mike Zecchin (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland). A pair of defensive players return with Scott Lavelle (West Milford, N.J./DePaul Catholic) and Markel Johnson (Jersey City, N.J./Lincoln) both earning accolades last season. Combined the pair collected 117 tackles and combined for 24 tackles for loss last season. Rounding out those returning players who were honored last year was rookie kicker Michael Stalenyj (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) who earned a spot on the All-Rookie team. Last season, Stalenyj finished a perfect 9-9 in field goal attempts while converting 34-of-38 extra point opportunities.

UNDER THE LIGHTS & ON THE BIG SCREEN
For the second-straight season, the New Haven football team was selected to participate in the NCAA Division II Showcase with this year's game coming in week 4 under the lights at Bentley. The game, which was part of the hybrid model, was available with an enhanced streaming broadcast through the NCAA's social media accounts - specifically, the Division II Facebook and Twitter pages. As did last season's game against Southern Connecticut, this year's match-up against Bentley also aired live on MyTV 9 throughout Connecticut.

LEADERSHIP IS EVERYTHING
In a vote of all active players, Gavin Dowd (Williston Park, N.Y./Herricks), Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross), Christian Sullivan (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) and Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) were all tabbed captains for the 2019 campaign. All first-time leaders for the Blue and Gold, Dowd, Liggio and Williams are all major components of the offense while Sullivan anchors New Haven's defensive line.

FAMILIAR FACES ON THE SIDELINES
They may not be between the white lines in 2019, but All-American Zach Voytek and four-year starting tight end Jonathan Badyna (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) return to the sidelines for the Blue and Gold as members of the coaching staff.  Voytek returns for his second season working with the Chargers tight ends after spending the 2017 NFL training camp season with the Buffalo Bills. Badyna, who completed his eligibility last fall, will serve as the Director of Football Operations.

WHAT D2FOOTBALL.COM IS PREDICTING FOR WEEK 6 (Paul Falewicz)
New Haven fell on the road at St. Anselm 37-31.  The Chargers led most of the evening but were not able to stop the Hawk offense in the final five minutes of the game.  The offense amassed over 500 yards, but the defense had no answers.  They also allowed big returns in kickoffs that made it difficult for the defense.  For the Chargers to win on the road, they will need to clean up their mistakes.  The offense played well Saturday night and will need to replicate that performance.  The defense needs to clean up the mistakes and swarm the ball carrier better. Southern Connecticut defeated Bentley 31-17 for their second straight victory.  The Owls are playing well after their tough opening month of the season.  They are clicking on offense and their defense is playing strong.  For the Owls to win on their home turf, they will need to play mistake-free.  The offense needs to stretch the field while the defense can't allow the chargers to make plays. New Haven will find a way to keep the trophy on their side of town.
Prediction:  New Haven 27 Southern Connecticut 24

PRESEASON PROPS
Coming off of an NCAA Championship Second Round appearance last season, the Chargers have been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2019 NE10 Championship in a poll of the league's nine head coaches. New Haven racked up a total of 63 points and seven of the nine possible first place votes, finishing nine points ahead of the Assumption Greyhounds who scored the remaining two first place tallies.
2019 Northeast-10 Football Coaches' Poll
1. New Haven – 63 (7)
2. Assumption – 54 (2)
3. Pace – 49
4. Bentley – 40
4. Southern Connecticut – 40
6. Stonehill – 29
7. American International – 23
8. Saint Anselm – 18
9. Franklin Pierce – 8
(#) indicates first-place votes

GAMEDAY IMPROVEMENTS
If you haven't visited Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium since the NCAA Championship game against Slippery Rock, you are going to find a welcome addition with the construction of a permanent restroom and concession building. The new building is located on the southeast corner of the stadium, just inside the main entrance.