WORCESTER, Mass. – Zhyaire Fernandes (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) hauled in the first pass of his career and it couldn't have come at a better time as the rookie wide receiver connected with junior quarterback Christian Lupoli (Branford, Conn./Notre Dame) for a 27-yard touchdown with 28 seconds remaining to give the New Haven football team (6-3, 5-2 NE10) a one point lead and an eventual 34-33 road win over the Assumption College Greyhounds.

Leading the Chargers overall on the day was Lupoli who racked up a career-high 319 and threw five touchdowns among his 14 passes on the day. Included in those five touchdowns was an 87-yard catch-and-run from senior AJ Greene (Middle Island, N.Y./Newfield) which takes the lead for the longest passing touchdown of the season.

Overall, Lupoli relied on seven different targets with Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) leading the way with six catches for 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Green's 87 yard touchdown was his only catch of the game, same for Fernandes with his 27-yard touchdown catch. Running backs Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development) and Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) each hauled in a pair of passes for 11 and five yards, respectively. The remaining touchdown from the passing game found Jake Lareau (East Granby, Conn./East Granby) in the back corner of the end zone on a fourth and two conversion.

The running game saw a total of 87 net yards on the afternoon as the Chargers closed out the game outgaining the Greyhounds 406-396. Liggio and Logan would each close out the afternoon with 42 yards on the ground to lead the Blue and Gold.

Defensively, New Haven was led by graduate transfer Zach Cofrancesco (East Haven, Conn./Notre Dame), one of four players to close out the afternoon with double digit tackles. Overall, Cofrancesco finished with a dozen stops, 11 of which were solo tackles. Allah Sessions (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) and Ryan Hodgins (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive) each chipped in 11 tackles while Shawn Tafe (Bronx, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) rounded out the leaders with 10 stops. Sessions also led the Chargers with a pair of tackles for loss that drove the Greyhounds back a total of five yards.

New Haven would put the first points on the board after three scoreless drives on either side of the field. Taking over at their own 48 yard line after a 28 yard punt from the Greyhounds, the Chargers used just three plays and 110 seconds to score their first touchdown of the afternoon. After a pair of rushes gained six yards, the Chargers were in a third and nine scenario as Lupoli looked deep down the field for Williams. The pass tipped off the hands of a leaping defender right into the basket catch of Williams who had a wide open path to the end zone from the 15 yard line.

That score would prove to be the only of the first half for New Haven as the Chargers trailed 19-7 at the intermission after forcing the Greyhounds into a 35-yard field goal on the final drive of the half.

After the intermission, it would again take a number of drives for both teams to get warmed up as the Chargers struck first again, this time only needing two plays and 31 seconds to march 45 yards to the end zone. Logan opened up the drive with a 17 yard pickup on the ground, the longest run of the afternoon for New Haven. Lupoli followed that up with another touchdown to Williams, this time from 28 yards out as Williams worked his way past the safety to a wide open end zone.

The Chargers would score on their next drive as well after forcing Assumption to punt. This time around, the Blue and Gold would again start on their own 48 yard line with Liggio getting things started with a 16 yard run. Lupoli would follow that with another first down run, gaining 12 yards on a first and five. The junior QB then found Williams for an 18-yard pick up and a third-straight first down, setting up first and goal from the one yard line. After transitioning to the other end of the field to start the fourth quarter, the Chargers would be held out of the end zone, in fact losing a yard to set up fourth and two. After a timeout, Lupoli dropped back and waited out his tight end, Lareau, who picked up his first touchdown of the day through a pair of defenders in the very back corner of the end zone.

Assumption would answer by scoring the next two touchdowns of the game to regain a double digit advantage, 33-22, with 9:16 to play. The Chargers answered with their shortest drive of the day, a 13-second one-play scoring drive with Lupoli connecting with Greene. Working on Assumptions sideline, Greene wrangled in a pass working against his defender and tippy toed his way along the sideline, breaking free and sprinting his way for six points.

After back-to-back drives that ended in punts for both teams, Assumption took over at their own 26 yard line with 3:08 remaining and New Haven with two timeouts. The Chargers would limit Assumption to rushes of two and one yard before a six-yard pass left the Greyhounds with fourth and one as New Haven called for time with 2:04 remaining. That's when the Chargers Allah Sessions (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) came up clutch, driving the Greyhounds running back, Doug Santos, for a loss of two yards, allowing his offense to take over at Assumptions 33 yard line.

The Chargers responded with a pair of 20+ yard passes from Lupoli, the second of which was the most important as it found Fernandes along the left sideline of the end zone. Feranandes he was able to keep his feet inbounds as he hauled in the 28-yard pass from the junior quarterback to give his squad the one points advantage, 34-33, with 28 seconds remaining.

Assumption returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Chargers 15 yard line but a holding penalty against the Greyhounds erased the long run and set the home team up back at their own 25 yard line. From there, the Greyhounds managed to pick up 13 yards on the first play of the drive, but that left them with just five seconds remaining. Assumption would try to lateral their way to the end zone on the final play but was forced out of bounds after the clock expired as the Chargers walked away with their second-straight win over the Greyhounds in the all-time series.

One of four teams now tied atop the NE10 standings with a 5-2 record in conference play, New Haven will close out its regular season schedule next Saturday when they host the Stonehill Skyhawks for Senior Day at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., but arrive early as the Chargers will honor their 14 seniors prior to the game.