GAME DAY INFORMATION   DATE: September 21, 2019 LOCATION: Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium | West Haven, Conn.   GAME DAY LINKS   LIVE STATS  |  LIVE VIDEO  |  TICKETS

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THE FIRST LOOK
For the first time in 2019, the Chargers will play on the iconic Blue and Gold turf of Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium. The 2019 home opener, presented by Army ROTC also serves as the University's annual Family Day with the Chargers welcoming their extended family.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• New Haven and American International meet for the 26th time in the history of the two programs.
• Overall, the Chargers hold an 18-7 record over the previous 25 meetings, with the all-time series dating back to 1983.
• In the 10 meetings since 2009, the Chargers hold a 9-1 record, including victories in the last five meetings.
• Prior to restarting the series in 2009, New Haven and AIC had not met since 1996.
• In most recent memory, New Haven is riding a five-game win streak into today's match-up with the most recent AIC victory coming on November 2, 2013.

A WIN OVER AMERICAN INT'L WOULD...

• be the second-straight season the Chargers opened their Northeast-10 conference schedule with a victory.
• be the second-straight win for the Blue and Gold after knocking off Stonehill last week.
• be the sixth-straight win over the Yellow Jackets in the all-time series.
• be the 251st overall victory in the 41-plus year history of Charger Football.
• be the 220th victory since the Chargers began playing at the Division II level - first DII season was 1982.

GAME DAY FORECAST
Despite the start of autumn being on the horizon, the Chargers and Yellow Jackets will meet under summer-like conditions with the forecast calling for bright sunny skies with a high temperature of 80 degrees. The low for the day is predicted at 62 degrees while there is a 0% chance of rain and an ideal 58% humidity level. Winds on Saturday will be around seven miles per hour out of the south-west. Sunset will be 6:51 p.m.

NEXT ON TAP
New Haven will head back on the road to close out the month of September with a Friday night battle under the lights at Bentley. For the second season in a row, the Chargers will make an appearance on the NCAA Division II Football Showcase with next week's game against the Falcons slated to appear as part of the showcase's hybrid model. Additionally, the game will air live on MyTV9 throughout Connecticut. Kick off from Bentley Stadium is slated for 7:05 p.m.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Last week, the Chargers outrushed Stonehill by 197 yards en-route to a 31-9 win over the Skyhawks to close out the non-conference portion of their schedule. Leading the way in last week's victory was rookie running back Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development) who ran for 157 yards, the first time a New Haven rusher has racked up 150 or more yards since October 1, 2016. Logan is one of two rushers to lead the Blue and Gold this season with senior Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) posting 90 rushing yards in the season opener at Indiana (Pa). Under center, the Chargers have split time between a pair of Division I transfers; Christian Lupoli (Branford, Conn./Notre Dame) and Nick Robins (Nephi, Utah/Juab). Of the pair, Robins leads the way with 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Included in his two TD passes was a 36-yarder hauled in by Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) in last week's win over Stonehill. Defensively, the Chargers are led by graduate transfer Zach Cofrancesco (East Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) and sophomore Ryan Hodgins (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive) who each have 17 tackles on the season. The Chargers defense has also forced seven turnovers with junior Shawn Tafe (Bronx, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) pulling in three of the team's five total interceptions.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
After dropping a 34-20 decision to the CIAA's Bowie State on opening weekend, the Yellow Jackets responded by holding off a late rally from Bentley to take a 28-23 decision over the Falcons in a non-conference battle last week. Against Bentley, Division I transfer QB Jayson Demild accounted for 75% of the Yellow Jackets offense by racking up 200 passing yards with a TD and a pair of scores on 75 rushing yards. For the season, AIC is splitting its offense evenly, averaging 130.5 yards on the ground and 153.5 yards in the air. Demild is completing 45 percent of his pass attempts for 307 yards and a touchdown while he also leads the team with three rushing touchdowns. Just behind him on the ground is Samad Davila who has racked up 94 yards and has scored a pair of touchdowns. Defensively, Ahmad Rabah is averaging double figure tackles on the season with 23 total stops, including a pair of sacks. Additionally, the Yellow Jacket defense has forced seven turnovers with four interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

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 on Monday 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.

GOING FOR DISTANCE
Through two games, the Chargers have not been shy of looking for big plays, racking up 12 plays of 20 yards or more. The longest of the season so far was a 49 yard kick return by Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) against Stonehill, one of five special teams plays included in the tally. The two longest plays from scrimmage have come from rookie RB Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development), 47 and 42-yard rushes against Stonehill with 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 hasn't missed, converting three field goals (21, 28 & 35 yards) and five extra point attempt.

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 eight catches for 113 yards with one touchdown. Overall, Williams enters Saturday's home opener needing 648 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 three players transferring from Division I schools, joined by Nigel Beckford (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame) (Maine) and Anthony Malaguti (Hewitt, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) (Villanova). 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 has been selected to participate in the NCAA Division II Showcase with this year's game included on the 18-game slate coming under the lights on September 27 at Bentley. The game, which is part of the hybrid model, will be 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 will also air 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 3 (Paul Falewicz)
American International defeated Bentley 28-23 and looked like they wanted to.  The offense moved the ball and scored touchdowns.  The defense is always swarming the ball and not allowing the opposing offense to feel comfortable.  For the Yellow Jackets to win on the road, they will need to dial up a similar game plan from last week.  The offense is balanced, and the defense makes plays when called upon. New Haven used a second-half surge to defeat Stonehill 31-9.  The Chargers were held in check in the first half and then used their running game to break the game wide open.  The defense was solid after the first couple of drives and just plain menacing in the second half.  For the Chargers to win on the blue turf, the defense will need to repeat what they did against Stonehill.  The offense will need to have a quarterback step up and stretch the field to take the pressure off of the backs. New Haven is the top team in the league and will show their home fans why. Prediction:  New Haven 34 AIC 13

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.