PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. - Big plays were coming at a fast and furious pace the last time the University of New Haven stepped onto the field. However, the Chargers needed to change things up when they took on Pace in the 2021 road opener.

With quarterback Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) misfiring on some early throws and the defense allowing back-to-back scoring drives, the Chargers headed into halftime locked in a tie game with a winless Pace squad. When the New Haven players made their way back onto Pace Stadium, the Chargers decided to win the game by getting physical on both sides of the ball.

The UNH defensive front seven seemed to spend about as much time in the Pace backfield as some of the Setters' running backs in the second half and on the offensive side of the ball, head coach and offensive coordinator Chris Pincince put his trust in his veteran offensive line.

The result was a hard-earned 28-14 victory as the Chargers join Bentley as the only other team undefeated in Northeast-10 Conference play.

"The second half we got put into the right positions, Coach [Matt Scott, New Haven's defensive coordinator] made some changes to the game plan and we came out and executed," said New Haven junior linebacker Khyon Fitzpatrick (Union, N.J./Paramus Catholic), who had 13 tackles, four tackles for loss and 1 1/2 quarterback sacks. "We had to come together as a team and be better at making plays."

Pace ran for more than 200 yards in last week's loss to Assumption. At halftime, the Setters already had 123 rushing yards with 80 of those yards coming on scoring drives which gave Pace leads of 7-0 and 14-7.

Pace struck first with runs of 13 and 53 yards by Kashmier Jackson setting up quarterback Sean Kehley for a 4-yard touchdown run.

The Chargers answered back with an 11-play, 58-yard scoring drive capped by Degenhardt's 1-yard run before Pace regained the lead on Kehley's 5-yard scoring run.

It looked like the Setters would take the seven-point lead into halftime but Degenhardt shook off a potential drive-ending sack on fourth down. His 17-yard run set up Zach Mauro's (Woodbury, Conn./Nonnewaug) 14-yard TD with 52 seconds left in the first half.

Pincince was impressed by the calm demeanor of his team at halftime. The coaches went to work making a few adjustments and the second half belonged to the UNH offensive and defensive lines.

"We are still getting to know each other," Pincince said. "Some of these guys have known each other for just two months and could have pointed fingers but did not."

Pace (0-4, 0-2 in the Northeast-10) found running room much harder to come by in the third and fourth quarters. The statistics are a little misleading because yards on quarterback sacks count as rushing yards at the college level but still Pace netted minus 14 yards on 14 rushing attempts in the second half.

The Chargers (3-1, 2-0) had no such issues even playing without injured starting running back Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./Erasmus Hall High School). Thirteen of the Chargers' 17 offensive plays in the first half were passes but New Haven ran the ball nearly 80 percent of the time the rest of the way. 

"I wasn't throwing the ball very well today but the defense was picking us up," Degenhardt said. "The O [offensive] line played great, we were able to run the ball into some good looks and they weren't changing the defense so we kept running the ball and ended up being good on the ground."

Mauro ran 16 times for 84 yards, Jake Conlan (West Haven, Conn./Trinity-Pawling) had 59 yards on 11 carries, Degenhardt added 31 yards while Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) had two carries for 20 yards.

"We knew what we had to do," Mauro said. "We knew that running the ball was going to be there the whole game so we knew we had to step up and gain some tough yards between the tackles. We were prepared to keep grinding the ball down the field. We started to get more comfortable and things started to fall into place for us. We were able to grind it out and keep marching down the field.

"The offensive line definitely overpowered their guys up front, I love the offensive line and especially as a running back I credit everything to them, without them I wouldn't have any rushing yards. They did a great job overpowering them and creating holes for us to run downfield."

Pace had a chance to regain the lead in the third quarter. A drive was kept alive by a defensive holding penalty on a third-down play that could have forced a field goal. The next three plays left the Setters two yards short of a first down so Pace was set to attempt a field goal. However, a high snap forced holder Nick Totten to try to run for the first down. Ryan Hodgins (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive) and Affiz Din-Gabisi (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) combined to throw Totten for an 11-yard loss.

"It was huge," Pincince said. "I thought our defense did a great job of stopping them there. We made a couple of plays holding them to the field goal. Obviously, them not getting points right there was extremely important."

New Haven would take its first lead of the game on Degenhardt's second short touchdown run of the game with 10:55 left to play. The 1-yard TD came three plays after Degenhardt, under pressure, connected with Kevin Foelsch (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) for 13 yards on a 4th-and-1 play.

"I think it was a really great call by Coach P [Pincince]," Degenhardt said. "We were working on that play throughout the week and we knew we were going to have it. We got a little bit of pressure, I just kind of stuck my foot in the ground and I knew Kev was down there somewhere. He made a great play on the ball, he was able to jump up and grab it."

Degenhardt would complete passes to Brett Huber (Milford, Conn./Foran) and Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy) on the next drive but New Haven's final six offensive plays were runs including Conlan's 9-yard touchdown with 3:15 left to play.

Kehley would be sacked three times on Pace's final possession. The Chargers had eight sacks in the first three games of the season and nearly matched the total on Saturday. It was the first time that New Haven recorded at least seven sacks in a game since an Oct. 28, 2017 win over American International College.

Hodgins and Samuel Valerio (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills) added nine tackles each with Valerio matching Fitzpatrick with 1 1/2 sacks. Khalim Cisse (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro), Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot), Jourdan Smith (Norfolk, Va./Patriot), and Hunter Addison (Baltimore, Md./Lansdowne) also had sacks. 

"There were some ups and downs with it being the first time on the road, the first time traveling, all of those things factor in when you are traveling the day of [the game]," Pincince said. "A win is a win, we look forward. We took the second step to another goal [of winning the Northeast-10 title] that we have."