Practice was drawing to a close at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium when University of New Haven quarterback Connor Degenhardt's (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) final throw of the day slowly made its way to a cluster of outstretched hands in the end zone. In what shouldn't come as a stunning turn of events, the 50-yard pass landed in tight end Kevin Foelsch's (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) reliable hands.

A quick look at the current UNH football stats would show that six Chargers have more receptions than the five Foelsch has secured and five of his teammates have more receiving yards. However, if there was a category for clutch catches, he would likely be vying with the electric Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy) for the team lead.

Foelsch's first collegiate reception was a 5-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter to give the Chargers a two-score lead against rival Southern Connecticut State. The next week New Haven was locked in a tie game with Pace in the 2021 road opener. Facing a fourth down Degenhardt was under duress and instinctively turned and lofted a ball to where he expected Foelsch would be. Once again multiple players had a chance at the ball and it was Foelsch who came down with the 13-yard catch. Three plays later Degenhardt scored on a 1-yard run which proved to be the winning score. As impressive and timely as those two catches might have been, the best was yet to come.

Saint Anselm, the last Northeast-10 team to beat the Chargers, was struggling to stay in the early October game when Foelsch hauled in a career-long 38-yard touchdown grab. It would be an understatement to call his catch a highlight-variety grab. A photo of Foelsch rising above the crowd to secure the ball made the rounds within the UNH program and a t-shirt was made up which was presented to Foelsch on Friday. Foelsch followed that up with two catches against American International College. Little by little, Foelsch has seen his role in New Haven's prolific passing offense grow.

"At the start of camp, I was coming in and I never started before and that was my goal to be a starter here," Foelsch said. "I worked my butt off in the offseason, just kept getting stronger and faster. I kept working hard and that is what happened."

Foelsch was a lightly recruited 205-pound receiver at Ramsey (N.J.) High School who was the second-leading rebounder on a 25-3 basketball team as a senior and also a track and field standout. Now he is a 6-foot-4, 245-pound redshirt sophomore tight end who is emerging as an offensive weapon for the 5-1 Chargers.

"We looked at him as a tight end [in the recruiting process], we didn't think he would put on the weight [so quickly] as he had," New Haven football coach Chris Pincince said. "I thought it would be a couple of years. He has been extremely accountable, willing to do whatever we want him to do, he covers kicks, he is on the extra point and field goal team, he was on our punt team and is a very willing blocker.

"We've been able to match him up on some kids who can't run as well as him. I would think that is a little bit of a stressful thing for defensive [coaches] to worry about our outside people to worry about a tight end that blocks a little bit and can certainly run. We hope to use him some more, we are able to take shots three or four times a game if we get the right matchup."

Foelsch added some weight before he arrived at New Haven as a true freshman in 2019. Since then he has gone from 217 pounds to 245 and Foelsch believes he is faster now than when he took part in his first camp for the Chargers.

"Faugy [David Faugno] the conditioning coach he does a good job with that," Foelsch said. "Our place Bartels [Hall], I would just go in the cafeteria there and eat as much as I could. I would eat ice cream, that was the biggest thing for me just gaining weight right away because I was really skinny coming in. I feel like I am faster than when I came in, I am just getting stronger, Faugy does a great job with us."

Foelsch wasn't one of the five returning New Haven players who had at least one reception during the 2019 season but even with a strong core of returnees and some gifted outside receivers joining the program as graduate transfers, it didn't take Degenhardt long to figure out that he had an emerging offensive option in Foelsch.

"He is awesome. He is somebody that coming into the year he knew he was going to have a much-expanded role on the offense from a standpoint of how athletic he is, how much he has to offer," Degenhardt said. "He really is a versatile player so he allows us to do a lot of different sets and he is a real dependable guy.

"He is a huge mismatch. He is really fast, we saw it in summer conditioning, he is the one out in front winning sprints a lot of times and is somebody who is going to be hard for linebackers to run with. He is a big kid, he jumps high and is really physical so for corners and safeties to try to cover him, it is really tough. It puts defenses in really tough decisions."

If a smaller cornerback or safety draws the assignment of covering Foelsch especially in the red zone, Degenhardt's eyes light up.

"That's been a lot of the thought process, if there is a guy out there who is smaller just throw it up and let Kev go get it," Degenhardt said. "You saw it in the Pace game, I didn't even know where we was but I knew he's down there somewhere. The one against Saint A's, we had that one drawn up for him. I know if I put it up there, Kev is going to go up and get it. He is one of those competitive guys with the ball in the air."

Coaches love low-maintenance players who they know will put the work in. Pincince is no different. When Foelsch caught his two touchdowns, he not only stayed in to block on the ensuing extra point but also covered the kickoff. Foelsch has also earned Academic Distinction honors from the Northeast-10 in 2019 and 2020 while being a Dean's list student at New Haven.

"He is willing to do anything and that says anything about him because a lot of skill guys won't do that," Pincince said. "A lot of guys that are prima donnas catching the football."

Growing up in New Jersey, perhaps Foelsch patterned his game after a tight end or rangy receiver from the New York Giants or Jets. Philadelphia is little more than a two-hour ride away so maybe it was former Eagles tight end Zach Ertz who was his pass-catching idol growing up. No, Foelsch has always fancied himself a Seattle Seahawks fan and former basketball player turned NFL tight end Jimmy Graham was a favorite of his.

"Seahawks all day," Foelsch said. "They were my first flag football team in kindergarten and I just stuck with them, I'm loyal and stayed on them. I loved Jimmy Graham when we got him, he was a huge target. He was good with us but not like the one in New Orleans but I liked him a lot, he was my guy."

When Graham made the transition to football, learning how to block was a work in progress and the story is the same with Foelsch.

"I think it is getting better day by day," Foelsch said of his blocking. "When I came in here I barely knew how to get in a left-handed stance because I was always in a right-handed stance, never really played tight end in high school."

Foelsch loved both of his touchdown catches but the moment from the season that really warmed his heart was seeing how so many of his teammates bounded off the sideline to congratulate him after his TD grab in the Southern Connecticut State game became his first catch as a Charger.

"Everybody loves Kev, I don't think you are going to find anybody on the team that is going to have a negative word to say about him," Degenhardt said. "He is awesome, he is one of the guys and works really hard and is not anybody who is ever going to complain about anything regardless of whether he is going to get 10 catches a game and scoring touchdowns or is in the trenches blocking, that is just the type of kid he is."

That was evident after his memorable first catch.

"It meant a lot just from the hard work, not being able to play football for almost two years, I really didn't know what to do with my life," Foelsch said. "I have been playing football for 18 years and just when that happened, it felt great especially [celebrating] with all the teammates. It meant that they really cared, they really love me so it was awesome."

There is still work to be done. The Chargers drove into the red zone in the first two drives in last week's game at AIC and came away with just three points. The next three games are against Stonehill, Assumption and Bentley who are a combined 11-2 in Northeast-10 play. Foelsch and his teammates know that failing to cap impressive drives with touchdowns could prove costly down the stretch. Foelsch is more than happy to be a difference maker in the red zone as the Chargers continue their pursuit of the conference title.

"I'm trying my best to make it better because, in the end, we can't kick field goals, we have to score touchdowns to beat these teams we are playing," Foelsch said.

Another chance to add to his growing list of clutch catches comes Saturday when New Haven plays at Stonehill.