PHOTO GALLERY

EASTON, Mass. - The images were unfolding in front of Giye Jenkins' (West Orange, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) eyes and more than once his coaches told the University of New Haven freshman defensive back that there would be opportunities for him to help put the special back into the Chargers' special teams.

Watching footage of this year's Stonehill games made it clear that when New Haven decided to go into full punt-block mode, there was a very good chance the punt would never make its way to dangerous returner Paul Cooper (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park).

Jenkins took those words to heart and his two blocked punts played a huge role in visiting New Haven's 42-20 win over Stonehill on Saturday afternoon. It was the fifth win in a row for the Chargers (6-1, 5-0 in conference play) who are tied with Bentley for first place in the Northeast-10 Conference standings.

The first points of the game came after Jenkins broke free up the middle, got his hands on Perry Shelbred's punt. Kasi Hazzard (Hillside, N.J./Edison) recovered the ball and ran it in from 10 yards out to give the Chargers the lead midway through the first quarter. He added another blocked punt later in the game and also had an interception.

"The blitz on our punt, they didn't have enough guys to block us so my coaches told me the whole week that I was going to get a free run the whole time because we were going to have too many numbers," Jenkins said. "The ball is snapped and I had a free run and I just made the play.

"The second one was the same exact scheme, we had more people than they had to block. I just got a free run and made the play."

Shelbred's punt after the next Stonehill drive stalled traveled by 14 yards to set New Haven up at the Skyhawks' 33. Shamar Logan's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Erasmus Hall High School) 29-yard run set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from New Haven quarterback Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) to Kevin Foelsch (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) as Foelsch outbattled a couple of Stonehill defenders for the TD grab.

Cooper went up high to snare a 22-yard pass from Degenhardt on New Haven's next possession and Degenhardt connected with Javon Turner (Newark, N.J./Paramus Catholic) on a 41-yard touchdown pass to put New Haven up 21-0 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Chargers added two quick touchdowns in the second half. After Jenkins' second blocked punt, Degenhardt connected with Foelsch with the 3-yard score. On the next drive, Degenhardt, who threw for three scores and had a pair of touchdown runs, ran it in from 3 yards. He added a 2-yard run later in the third quarter to make it a 42-0 game. 

Stonehill finally got on the board on Anton Stoneking's 10-yard touchdown pass to Connor Walsh with 1:54 left in the third quarter. It became a 42-13 game after Stoneking's 33-yard touchdown pass to Chris Domercant 59 seconds into the fourth quarter before Stoneking added a 4-yard scoring run with 4:31 remaining.

Jenkins wasn't the only freshman to have a memorable game on Saturday. Neil Brown (Woodbridge, Conn./Amity Regional) got the start at right offensive tackle while David Abolarinwa (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford), who grew up about a 40-minute drive from the Stonehill campus, started at linebacker and finished with a pair of sacks to go with a forced fumble.

"I actually got my first start this week so it felt good to start," Abolarinwa said.

The trio of Abolarinwa, Jenkins and cornerback Christian Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) have worked their way into the defensive rotation as true freshmen and are taking on larger roles with each passing week.

"We get better every single week, we practice hard every day so every day is like a job interview basically," Abolarinwa said. "We have to bring our A game every practice."

The Chargers throttled Stonehill's rushing attack for much of the game. The Skyhawks came into the game leading the NE10 with 15 touchdown runs and ranking second in rushing offense. Stonehill had just 18 rushing yards heading into the fourth quarter.

"I thought our kids stepped up to the challenge," New Haven football coach Chris Pincince said. "Obviously that is what they do and they are very good at it. Our kids stepped up to the challenge and took away what they do really well. Hats off to the defensive staff and the defensive kids."

If the defense of the Chargers didn't have enough motivation, it was pointed out to them this week that the NE10 Week 8 preview on D2football.com predicted a 34-31 Stonehill victory.

"Coach showed us a prediction on Thursday talking about how the score was supposed to be 34-31 them and that just lit a fire under all of us because we know how good we are," Jenkins said. "We had a great week of practice, which is all it comes down to. Preparation is key, we felt like we were locked in, we knew what the game plan was, and they weren't going to do too much. We went out and performed. It feels really good to get a win like this like a good team like Stonehill."

Logan had 86 rushing yards, Foelsch had four catches for 45 yards and the two touchdowns while Turner had 65 yards on three catches. Khalim Cisse (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) added two sacks for the Chargers while Ryan Hodgins (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive) and Khyon Fitzpatrick (Union, N.J./Paramus Catholic) had six tackles each.

Domercant led Stonehill with 109 yards on four receptions while Sam Athy had three of the Skyhawks' 10 tackles for loss.

New Haven returns home for the next two games. Assumption, which has only lost once in conference play, is up next followed by the much-anticipated showdown with nationally ranked Bentley. Speaking of the rankings, the Chargers had eight points in last week's American Football Coaches Association Division II poll and could continue to inch closer to breaking into the top 25 following this win.

The ultimate goal of winning the Northeast-10 Conference title is still in the hands of the Chargers. if they win their final three games, the elusive NE10 crown would be theirs.

"It is our goal to win the conference," Pincince said. "We haven't reached that goal since I have been here, we don't make any bones about it, we don't lie about it. We fell short every other year, we hope we can answer the bell. We have two home games in a row, we have to focus on Assumption. I know the kids are focused, I know they understand what lies in front of them but it is all in front of us, it is our choice, it is how we act. We are excited for the kids to watch them run around the next couple of weeks."