This was not the easiest week for the defensive players from the 24th-ranked University of New Haven football team.

On the verge of one of the most memorable regular season wins in program history, it all fell apart in the fourth quarter during a loss to nationally ranked Bowie State.

Although Saturday's home opener against rival Southern Connecticut did not count as a Northeast-10 game since the teams will also be meeting in the last game of the regular season, this was all about moving on from a spirit-sapping season opener and setting the stage for a run to a second consecutive Northeast-10 title.

If watching the images from that fourth quarter with their coaches wasn't enough, there was an additional film session before the Chargers turned their focus on facing their rivals.

"We had the whole defense get together to watch some film," New Haven defensive end Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot) said. "This was not with the coaches, this was a players' meeting. We all got together and told ourselves that this is what we want to do. If we want to catch this win, we have to get together and we have to get on the same page so we can grind this one out."

While it was not a perfect day of the office with the visiting Owls finishing with more yards, the Chargers made the plays they needed to in a 31-26 win.

Whether it was Christian Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) alertly charging forward to make a tackle resulting in a six-yard loss on New Haven's first defensive play of the fourth quarter and Quander having a sack on third down on the drive after New Haven took its first double-digit lead, the defense did enough for the Chargers to beat Southern Connecticut State for the 13th time in a row.

"I thought we came out aggressive, I thought we made some plays," New Haven coach Chris Pincince said. "We certainly weren't in the condition that we need to be. We ended up playing nine or 10 defensive linemen, we had players in and out all day, but they played very hard because they got put in some bad situations in the first half and in the second half with the offense not being able to move the football.

They were on the field way too much defensively, they played hard and made some plays. I am a little disappointed at those last two drives, but fatigue and conditioning had something to do with it."

A 24-yard touchdown catch by Kevin Foeslch and 37-yard scoring run by Ais helped the Chargers build up a pair of double-digit leads in the fourth quarter.

The Owls didn't go down without a fight as a pair of scoring runs by Diante Wilson kept Southern Connecticut within range.

Elijah Jeffreys (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) and Devin O'Malley (Pawtucket, R.I./St. Rafael Academy) recovered onside kicks for the Chargers after the final two touchdowns scored by the Owls.

"We have to take from that and keep moving forward," said linebacker Joe Vitale (North Haven, Conn./North Haven), who had 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

"We made some plays, but now we have to watch [more film] and see how we can make even more plays."

The Owls struck first on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Marc Reali to Tylon Papallo with 10:03 left in the first quarter. Isaac Etienne (Winterhaven, Fla./Auburndale) blocked the extra point. The touchdown was set up by a fumble by New Haven running back Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton).

A kickoff return by Terrell Ford (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore West) set the Chargers up near midfield.

Aided by a taunting penalty by the Owls on third down, New Haven had the ball on the shadow of the goal line on the next drive. A third down sack resulted in the Chargers settling for the 32-yard field goal by Briant DeFelice (Massapequa, N.Y./Farmingdale).

On the next drive, linebacker Joe DiGello tipped a pass by Degenhardt and rumbled the 50 yards for the touchdown to give Southern Connecticut the 13-3 lead.

Degenhardt connected with tight end Kevin Foelsch (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) on a nine-yard gain on third down to keep the next drive going. A tremendous catch by Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy) while being double covered led to a 40-yard gain. On the next play, linemen John Thomas (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) and Xavier Bryson (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover / Fork Union Military Acad.) helped give Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./Erasmus Hall High School) a huge hole to run through. Logan did the rest with a 22-yard scoring run to make it 13-10 with 1:15 left in the opening quarter.

Damon Burton's interception ended the next drive for the Owls. New Haven would take its first lead of the game as Degenhardt connected with Chris Carlyle (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) for the 22-yard touchdown with 2:41 left in the first half.

"Coach P called a great play, Kasi [Hazzard] did his job, Connor threw a great pass. I was open and I was open and I caught the ball and just ran it in," Carlyle said. "I didn't do too many spectacular things, everybody did their job and I was able to finish off the play."

It was the first touchdown for Carlyle since an October 5, 2019 game against Pace. The global pandemic wiped out the 2020 season and a knee injury cost Carlyle the 2021 season.

"It's been three years, it feels good to score, but it feels better to get the win," Carlyle said.

A pass interference call in the end zone gave Southern Connecticut the ball on the 2.  David Onyemem's (Dracut, Mass./Central Catholic) huge hit jarred the ball free from Reali and Trajan Anderson (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) recovered the fumble as New Haven took a 17-13 lead at halftime.

Just 10 of the previous 12 games finished as one-score contests during New Haven's win streak against the Owls so while the New Haven players were happy with the win, the Chargers know there is still plenty of work yet to be done.

"It always feels good to beat the team across the street," said Carlyle, who led the Chargers with 92 yards on four catches. "It wasn't our best game, we will look at the film tomorrow and get better. It always feels good to beat Southern for the 13th time in a row."

The running game struggled for much of the game. New Haven finished with 146 rushing yards, but 59 came on the two scoring runs. New Haven rushed nine times for 77 yards in the fourth quarter. Pincince credited some of that being a result of a SCSU defense in desperation mode to try to create turnovers.

"That is them shooting gaps and trying to create turnovers," Pincince said. "We moved the ball on the last two drives out of necessity, but during the middle of the football game, we could not get ahead of the chains. We were in second and long way too much."

Veteran offensive tackle Will Ayers started at center with true freshman Justin Cesaire (Orange, N.J./Orange) getting the start at left tackle.

"We've gone with a grown, mature person there at the center position,"

Pincince said. "It is a completely different position than he has started for us over the last 2 1/2 years. It is kind of hard to him that we put him in that position to be honest with you. He didn't work there during the spring, he only worked there during the last couple of weeks before we started to go."

Ais finished with 102 yards on the ground for the Chargers. He  also had a key block to set up a completion to Terrell Ford (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore West) on the drive when the Chargers took their first lead.

Defensive backs Devonte Myles (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) and Giye Jenkins (West Orange, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) had eight tackles each for New Haven. Myles had a part in a fourth-down stop on Southern Connecticut's first drive of the second half.

Tylon Papallo had 107 yards on seven catches for Southern Connecticut (0-2) while Marc Reali and Joe Bernard split time at quarterback in place of Jackson Ostrowsky.

Roberto Nunez had nine tackles and DiGello finished with eight tackles and a sack to go with his interception.

New Haven plays American International College on Sept. 17 in the Northeast-10 opener.