The game and perhaps control of the Northeast-10 race was on the verge of slipping away from defending champion University of New Haven football team.

The offense struggled to sustain drives and host Bentley had the field position it needed to take the lead for the first time in the showdown of NE10 heavyweights on a blustery Friday night in Waltham, Massachusetts.

It was now or never for the proud New Haven defense to step up and make a game-deciding play.

Bentley quarterback Mark Waid, who had run so hard and effectively all game long to finish with 78 yards on 10 carries, tried to make something out of nothing when Chargers defensive end Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot) stripped the ball away. Linebacker David Onyemem (Dracut, Mass./Central Catholic) scooped up the ball and rumbled 34 yards for the score to lift New Haven to the 21-13 victory. It was the 14th straight regular season conference win for the Chargers.

"We were working all week," Quander said. "We were trying to keep him from running the ball down the field on us. I saw the quarterback step up and I was able to catch him. He almost slipped out of my grasp, but I tightened my hands up and was able to get him down. I didn't realize the ball was out until I got back up and saw David running down the field. Thank God David was right there, he was a trooper. He got down the field and scored the touchdown and got it done."

With the way the defenses played in this showdown, it seemed fitting for the biggest play of the game came on that side of the ball. It was New Haven's first fumble return for a touchdown since Josiah Shumaker brought one back 85 yards for a score in a 2019 game against Franklin Pierce. The difference is that scoop and score came in a 63-0 win at home against a new program while the play on Friday was against the team the Chargers needed to beat to win the 2021 NE10 title.

"Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot) made a really good play with the strip sack, the ball came out," Onyemem said. "I blacked out, I picked the ball up and started running.

"With me being a Mass kid, this is a place right up the road so it meant a lot to me to win in front of my home crowd. Even though it was an away game, there were a lot of my home fans who were here to watch me play."

The game wasn't over after Onyemem's score.

With Bentley needing to throw the ball, the defensive line was able to apply the pressure. Quander had a pressure on the next series as the Falcons were unable to drive down the field to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion.

The two quarterbacks were a combined 13 for 26 for 148 yards in the game as the two teams relied on the running game with the windy conditions impacting the ability to throw the ball down the field.

Sophomore Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) led the way with 131 rushing yards for the Chargers (3-1, 2-0 in the NE10) while Hunter Cobb (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) came in late to help run out the clock and he ended up with 25 yards on five carries.

Ais had a spectacular 42-yard run on the first drive of the game when he hurdled a would-be tackled. He finished off the drive with a 10-yard run as he carried the ball four times for 59 yards.

"Nothing was really going through my head (on the longest offensive play in the game)," Ais said. "I was just trying to get the best of the defender. I should have scored after that.

"Our plan was to start out fast and we did that. This is probably one of the teams that we had a circle around them so beating them, that is really big."

Bentley (2-2, 0-1) answered right back with some strong running of its own before a pressure by Mazon Walker (Huber Heights, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) on third down when the Falcons were in the red zone helped New Haven hold Bentley to a field goal.

Early in the second quarter, Degenhardt connected with Kasi Hazzard (Hillside, N.J./Edison) on fourth down to keep a drive alive. Degenhardt scored from 1-yard out to push the lead to 14-3.

New Haven had a chance to take the 11-point lead into halftime.

However, Waid hooked up with Isaiah Decias for completions of 19 and 15 on 3rd and long plays to keep alive a drive that lasted nearly nine minutes.

Vinnie Holmes had a 4-yard scoring run with 39 seconds left in the first half to make it a 14-10 game at the half.

Following the game, New Haven coach Chris Pincince mentioned the importance of the defense holding Bentley to a pair of field goal attempts and only one of them was successful when the Falcons drove into the red zone in the first half.

"I think it says a lot about where we are heading, kind of coming together a little bit and picking each other up," Pincince said.

"Offensively, we didn't do our job in the second half. Our defense held them to two field goal attempts and the big play and the score."

Having the game on Friday night will give the Chargers an extra day to prepare for another road trip as New Haven plays at Saint Anselm on Oct. 1. If he had his way, the Bentley game would have been played on Saturday just as every other game on the schedule.

"Coming up here and playing Friday night, it is pitch black, it is dark," Pincince said. "Legitimately there were 423 people [at the game]. I know everybody was joking about it, but I don't know why we play these games on Friday night. It ruins our kids' experience of a nice college atmosphere on Saturday afternoon, but I thought our kids handled the adversity well, I thought they did a nice job and hopefully we can build on this."

Khyon Fitzpatrick (Union, N.J./Paramus Catholic) nine tackles after missing last week's game. Damon Burton added eight tackles. Tahlee Bailey (Somerset, N.J./Rahway) drew praise from Pincince and both Quander and Onyemem for his play after he missed last week's win over American International.