It was hard to miss the anxiousness coming from the home crowd at DellaCamera Stadium on Saturday when the University of New football went into the locker room down by a point against rival Southern Connecticut State.

The third game of the season is not the time for must-score declarations, but the Chargers were determined to take control of the Elm City Bowl beginning with the first drive of the second half.

Elijah Jeffreys (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) delivered a momentum-changing catch to set up what proved to be the winning touchdown and the offense began to click on the way to a 34-7 win before a crowd of 2,586.

"It was good energy they were coming out from the defensive guys, from the offensive guys," New Haven coach Chris Pincince said. "I thought it was important that we go down and score. I know it is only the third week of the season but from a play of the year standpoint, it is that catch right there. It is a low ball, Elijah makes a hell of a play. It gives us an opportunity to score and it kind of steamrolls from there. If we don't make that play, they get the ball in decent field position."

Quarterback Daelen Menard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade Madonna) scored two plays after Jeffreys' catch on fourth down.

Southern Connecticut's attempt to regain the lead ended with Giye Jenkins' (West Orange, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) third interception of the season. Menard's 29-yard touchdown pass to Kasi Hazzard (Hillside, N.J./Edison) pushed the lead to 20-7.

Menard added an 18-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Foelsch (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) with Jalen Fisher (Pasadena, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) returning an interception for a touchdown as New Haven defeated the Owls for the 15th straight time.

Before that play, New Haven set the tone by calling six straight running plays. All six went from at least 10 yards, even if one of them was negated by penalty.

"It was a big mentality thing. Coach Kus [offensive line coach Walter Kusmirek] was talking to us before the game, we had to have that mentality that their guys aren't better than us, they don't work harder than us," New Haven offensive guard Xavier Bryson (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover / Fork Union Military Acad.) said. "We have a close bond as a O-line, we have that mentality that we aren't going to let our brothers down. After the first drive, we got it together."

Even playing without top running back Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) and having Jake Conlan (West Haven, Conn./Trinity-Pawling) get injured early, the running game had 89 of the 130 yards after halftime.

That set up the passing game to make some plays.

"After the first half, we were down one point, we didn't get that many drives in the first half, they ran the ball well and kept it away from us," said Menard, who was 17-of-24 for 212 yards and three touchdown passes.

"Starting the second half setting the tone, we needed to set the tone right there. I think we really took the wind out of them."

Following the game, much of the attention was focused on one of the two receptions by Jeffreys.

"I ran my route, and saw it was open in the middle," Jeffreys said. "[Menard] and I locked eyes, saw the ball coming and I had to make a play."

The Owls finished with just 131 yards of offense in the second half.

Two drive-extending offsides penalties didn't help as the Chargers pulled away for their 19th straight home win against Northeast-10 conference opponents.

Jenkins led the defense with 10 tackles to go with the interception and two pass breakups. Damon Burton added five tackles.

There were few questions about the New Haven defense. However, seeing the offense on three straight possessions was huge for the Chargers.

"That second half is how we want this offense to look, being able to make plays, being able to drive the ball down the field," Menard said.