A challenging week got all the more daunting when the University of New Haven football team was down by 14 points on a rainy night while playing on a short week without their starting quarterback, top running back and a starting defensive lineman.

The next man up mantra has been a familiar refrain in the Chargers program over the years and it proved to be more than just idle chatter as New Haven scored the final 33 points in a 33-14 win over American International College on Friday night.

"We didn't come ready to play at the beginning of the game," New Haven coach Chris Pincince said. "We dropped two balls and one went for a touchdown. We could have folded the tent but our team did a good job.

We have to protect the football and not give them the lead but our kids did a good job. I am proud of how hard they played and [learned] a little about their character."

An injury to starting quarterback Daelen Menard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade Madonna) gave Jack Chandler (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty) a chance to make his first start with the Chargers.

Chandler completed an 11-yard pass on fourth down to Kasi Hazzard (Hillside, N.J./Edison) to extend the next drive for the Chargers after AIC took the two-score lead. On a third-down play, Chandler went back to pass and when the AIC pass rushers left an opening, Chandler was untouched for a 3-yard scoring run.

"It was awesome," Chandler said. "It wasn't exactly how we drew it up but any time you get into the end zone, it is a good day."

A bad snap followed on the extra point.

On the first play of the second quarter, AIC called a flea flicker but Cephas Williams' pass was underthrown to allow New Haven freshman cornerback Jabron Solomon (Lawnside, N.J./Woodbury) to come away with the interception.

Another fourth-down completion by Chandler, this one to Javon Turner (Newark, N.J./Paramus Catholic), set up Hunter Cobb's (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) 6-yard TD run. The two-point conversion was no good.

"I knew Daelen was questionable and I had to be ready to go," Chandler said.

Pincince said that Chandler could start for any team in the Northeast-10 conference.

"He is a good kid," Pincince said. "He has given everything to this program. He has changed his body, he has changed how he works and he is an unbelievable character kid. I am happy he got an opportunity to come out and play. We have known all along that he can help us win football games. He carried himself really well. I thought he made great decisions."

His teammates were just as confident in their quarterback.

"I wish we didn't have the rain so he could throw the ball," Cobb said.

The New Haven defense came through again when Devin O'Malley (Pawtucket, R.I./St. Rafael Academy) stuffed Sidiki Kone on 4th-and-1 at midfield. After four straight runs by Zaon Laney (Hoboken, N.J./Rahway), Cobb bolted in from 16 yards and Vincenzo DeSimone (Naples, Fla./Sparta) added the PAT to make it 19-14 with 1:38 left in the first half.

Davon Colon (Cromwell, Conn./Xavier), Tom Griese (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) and Chidi Nna (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) combined for a sack late in the first half and AIC let the rest of the time run off the clock.

New Haven finished with 10 tackles for loss and six sacks. Griese had 1.5 sacks with David Abolarinwa (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) finishing with three tackles for loss and two sacks.

"Coach [Matt] Scott [New Haven's defensive coordinator] challenged the D-line as a group to prove that we were one of the best groups in this conference," Griese said. "I think all the guys, the 1s, the 2s, the 3s, we are really deep and everybody took that challenge."

A penalty wiped out another fourth-down conversion on New Haven's first drive of the second half. A sack by Joe Vitale (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) had AIC punting from its own end zone and Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy) returned the punt 45 yards for the score. It was the first punt return for a touchdown for New Haven since Springfield native Juan Williams accomplished the feat in 2019.

Cobb added his third TD of the game with a 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Cobb finished with 113 yards and three TDs with Laney adding 99 yards on the ground.

"We got punched in the mouth but we can handle it and I have full confidence in our team to make sure we get back into the lead," Cobb said. "I was really confident, even down 14.

"Rainy days is when we run the ball so I absolutely loved it."

New Haven (4-1, 3-0 in the Northeast-10) won back-to-back conference games on the road in a span of six days.

New Haven has won nine straight against AIC as well as eight straight in Springfield.