GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: October 26, 2024
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LOCATION: Brian Kelly Stadium
Worcester, Mass. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
TICKETS | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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THE FIRST LOOK
After securing the Elm City Trophy for now a 14th straight year, all attention turns to defending a Northeast-10 title for the New Haven football team as they head to Worcester, Mass. to face the Assumption Greyhounds who are a perennial foe for the Blue and Gold for the top spot in the league standings. The Chargers look to remain unbeaten in the NE10, while Assumption is looking for a bit of revenge after suffering an overtime defeat at the hands of Saint Anselm last week. The Greyhounds will also be searching for a Homecoming victory as they welcome back alumni on Saturday afternoon.
INSIDE THE SERIES
·        New Haven and Assumption meet for the 18th time in the history of the two programs, which dates back to the Chargers first year in the NE10, 2009.
·        Despite an overall record that stands in favor of the Greyhounds (9-8) New Haven has won four of the last five meetings against Assumption who held on for a 14-13 victory ion 2022 to break up the streak of three-straight UNH wins.
·        Prior to that three-game streak, Assumption had won six straight against the Chargers, including a 17-14 decision in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship game in 2015.
·        Included in the series is three-straight years where the teams met twice, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
A WIN OVER ASSUMPTION WOULD...
·        be the sixth straight win for the Chargers.
·        be the second straight against Assumption and even the all-time record at 9-9 in one of the toughest match-ups for the Chargers in the NE10
·        keep the Chargers as the only undefeated team in NE10 Conference play.
·        be the 288th overall victory in the 45 plus year history of Charger Football.
·        be the 258th victory since the Chargers began playing at the Division II level - first DII season was 1982.
GAME DAY FORECAST
An unexpected late October stretch of warm weather continues as the Chargers get back to work on Saturday under good conditions thanks to the warm spell. The forecasted high temperature at kickoff is 65 degrees under partly cloudy skies with a minimal nine percent chance of precipitation. Additionally, winds will be very light with any winds coming out of the west at nine miles per hour. Sunrise on Saturday is 7:22 p.m. with sunset coming soon after the conclusion of the game at 5:38 p.m.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Following its first back-to-back shutouts since the 1997 season, New Haven gets back to work on Saturday looking to remain as the only undefeated in the Northeast-10 Conference as they attempt to repeat as league champions which would be the first time a team has repeated as NE10 champions since the Chargers did so in three-straight seasons (2010-11). The Blue and Gold will look to maintain their traditional defensive power which returned last time out against SCSU to hold the Owls to a season-low 29 rushing yards, marking the fifth-straight game New Haven has held an opponent under 75 rushing yards. Additionally, New Haven racked up a season-high eight sacks against the Owls, moving them into second in all of NCAA Division II in team sacks, averaging 3.83 per game. Leading the Chargers defense is Chris Campbell (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) with 41 total tackles, while four different players all have two or more total sacks, led by Wilson Frederic (Everett, Mass./Everett) with four. Offensively, New Haven is averaging 36.8 points per game with much of its offensive success coming from its running game which heading into this week against Assumption has galloped for 1,387 yards, averaging 231.2 yards per game. Leading the efforts is senior Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) (718 total rushing yards) who had a career-high 227 yards at Bentley, marking the first time since the 2015 season a player has run for 200+ yards in a single game. Ais isn't the only back to watch out for as Zaon Laney (Hoboken, N.J./Rahway) is just behind him on the year with 482 rushing yards and combined the pair has 10 touchdowns (Ais 7, Laney 3). Under center, New Haven continues to rely on its returning starter, Daelen Menard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade Madonna), who has 1,064 yards and 13 touchdowns on the year, completing 74-of-136 pass attempts. The other highlight for the Chargers has been in the return game where junior Kha'lil Eason (Norwalk, Conn./Brunswick School) is averaging 37.6 yards per return with three returns of 80+ yards including a pair he returned to the house for touchdowns.
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
The Greyhounds look to get back in the win column after a tough road loss at Saint Anselm, falling to the Hawks 20-14 in overtime. The Greyhounds offense enters week seven averaging under 300 yards per game (277.7), splitting their offense straight down the middle with 842 yards rushing and 824 yards passing. On the ground, Kameron Robbins leads the team with 401 yards and three of the nine total rushing TD's. Jay Kastantin has been the Greyhounds go to quarterback with all but 12 of the 824 passing yards, connecting on 73-of-132 attempts with just three interceptions in the first six games. His primary target downfield has been Quinn Sieger who has 32 catches for 274 yards while the next closest receiver has caught just eight passes. Defensively, Assumption is holding teams to just 16.5 points per game, including a pair of opponents to just seven points and not surrendering more than 28 points in a single game all season. Leading the Greyhounds defense is Dion Kuinlan who has 59 total tackles, followed by Owen Fitzgerald with 46 tackles which includes a 5.5 TFL and a team-high 3.5 sacks.
NEXT ON TAP
After being away from home for a month, the Chargers will finally return to their home field as they open up the third month of the season with an instate match-up against Post University on Saturday, November 2. Opening kickoff between the Chargers and Eagles is set for 1:00 p.m. with the game serving as Military Appreciation Day at DellaCamera Stadium. All of the action in the conference battle will be available on NE10 Now on Flo College.
