SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Weather was certainly going to play a factor on a cold misty afternoon in western Pennsylvania as both teams ramped up their defensive efforts on the run game forcing the offense to shift and battle the conditions as the New Haven football team came up short, 14-7, in its NCAA Division II Football Playoff opening game. With the decision, New Haven falls to 8-3 to conclude its years after winning its second-straight and sixth Northeast-10 Championship.
"I want to start by saying Slippery Rock is a great team, it was a great environment," said head coach Chris Pincince. "We were excited to come out here and give it a shot again. We fell a little short but I couldn't be more proud of the 34 seniors we have in the football program and I wish Slippery Rock the best moving forward."
Defensively, the story is no different for the Chargers as the No. 2 rushing defense in the nation stood up to its ranking allowing just 31 yards from three different Slippery Rock backs who entered the day averaging 151.3 yards per game.
"On defense, our plan was to stop the run," said graduate defensive lineman and captain Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot). "We knew that if we could stop the run then we can force them to get things in the air and we could get after the quarterback. Devin O'Malley (Pawtucket, R.I./St. Raphael Academy) certainly got after the quarterback today."
With the run game capitalized by the Chargers, the Rock relied on its quarterback Brayden Long who threw for 270 yards on the day. The Chargers defense was able to penetrate the Rocks o-line, stopping the ball behind the line of scrimmage five times total, three of them sacks which all came from O'Malley who racked up 25 yards on those stops. Overall for the game, defensive back and captain Giye Jenkins (West Orange, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) led the Chargers with nine total tackles while Chima Opara (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) followed with eight. O'Malley, Christian Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) and Jalen Fisher (Pasadena, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) all followed with six.
Offensively, New Haven also would need to rely on its passing game as the Rock held the Chargers to just 63 rushing yards with Justin Felder (Hollis, N.Y./Holy Cross HS) leading the way with 43.
"They did a wonderful job," continued head coach Pincince. "They changed a couple things up there. We were hoping to run the ball a little bit more and move the football a little bit more offensively but unfortunately we ran up against a really good defense today."
Graduate quarterback Daelen Menard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade Madonna) wrapped up his career throwing for 205 yards, connecting on 18-of-32 pass attempts. Leading the efforts down field was Logan Schmidt (Carlise, Pa./Big Spring) and Zaon Laney (Hoboken, N.J./Rahway) who each finished with three catches, Schmidt racking up 78 yards and Laney 11.
Late in the opening quarter Schimdt set the Chargers offense up with its best field position of the half when he returned a Rock punt 32 yards where the offense took over at the Slippery Rock 38. After having a second down catch from Justin Felder (Hollis, N.Y./Holy Cross HS) called back, Menard's pass to the endzone for Matt Chandler (Oviedo, Fla./East Coast Prep) was broke up and the Chargers were forced to try for a 44-yard field goal which the Rock got around the end and blocked.
The Chargers offense had another great field position come late in the second quarter when the special teams unit came up clutch as the punt unit forced a fumble at the Slippery Rock 42 yard line that was recovered by Nick Carpinello (Coventry, R.I./Coventry). New Haven was unable to convert that turnover into points having to battle with long field position after penalties forced the offense back into their own zone.
Facing a 14-0 deficit as the Chargers got the ball for the first time in the second half, New Haven used the benefit of a 26-yard return from Jalen Smith (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) to march 64 yards in under four minutes and cut that deficit in half. Menard was big during the drive, completing four catches, three for double digit yards including back-to-back hauls of 17 and 19 yards, the latter to Mikey Caines (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) in the endzone.
After forcing the Rock to turn the ball over on the next possession on downs, New Haven looked to build off that momentum of the previous drive and the success of the passing game taking over on its own 26 yard line. After a penalty against Slippery Rock pushed New Haven to its own 40, Menard found Schmidt on the sideline where he broke free and ran 59 yards but the trailing defender was able to punch the ball free just before the goal line as the ball went out of the endzone for a touchback.
After forcing Slippery Rock to punt on its next two possessions, the Chargers looked poised to make a run when they took over on the Rock's 21-yard line with 9:31 to play. Back-to-back passes and back-to-back penalties on the Rock pushed the ball into the Rock's half of the field, but a rush for no gain and three incomplete passes led to New Haven turning the ball over on downs at the Rock 36 yard line.
New Haven would have two more drives in the final three minutes but was forced to punt on the first drive and Menard was caught behind the line of scrimmage for the only sack allowed by the Chargers offensive-line, turning the ball over to the Rock where they were able to kneel down for the victory.
New Haven and Slippery Rock will not go long without seeing each other and in fact will meet three times within a 12-month span as the Chargers and Rock will open up the 2025 season under the lights at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium with that opening game set for Thursday, September 4, 2025.
