SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Despite the final score there were a number of positives to take away from the New Haven Football team's 22-7 season opening loss at the hands of No. 11 Slippery Rock on Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
Defensively, New Haven held a team who averaged nearly 41 points per game to just 22 points, keeping The Rock out of the end zone the whole second half, limiting Slippery Rock to single field goal over the final 30 minutes of action.
"Our defense did a wonderful job today against a very high-powered offense," said head coach Chris Pincince. "Slippery Rock Does a great job, they are well coached, they check things at the line of scrimmage and have a top-notch quarterback, one of the best quarterbacks in the country."
Overall, the Chargers defense limited Slippery Rock to 284 total yards on offense and surrendered just 16 first downs, while limiting The Rock to 4-of-12 in third down conversions.
"That is a very good team that we just played," said head coach Chris Pincince. "I assume that they will be there right at the end again, not just in the PSAC West but PSAC in general and one of the best teams in the country. Really outstanding quarterback. Carries himself great, throws the ball to the right people and defensively they play very hard and very physical."
"I hope for us, at the University of New Haven, this is a great learning week for us and we can get into our conference schedule next week and improve on what we just did right there."
Leading the Chargers dense on the day was graduate DB Jalen Fisher (Pasadena, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) who racked up nine total tackles, five unassisted. Senior captain Giye Jenkins (West Orange, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) followed with eight tackles while senior DB Chima Opara (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) and graduate LB Joe Vitale (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) each followed with seven. Both Fisher and Vitale added a TFL among their totals with Vitale leading the duo with three years and Fisher adding one yard.
Also among the defensive highlights was graduate DB Brian Whitmore (Pennsauken, N.J./Camden) who forced a turnover late in the fourth quarter when he punched the ball out on a rush attempt and simultaneously jumped on it for the recovery.
Offensively, New Haven racked up 276 total yards, outgaining Slippery Rock in the passing game with graduate quarterback Daelen Menard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade Madonna) finishing his day connecting on 16-of-40 attempts. The highlight for Menard came with just 25 seconds remaining before halftime when he found Mikey Caines (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) down the right sideline, just outside the endzone for what resulted in a 35-yard touchdown.
The 126 yards on the ground for New Haven came from three different backs as the Chargers spread the wealth throughout the day. Leading the way was senior Christpher Ais who finished with 64 yards on 16 attempts. Justin Felder (Hollis, N.Y./Holy Cross HS) and Zaon Laney (Hoboken, N.J./Rahway) followed with 39 and 34 yards, respectively, with Felder the biggest gain on the ground with a 29-yard scamper.
In addition to the three backs, New Haven rolled out 11 different receivers on the day. Leading the group was Caines who in addition to his 35-yard touchdown, adding 18 more yards for a 53-yard day. Josh Zamot (Millville, N.J./Holy Spirit) followed with 40 yards, including 35 yards after the catch, while Matt Chander rounded out the top three with 24 yards.
"We've got some really, really good backs," continued Pincince. "We showed that today with those four guys. But we are still very inexperienced. We wanted to play everybody today. I think there were 14 kids who played their first college football game for us today. Even though we have 37 seniors, we're still young, we're still inexperienced, especially at the wide receiver position."
"If we can compete with Slippery Rock, we think this will be great for the rest of the year, but we have to clean things up. If we don't turn the football over and clean up the penalties, I think we're having a different conversation
After returning from Western, Pa., the Chargers will get right to work as they have a short week ahead of their next game which comes on Friday, September 13 with a trip to Northwell Stadium in Pleasantville, N.Y. for a non-conference date against the Pace Setters. Opening kickoff under the lights is slated for 7:00 p.m. with all of the action available live on Flo Sports.
