ALBANY, N.Y. – New Haven Football earned its first win with
Mark Powell at the helm with a 24-17 victory over University at Albany. Powell's Chargers found a way to stave off a late comeback by the Great Danes and earn their first win of the season.
Liam Quigley (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Govenor Livingston) opened the scoring with a 38-yard field goal to put the Blue & Gold ahead 3-0. With 102 seconds remaining in the first quarter,
AJ Duffy (St. Augustine, Fla./Rancho Verde) found
Matt Chandler (Oviedo, Fla./East Coast Prep) from 12 yards out to make it a 10-point lead for New Haven.
Two more touchdown passes from Duffy in the second quarter to
Evan Chieca (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) and
Kevonne Wilder (Bronx, N.Y./) opened up a 24-0 lead after 25 minutes of play.
A UAlbany touchdown with 1:57 to play in the second quarter sent the teams to the room with the score 24-7 in favor of the Blue & Gold.
10 more unanswered points later made it a 24-17 game with the Great Danes driving down the field as the clock bled out. As they got inside the red zone and had the game-tying touchdown within reach, UAlbany faced a critical fourth down.
With the game on the line, Powell's defensive leaders,
Sebastian Conwell (Bowling Green, Ky./Greenwood) and
Pete Melle (Dallas, Tx./Dallas Jesuit College Prep), got to Great Danes QB Jack Shields, dropping him a sack and creating a turnover on downs.
Duffy would kneel out the rest of the clock, sealing the 24-17 final.
New Haven hosts Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, Sept. 20, for its first home game of the season.
