NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — New Haven (1-4) fell to Merrimack (2-3) 17-10 on Saturday at Duane Stadium. The Chargers' lone touchdown came on a quick third-quarter drive featuring a 40-yard pass by
Jake Tripptree (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), moving the score from 14-0 to 14-7. The Chargers finished with 10 first downs, 128 passing yards and 42 rushing yards, while Merrimack had 19 first downs and 318 rushing yards.
New Haven kept Merrimack off the board until the final minute of the first quarter, but Matthias Latham's 64-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds left, followed by the extra point, left the Chargers down 7-0. Earlier, New Haven's first possession reached the Merrimack 47 behind runs by
AJ Duffy (St. Augustine, Fla./Rancho Verde),
Zaon Laney (Hoboken, N.J./Rahway) and
Shaun Jackson (Parlin, N.J.) before the drive ended with a punt. Duffy also forced a fumble at the Chargers' 2 after a third-down interception, resulting in a touchback, but the Chargers were held scoreless in the quarter.
The Chargers' defense kept Merrimack off the board late in the second quarter, stopping a fourth-and-1 rush at their own 3-yard line with 1:54 left. Earlier, Merrimack scored on a fourth-down touchdown pass and extra point to make it 14-0, but
Nate Burleson II (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Ramapo) answered with a 45-yard kickoff return before New Haven's drive ended on downs. The quarter ended with the Chargers trailing 14-0.
New Haven cut Merrimack's lead to 14-7 on the opening drive of the third quarter, with Tripptree hitting Burleson II for 40 yards before Tripptree scored on a 1-yard run and
Liam Quigley (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Govenor Livingston) added the extra point. This was Tripptree's first rushing touchdown of the season. Merrimack held the ball for 10:59 in the quarter and reached the Chargers' 18 before the quarter ended, but New Haven allowed no third-quarter points and entered the fourth still down 14-7.
After Merrimack's 26-yard field goal made it 17-7, New Haven turned
Geoffrey Galloway's (Westchester, N.Y./Wyoming Seminary) recovery of a muffed punt into Quigley's 32-yard field goal at 4:24 to make it 17-10. The Chargers got one more chance after forcing a punt and moved from their 42 to the Merrimack 10 on Tripptree completions to Thomas Troy for 20 yards and
Matt Chandler (Oviedo, Fla./East Coast Prep) for 28. The drive ended with a sack and fumble recovered by Merrimack at 1:12, and the Chargers fell 17-10.
Ricky Encarnacion (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) led New Haven with a season-high 14 tackles. Tripptree completed 7 of 17 passes for 119 yards and scored a rushing touchdown. Quigley converted a 32-yard field goal and made his only extra-point attempt. Galloway added a fumble recovery.
New Haven has a chance to tie it late, but a lost fumble sealed it for Merrimack.
Up next, the Chargers will travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to face Austin Peay State University on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Fortera Stadium.
