Oct. 26, 2002

Final Stats

FAIRFIELD, CT - Senior safety Blake Neri (Dover, NH) ran back a fumble 70 yards after a blocked punt midway through the third quarter, and Sacred Heart University took advantage of six Central Connecticut turnovers to lead the Pioneers to a 17-3 win over the Blue Devils in a Northeast Conference football battle Saturday afternoon.

Central Connecticut, which had a four-game winning streak snapped, scored first on a 41-yard field goal by freshman Derek Pearson just four minutes into the contest. The score was set up when John Mahaffey recovered an Ed Pricolo fumble at the Sacred Heart 25.

Sacred Heart, now 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the NEC, took a 7-3 lead on a 14-yard run by senior Eric Hernandez with 13:54 left in the first half. Senior defensive tackle Odain Mitchell (Bridgeport, CT) gave the Pioneers the opportunity by picking off a pass by Central's Scott Dolch at the CCSU 43 and returning it to the 38. Sacred Heart junior QB Joe Kroells hit senior Doug Geoffrey with a 24-yard pass on the first play after the turnover, and two plays later Hernandez hit paydirt.

Sacred Heart picked off Dolch again on the next Central possession. This time it was junior Briton Keel (Franklin, MA) who did the damage and returned it to the CCSU 25. The Pioneers couldn't move the ball offensively, and settled for a 39-yard field goal by senior Tim Redican (Meriden, CT).

Central Connecticut had a chance to answer just before the half when Chris Blackshear intercepted a Kroells pass and returned it 41 yards to the SHU 24. Nick Dresko ran a reverse on the first play that picked up 11 to the SHU 13, but Dolch was sacked by Mike Burbridge on the next play and lost eight yards. Two more pass attempts by Dolch fell incomplete and the half ended without any Blue Devil points.

Sacred Heart would get the only other score in the game with 7:44 left in the third quarter. Pearson lined up for a 22-yard field goal attempt that was blocked by SHU's Brian Pawlowski. The ball bounced right back to Pearson who tried to run around the right end. Pearson was hit hard and fumbled the ball. It rolled back to the SHU 30 where Neri picked it up and raced 70 yards the other way for a TD.

The Pioneer defense stifled the Central Connecticut offense, holding them to just 137 total yards. Dolch was sacked seven times in the game and threw four interceptions, while completing just 8 of 32 passes for 99 yards. SHU held Central tailback Major Cole, who was averaging over 102 yards per game, to just 40 yards on 13 carries.