Post Game Video- RB Marcel Archer
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (October 2, 2010) – The
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils turned in 264 yards rushing
and kept Sacred Heart off the scoreboard in the second half en
route to a 24-14 win over the Pioneers in Northeast Conference
action Saturday afternoon on Campus Field. The Pioneers were
held to just 98 yards of offense in the second half as they drop
their fourth-straight and fall to 0-3 in the NEC.
SHU (1-4, 0-3 NEC) quarterback Dale Fink (Swansea,
IL) finished 20-of-34 in the loss, throwing for 185 yards
and a first quarter touchdown to running back Marcel Archer
(Miami, FL). Archer ran of 70 yards on 20 carries
and added a rushing score to account for all the Pioneer
points.
Central's (3-2, 2-0 NEC) Everette Benjamin ran for 127yards on
24 carries and put the stamp on the Blue Devil win with a
three-yard score late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback
Gunnar Jespersen threw for 75 yards and ran for 71 more. Eric
Richardson ran for 67 yards on 10 carries and scored on a 20-yard
scamper in the second quarter.
The Pioneers grabbed the early lead on Saturday, taking the
opening kickoff and marching 72 yards for an opening score.
Fink move the SHU offense down the field on 12 plays with Archer
carrying the bulk of the load with seven rushes on the drive.
The senior tailback finished off the drive catching a Fink pass
over the middle and scoring from 18-yards out on a third-and-seven
play.
CCSU answered with points on their opening drive as senior place
kicker Joe Izzo buried a 33-yard field goal to cap off a 14-play
drive and the Blue Devils would add to that to open the second
quarter. Richardson put the Blue Devils up 10-7 with 9:05
left in the half, bouncing off a host of Pioneer tacklers on his
way to a 20-yard score capping a 13-play drive.
The Blue Devils went to their bag of tricks on their next
possession for another six points. Following a 23-yard
scamper by Benjamin on third and six, CCSU ran a reverse pass with
wideout Devan Baker hitting Richie Martin 39-yards down the field,
wide open for six and a 17-7 lead with 4:26 left in the half.
Fink got his offense going and answered just before the team
would go to the locker room, orchestrating an eight-play drive
capped by an Archer one-yard plunge. Fink went three-for-four
on the drive, completing passes to Rich Rossi (Moosic,
PA), Garry Coles
(Southington, CT) and Tony Patterson
(Groton, CT). Fink hit Rossi on the second play of
the drive for 24 yards and was helped by a 15-yard personal foul on
CCSU. Fink hit Patterson, seeing his first action of the
season, for 11-yards setting up SHU with a first and goal on the
Central five. Two plays later, Archer took it in for the
score, his team-leading seventh score on the year.
The second half belonged to Central Connecticut as the Blue
Devil defense took over, holding the Pioneers to just one of eight
on third down and 10 yards rushing. The Pioneers had an
opportunity to tie the game at 17-17 early in the fourth quarter
but came up short on a field goal miss.
Fink put together a 14-play drive but a Jesper
Fredriksson (Gothenberg, Sweden) 35-yard field
goal attempt missed wide left. The Pioneers converted a
fourth-and-four on the drive as Fink hit Patterson for seven yards
to the CCSU 32 and then overcame an intentional grounding penalty
with an 18-yard completion to Coles on a third-and-15 to the
19-yard line.
The Blue Devils put the game out of reach with an 11-play drive
capped by Benjamin's three yard score with 3:12 left. The
CCSU defense turned the Pioneers over on downs on their last
possession and was able to run the clock out for the win.
Defensively, SHU got a game-high 12 tackles from linebacker
Chris
Mandas (Mission Viejo, CA), eight solo and one for a
loss. Defensive end Justin Embler
(Cinnaminson, NJ) posted nine stops and forced a fumble
while outside linebacker Niko Sierra
(Longmeadow, MA) finished with eight tackles and a pass
break up. Safety Rashod
Underwood (Baltimore, MD) had his first interception
of the season in the loss.
Sacred Heart will hit the road and head to Bryant University
next Saturday, October 9th for a Northeast Conference
match-up. Kick-off is slated for 1 pm.
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