Press Conference

Highlights

The Sacred Heart University football team earned its second consecutive win over a defending league champion with a 27-14 victory over Lafayette College Saturday night on Campus Field.  The Pioneers are off to a 2-0 start, while the loss dropped the Leopards to 0-1 on the year.

Sacred Heart sealed the victory with 1:41 to play in the fourth quarter as RJ Noel (Lowell, Mass.) plunged in from a yard out for his second rushing touchdown of the evening to make the score 27-14.  The score was setup by a third-and 13 reception from Noel to Jackson King (Merrimack, N.H.) that put the ball at the Leopards one-yard line.  Noel rolled out of the pocket under pressure and lofted the ball over two Lafayette defenders as King laid out to make the catch. 

Noel started the scoring for Sacred Heart with a five-yard strike to Tyler Dube (Southington, Conn.) to cap a 10-play, 98-yard scoring drive with 3:18 to play in the first quarter.  Lafayette's Ross Scheuerman took the ensuing kick-off 90-yars and Ryan Forrester converted the point after to knot the score 7-7.

Chris Rogers (Cazenovia, N.Y.) knocked home a pair of field goals in the second quarter, from 37 yards and 35 yards to put SHU in front 13-7 early in the period.  Noel scored his first rushing touchdown of the game on the next possession, with 5:02 left before intermission, on a seven-yard scamper.

Lafayette got within a score in the third quarter with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Reed to Brian Keller (Somerdale, N.J.), cutting the Pioneers lead to 20-14. Reed finished with 131 yards passing, 19-39, while Keller had a team-best five catches for 68 yards. Scheuerman rushed 10 times for 63 yards to lead the Leopards on the ground.

The Pioneers did not commit a turnover in the outing, while intercepting three Drew Reed (Lakeland, Tenn.) pass attempts, including his final attempt with 18 seconds left to play.  J.D. Roussel (Pawtucket, R.I.), TaMaric Wilson (Alexandria, Va.) and Troy Moore (Worcester, Mass.) each intercepted passes on the night for the Pioneers. Sacred Heart allowed the Leopards only 229 yards of total offense and only 98 on the ground.

Noel finished 14-32 passing, for 184 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 49 yards of rushing.  King had a game-high 98 yards receiving on five catches, while Dube also had five catches, for 30 yards.  Keshaudas Spence (Roxbury, Mass.) carried the ball 22 times for a game-high 80 yards.

Weather conditions were a challenge throughout the night, with the opening kick-off delayed 30 minutes due to lightening.  The second-half was delayed nearly 20 minutes when lightning struck just prior to kick-off.

Sacred Heart continues its season opening home stand September 13 at 6 p.m. versus Assumption.  The game will be followed by a firework display.