A 12-play, 81-yard fourth quarter drive gave the Sacred Heart University football team a 28-19 win over Northeast Conference host Bryant University Saturday afternoon.  The victory improves the Pioneers to 5-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, while the Bulldogs fall to 5-5 and 3-2 in NEC action.

Sacred Heart converted three third-downs on the 6:14 drive in the middle of the fourth quarter. The drive led to a four-yard TD run from RJ Noel, giving SHU the 28-19 advantage. The drive answered a touchdown from Bryant that brought the Bulldogs within two points, 21-19. Moses Webb kept the Pioneers in the lead, batting away a two-point conversion following the Bulldog score.

The Pioneers complete the 2015 season at home on Saturday, November 21 when they host Wagner at noon on Campus Field.

The Drive

- The Pioneers took over on their own 19 with 11:15 to play and leading 21-19 and took up 6:14 of game clock on the 12-play, 81-yard scoring drive

- Noel converted a third-and-one with a 13-yard carry

- Noel found Webb for his first catch of the game for the second third-down conversion

- Noel connected with Jackson King for eight yards on third-and-three for a first down

- Two plays later Noel scampered 26 yards setting up first-and-goal, scoring from four yards out on the next play

- Noel carried the ball five times on the drive for 50 yards and was 2-3 passing for 21 yards

The Defense

-SHU forced six turnovers on the afternoon, with six different players contributing

-Mustapha Noibi, Tim Johnson, Matt Ilalio, Chris Hutton and Austin Bailey all had interceptions in the game

-Tyler Dube, playing corner on the final drive, recovered a fumble to secure the victory

-Connor Caveney finished with a team-best 10 tackles, including a tackle for loss

-The SHU defense recorded 6.0 TFL on the afternoon, with two from Hutton – who finished with eight tackles

The Numbers

-Chavious finished with 112 yards, his first 100-yard rushing game, and a touchdown, while returning six kicks for 115 yards

-Noel finished 7-20 passing for 126 yards and ran for 55 yards – scoring three touchdowns

-Dube had four catches for 75 yards on the day and a fumble recovery on defense

First Quarter

-SHU played into the wind in the first quarter and accumulated just 38 yards of offense

-Ricky Perez kicked a 37-yard field goal with 5:33 to play in the first quarter to cap a six-play, 22-yard drive for a 3-0 Bryant lead

-The Bulldogs next drive was also six-plays, this one for 42 yards and capped by a Ryan Barrett seven-yard touchdown catch to make it 10-0

Second quarter

-SHU accumulated 121 yards of offense in the second quarter, behind 68 yards from Nate Chavious

-Chavious carried twice on the Pioneers second drive of the quarter, scoring from 15-yards out to make the score 10-7

-The Pioneers scored again on a nine-play, 66-yard drive, capped by Noel's first TD of the game, a two-yard rung

Third Quarter

-Ose Imeokparia gave SHU the only points of the third-quarter, with a 30-yard touchdown catch with 3:30 to play in period

-Bryant maintained possession of the ball for 10:17 in the third quarter, but put no points on the board

Fourth Quarter

-Perez connected from 41-yards out on the second play of the quarter to make the score 21-13, capping an 11-play, 64-yard drive

-After forcing a three-and-out, the Bulldogs scored on a Dalton Easton one-yard run with 11:21 to play to make it 21-19

-The two-point conversion was deflected by Webb

Outside Factors

The game kicked off at 41 degrees with a 20+ MPH wind