On Family Day at the University of New Haven, the Chargers faced off against the Franklin Pierce University Ravens in the first home game for the Chargers. In an exciting game the Chargers were able to dominate the Ravens with a big 45-34 win.
To open up this high scoring shootout, the Ravens won the coin toss and elected to kickoff to the Chargers. On the Chargers first drive, they were unable to get anything going as they ran the ball for no gain in yards, threw an incomplete pass and took a sack to defensive tackle Mason Clark. The Chargers forced to punt the ball to the Ravens for 35 yards. The Ravens had a short quick tempo drive resulting in a 42-yard strike from quarterback Adrian Parker to wide receiver Kameron Massey. The Chargers down, were looking to score and gain momentum, and on this drive were able to catch their stride as they got some small gains going then a huge 37-yard deep ball completed to wide receiver Logan Schmidt. Then Chargers’ Christopher Ais punched it into the endzone for a five yard rushing touchdown.
On the following drive the Ravens weren’t able to get anything going and ended up having to punt back to New Haven. On this Charger drive, running back Zaon Laney dominated the ground game with almost all the yards for the drive, and a touchdown for the Chargers making it 14-7 UNH. The Ravens got the ball back and were unable to catch their stride as they lost the ball with a fumble, and the Chargers took back possession of the ball with great field position. Unfortunately the Chargers were not able to do anything with the ball and went for it on a fourth down and were stopped, giving the Ravens the ball back right where they had it prior. The Ravens drove down the field, and ended up throwing an interception to Chargers defender Giye Jenkins to start the second quarter.
The Chargers with the ball yet again were unable to get anything going as they got a small three yard rush, two zero yard gains and threw an interception. The Ravens with the ball didn’t do much better as they ended up giving the ball back to New Haven as they got a costly flag killing their drive. With the ball, the Chargers were finally able to put the ball in the endzone as quarterback Daelen Menard completed a huge pass to wide receiver Joshua Zamot for a 39 yard touchdown making the score 21-7. The Ravens seemed to have the same idea, on their next drive they drove down the field and Andrew Meleski rushed for a one yard touchdown making it 21-13. After these two drives, the scoring picked up as the Chargers drove down the field and Menard completed a 28 yard pass to wide receiver Matt Chandler for a touchdown making it 28-13. Franklin Pierce was unable to do anything with the ball on their next drive and the first half ended.
To open off the second half, Franklin Pierce got the ball. The Ravens were unable to get any points and elected to punt back to the Chargers. On this drive Menard caught his stride and completed a pass to Mikey Caines for a 59 yard touchdown making it 35-13. The Ravens got their offense back and put the ball in the endzone with a 21-yard pass to Joziah Gonzalez for a touchdown making it 35-20.
The Chargers on their next drive drove down the field, and ended up electing for a field goal which was no good, and the Ravens got the ball back. The Ravens drove down the field and ended their drive off with a 14-yard passing touchdown to wide receiver Kameron Massey making the score 27-35. Both teams then were unable to do anything on their next drives, eventually New Haven was able to drive down the field and kick a field goal by kicker Chandler making it 38-27. The Ravens got the ball back desperately needing a score, and turned the ball over. New Haven was able to tag along another touchdown with a 25 yard Ais rushing touchdown making it 45-28. The Ravens were able to push the ball down the field and score another 11-yard passing touchdown, this time to Tristan Johnson, making it 45-34. The Chargers got the ball back and kneeled the rest of the game out, leading to a big win.
Next week on Sept. 28, the Chargers will take on NE-10 Conference Rival Bentley at Bentley, who are 2-0 on the year. For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.
