On Saturday, the New Haven Chargers traveled to face the Long Island University (LIU) Sharks in a key conference matchup but fell short, 38-16.
The Chargers entered the game with a 4-3 record, coming off a dominant 69-0 victory over Western Connecticut that drew national attention as one of the largest point differentials in college football this season. The win highlighted New Haven’s explosive offense and strong defensive play, both of which they looked to carry into this matchup. The Sharks, sitting at 2-5, were coming off a gritty 17-7 win over Robert Morris and hoped to use that momentum to protect their home field and slow down a surging Chargers roster.
The first half of this NEC matchup was controlled by the Sharks. LIU won the opening coin toss, and elected to defer and let the Chargers start with the ball. The Chargers got a short drive going, which ended up in an early punt giving the Sharks the ball with poor field positioning. Both teams traded positions for each other’s next drives, until the Sharks running back O’shawn Ross struck and broke off a 69-yard rush, which led to an easy touchdown by quarterback Luca Stanzani on a seven yard rush. The Sharks touchdown made it 6-0 pending the extra point attempt, which was good. The Chargers remained stiff on offense, unable to move the ball and ended up fumbling which gave the Sharks great field positioning at the 39-yard line. They made the most of this, and found the endzone again with another rush by Stanzani, this time four yards, and advanced the score to 14-0 with the extra point attempt good.
To start the second quarter, the Chargers retained possession of the ball, but continued to be stopped. With a great punt, the Sharks started their drive with poor field positioning, which led to a sequence of bad plays, with the final being a sack for a safety by Luke Kelley. The Chargers got the ball back, and made the most of this momentum swing, leading a very efficient drive down the field, being capped off by a 28-yard touchdown pass from AJ Duffy to Logan Schmidt.
With a 14-9 score, the Chargers defense continued to thrive as Myles Hansford broke up a pass, which led to a pick six by Brodie Williams. With the pick six, the Chargers took a 16-14 lead over the Sharks. Unfortunately, this was the end of this momentous swing for the Chargers, as the Sharks dominated the remainder of this half and scored two touchdowns before the clock hit zero. Their first being from a short rush from Stanzani to make the score, 21-14. Their second being a short throw from Stanzani to Jayden Simpson, which would be broken off for a touchdown advancing the Sharks lead to 28-16.
To start the second half, both teams struggled to find any rhythm offensively and traded possessions as neither side could gain much momentum. The turning point came when the Chargers had a mishandled punt, followed by a costly penalty that handed the Sharks excellent field position deep in New Haven territory. The Sharks made the most of the opportunity, punching it in with a 22-yard rushing touchdown from Stanzani to push their lead to 35-16.
From there, the game stayed rather stagnant, with both defenses tightening up and limiting big plays. The only additional points came late in the fourth quarter when the Sharks added a field goal to make it 38-16 as they closed out the game and secured the win.
With the loss, the Chargers move to an overall record of 4-4. Next week, the Chargers will have a short road trip, as they are set off to play against the Sacred Heart University (SHU) Pioneers. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at SHU’s Campus Field in Fairfield, Conn. For more information about the Chargers, visit NewHavenChargers.com.
