The New Haven Chargers (4-1, 4-0 NE-10) ran the ball for over 270 yards in route to defeating NE-10 foe Bentley (1-4, 1-3 NE10). A pair of Charger running backs, senior Chris Liggio and junior Ryan McCarthy, led the Blue and Gold with 18 carries for 109 yards and 16 for 105 yards, respectively, with McCarthy having two touchdowns on the ground.

Quarterback Ajee Patterson didn’t have a spectacular day passing, completing 19 of 25 passes for 202 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. But he knew it was a ground-and-pound day on DellaCamera’s blue turf.  He rushed for 61 yards on nine carries, lighting up the scoreboard with two rushing touchdowns of his own. The Chargers offense didn’t feature much of graduate student Ju’an Williams or junior Damon Rodgers as we have seen in the last three weeks. The leading receiver was junior AJ Greene who finished the day with seven catches for 94 yards, but was unable to collect a touchdown.  

The trio of Charger rushers averaged 6.4 yards per carry, which summarizes the day.

Despite the most rushing yards on the day since their 2015 44-21 victory over Saint Anselm in Manchester, New Hampshire, where the Chargers had 420 rushing yards , the Chargers would not have won without a stellar performance defensively. Junior linebacker Scott Lavelle did the most, with five solo tackles, four assisted ones, a tackle and a half in Bentley’s backfield, and half of a major sack. The other half of that sack came from sophomore linebacker Mcprecia Remy, who had one tackle with six assisted tackles. That major sack lost Bentley seven yards on their final drive, leading to New Haven taking over on the ensuing drive to run out the clock.

The homecoming crowd of 3,950 witnessed New Haven’s eighth all-time victory over Bentley, with the Chargers improving to 8-3 in the series. On four chances, New Haven scored four times in the red zone. Sophomore Michael Stalenyj connected on a 36-yard field goal, the longest of his career. The Chargers remain undefeated in NE-10 play.

Next weekend is New Haven’s bye week. The following weekend consists of a trip up I-91 to Springfield, Mass., where the Chargers will play American International on Saturday, Oct. 13. The following weekend, New Haven matches up against Assumption in West Haven, in what has become an emotional yearly occurrence.  That game kicks off at 1:00PM on the blue turf of DellaCamera Stadium.