On Nov. 16, the New Haven Chargers took the shiny blue turf at DellaCamera Stadium for a huge showdown against the Pace University Setters in their regular season finale. With the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on the line, New Haven entered the game with an 8-2 record, including a 7-1 mark in conference play, and needing a win to secure back-to-back titles. Pace, at a 2-8 overall record, and a 2-6 record in the NE10, was looking to finish their season strong, but faced a challenge against the reigning champions. With both teams bringing high stakes to the field, the Chargers defeated the Setters, 41-14.
To start the first half, Pace won the opening coin toss, and elected to defer the ball to New Haven. The first kick of the game was off, kicked 63 yards deep, and received by Kha’lil Eason, found space and took it 98 yards for a touchdown. Pace then received the ball, and took it for 25 yards, which set themselves up at their own 30. Pace then had three unsuccessful plays that led to a punt which rolled out of bounds at the New Haven 34.
New Haven ended up trading possessions with Pace for a drive. The Chargers’ Logan Schmidt returned a 55 yard punt to the Pace 19, which set up a short, but important drive, as New Haven’s Zaon Laney rushed the ball into the endzone for a five yard touchdown. New Haven held a 14-0 advantage over the Setters. Pace got the ball back, and started to drive down the field, until a mixture of incompletions and New Haven’s defensive line stopped them, which led to a Pace punt. Schmidt muffed the punt and gave it right back to Pace. The Setters, who were at the Chargers 14-yard line, marched down the remaining field they had, and quarterback Aidan Kennedy found Teddy Harper on a 10-yard passing touchdown, and made the game 14-7. The remainder of the first quarter, New Haven and Pace traded possessions, ending the first quarter 14-7, with New Haven in the lead.
The second quarter began with Pace facing a second and seven from their own 28-yard line, but after rushing for no gain, they were forced to punt, and Evan Glusic’s 37-yard punt was downed at the 35-yard line. New Haven quickly went to work with quarterback Daelan Menard that included a 26-yard rush by Laney, a 10-yard pass to Laney, setting up a one yard touchdown run and a rushing touchdown by Menard to make it 21-7.
Pace got the ball back, and responded with a solid drive, as Kennedy connected with Gary Wilkins and Robert Ennis, but the drive stalled when Kennedy was sacked for a seven yard loss on third and 10. This led to the kicking team coming out to attempt a 43-yard field goal, the kicker Dylan Squillacioti’s attempt went up, and went far right, and left the score 21-7. New Haven took over with two minutes roughly remaining, and Justin Felder’s 20-yard rush helped move the ball into Pace territory. Despite an interference penalty on the Setters that advanced the ball to the Pace 30, New Haven’s drive faltered with a series of incomplete passes, and they turned the ball over on downs at the Pace 22. The first half ended with New Haven leading 21-7.
With the second half underway, Pace, who elected to defer the ball at the start of the game, received it to start the second half, and started at their own 25-yard line due to a touchback. Pace’s first drive started off rough with a personal foul, but then trended up with a five yard rush. The drive folded and they ended up electing to punt the ball.
New Haven started their first position at their own 23-yard line. Menard handed the ball to New Haven’s leading rusher, Christopher Ais, and found nothing but blue turf as he took it 77 yards for a touchdown, and made the game 28-7 in the Chargers favor. Pace got the ball at their own 25, and started picking up some yards through a six yard gain. Then they got the play they needed, which was a pass from Kennedy, to Tyreek Smith for 40 yards. Pace picked up a gain of six, then a loss of five due to a sack, then another loss of eight due to a sack. On fourth down, on fourth and 17, Pace went for it, and Kennedy’s pass to Elizjah Lewis was incomplete. New Haven, with the ball, looked to continue to add on to their lead.
The Chargers started driving down the field, with some chunk plays from Laney, but on fourth down the Chargers went for it, and ended up turning the ball over. Pace, with possession, had three straight unsuccessful plays, and on fourth down got sacked again for a loss of four, and the turnover on downs. New Haven drove down the field and ended up scoring, courtesy of Menard, as he found Tommy Guilfoyle for a one yard touchdown. For the remainder of the third quarter, neither team scored. The Chargers finished with the ball in their possession and had a 34-7 advantage over the Setters.
New Haven continued to dominate in the fourth quarter, as they opened the period with a 51-yard touchdown run by Felder, which extended their lead to 41-7. After a successful extra point, Pace had a glimmer of hope with a big 61-yard pass from Luke Porcaro to Gary Wilkins, setting them up at the New Haven 12-yard line. However, a series of sacks derailed the drive, and on 4th-and-18, Porcaro’s pass was intercepted by New Haven’s Liam Godwin and gave the Chargers possession at their own one-yard line. New Haven then methodically moved the ball down the field, with Jalen Smith and Chandler Jack contributing key runs. The Chargers continued to advance with 6:24 remaining, Pace got the ball back at their own 45-yard line. After some short gains, Luke Porcaro connected with Jhamier Howard for a 19-yard gain to the New Haven five-yard line, and then capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to Elizjah Lewis, which made it 41-14 with seconds remaining. New Haven received the ensuing kickoff and ran out the clock, securing a 41-14 victory to cap a dominant performance.
With the huge win by the Chargers, they are back to back Northeast-10 champions, and will be heading to the playoffs yet again. The stage is not set yet, as the opponent for the Chargers is still being decided, but we can all look forward to a great game. For more information about the Chargers, visit NewHavenChargers.
