Dukes comeback falls short in 38-31 loss at CCSU
Oct. 13, 2012
NEW BRITAIN< CONN. - Duquesne rallied from a 17-0 deficit to tie the game late in the third quarter, but could never gain the lead in seeing its Northeast Conference win streak snapped at seven in a 38-31 loss at Central Connecticut State. The win was the first of the season for the Blue Devils (1-5, 1-2) who entered the game looking to avoid the school's first six-game losing streak since 1986. DU dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the NEC. Sean Patterson threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns, but it was not enough to counteract 495 yards of total offense for CCSU. Ryan Ho, who rushed for a career-high 78 yards in place of injured Larry McCoy, ran for one touchdown and caught a scoring pass for DU. Sean Brady added two TD receptions for the Dukes who finished with 376 yards of total offense. Andrew Clements threw for one touchdown and ran for two more and Rob Hollomon ran for 164 yards and a score to lead CCSU. Ho, making his first career start, fumbled on the Dukes' first possession, setting up a 22 yard Juan Duque field goal. The lead was CCSU's first in any game this season. DU appeared to have CCSU stopped on its next drive when Clements, who was on the field as part of the field goal unit, took a handoff from Duque and hit tight end Eric McGlone with a 20 yard pass to the one. Clements plunged in on the next play to put the Blue Devils up 10-0 with 6:58 to go in the first quarter. The Blue Devils made it three scores in three possessions when Clements capped a 70 yard drive with a 7 yard run to put DU in a 17-0 hole early in the second quarter. The Dukes turned thier first defensive stop into a 2 yard Ho touchdown run to make it 17-7 with 6:17 left in the half. Patterson found Gianni Carter for a gain of 22 yards on a 4th-and-4 play from the CCSU 37 to set up the score. Patterson hit Brady with a 5 yard touchdown pass on DU's first possession of the second half and Leventry added a 30 yard field goal to tie it with 5:06 to go in the third quarter. With momentum in DU's favor, the Blue Devils mounted a 75 yard drive that ended with a 34 yard pass from Clements to Deven Baker to take a 24-17 lead. On the ensuing possession, Leventry completed a 27 yard pass to Brian Pommerer out of punt formation that would have given the Dukes the ball at the CCSU 29 but an illegal man downfield nullified the play. CCSU took advantage of the penalty to go 61 yards in 6 plays to take a 31-17 lead on a 14 yard run by Nate Pagan one minute into the fourth quarter. Derrick Lakins came up big on CCSU's next possession, when he forced a Clements fumble that was recovered by Horvin Latimer deep in Blue Devils territory. Patterson hit Ho with a 17 yard TD pass on the next play to cut the lead to seven with 10:42 left. Clements answered with a big play of his own as he scrambled from sideline to sideline before finding Thomas Tarantino behind the DU secondary for a 42 yard gain to the Dukes 32. Two plays later Hollomon scored from 29 yards out to make it 38-24. The Dukes answered quickly when Patterson hit Brady with a 25 yard TD pass to end a drive that covered 65 yards in 1:41. DU forced a punt and - aided by a hands to the face penalty on CCSU - took over on its 44 with 1:49 left. Patterson hit Carter for five yards to convert a 4th-and-4 and move the Dukes into Blue Devils territory, but two incompletions and a sack set up a 4th-and-17 pass that was broken up at the DU 25 with 19 seconds left. Duquesne returns home for the first of back-to-back home games when it takes on Sacred Heart on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 12:10 p.m. Scoring by Quarters
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