Nov. 8, 2008

Box Score

STATEN ISLAND, NY - In a game played in steady rain and fog Duquesne's defense stood tall, holding Wagner to 118 total yards in snapping a five-game losing streak with a 14-0 win over the Seahawks at Wagner College Stadium.

The win, Duquesne's first since Sept. 27, upped the Dukes record to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Northeast Conference. Wagner dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in the NEC.

Cleodis Williams carried a career-high 28 times for 114 yards. Kevin Rombach, in his first start of the season, completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown.

The Duquesne defense, which entered the game giving up an average of 208 rushing yards per game, held Wagner to 26 yards on 29 carries.

The two teams combined for 10 punts in a scoreless first half played in a steady rain and fog that made it difficult to see the scoreboard at times.

Wagner twice pinned Duquesne inside its own five with punts, but both times the Dukes managed to gain enough yardage to prevent the Seahawks from winning the field position battle.

DU advanced to the Wagner 17 on its final possession of the first half but a pair of sacks sandwiched around a holding penalty pushed the Dukes back to the 43 and out of field goal range as time expired.

Duquesne broke the scoreless tie on its first possession of the second half when Rombach's 38 yard completion to Alex Roberson set up a 12 yard Rombach to Brian Layhue touchdown pass.

Later in the quarter, Duquesne's defense came up with a big play when Tyler Scruggs forced a fumble that was recovered by Ashton Burno at the Duquesne 27. Four plays later, on a second-and-goal from the 13, Williams broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage before scoring to put the Dukes up 14-0.

Duquesne's defense was dominating in the third quarter, holding Wagner to two yards on 12 plays.

The Dukes finished with a season-high six sacks - led by 2.5 from Scruggs - in holding Wagner quarterbacks Adam Farnsworth and Matt Abbey to a combined 9-of-25 for 92 yards.

Freshman Chidozie Oparanozie led the Dukes with 13 tackles. Scruggs finished with six stops and two forced fumbles as DU posted its first shutout since a 38-0 win at La Salle on Nov. 4, 2006.

Duquesne (3-6, 2-4) completes the 2008 season at home against NEC second-place Monmouth (6-4, 5-1) next Saturday. Kickoff for the Senior Day game is 1:00 p.m.

BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4	FINAL
DUQUESNE	0	0	14	0	14
WAGNER	        0	0	0	0	0
LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD):  DU - Williams (28-114-1);  WC - Young (17-45-0)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD):  DU - Rombach (20-10-0-112-1);  WC - Farnsworth (19-9-1-92-0), Abbey (6-0-0-0-0)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD):  DU - Layhue (4-29-1), Roberson (2-55-0);  WC - Young (3-46-0)
Tackles (Tot./Solo):  DU - Oparanozie (13/4);  WC - Gage (14/4)

GAME NOTES
The win - Duquesne's first on the road this season - snapped a five-game DU losing streak ... the streak was the longest by a Duquesne team since 1993 ... the Dukes, who entered the game giving up and average of 208 yards rushing per game, held Wagner to 26 yards on 29 carries ... the Dukes finished with a season-high six sacks (for minus 42 yards) and 10 tackles for loss (for minus 50 yards) ... the game was played in a steady rain and fog that made it difficult to see the scoreboard at times during the first half ... Wagner, which finished with nine first downs, didn't register its first first down until the 1:40 mark of the first quarter ... the two teams combined for 10 punts in the first half (six by Wagner) ... Duquesne's last shutout was a 38-0 win at La Salle on Nov. 4, 2006 ... first-year sophomore defensive end Tyler Scruggs (South Park, Pa./South Park) posted 2.5 of Duquesne's season-high six sacks in addition to forcing a pair of fumbles - the second of which led to DU's final score ... he finished with six total tackles (four solo) ... Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), the NEC preseason Offensive Player of the Year, made his first start of the season at quarterback ... the 6-1 junior completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown (13 yards to Brian Layhue) in less than perfect conditions ... junior tailback Cleodis Williams (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) carried a career-high 28 times for 114 yards including a 13-yard TD run with 26 seconds left in the third quarter ... it was his fourth 100-yard game of the season, marking the first time since 2003 that a DU running back topped 100 yards more than three times in a season (Mike Hilliard did it seven times in `03) ... sophomore linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle), who entered the game ranked second nationally in tackles per game at 13.4/g., suffered a knee injury that forced him to leave the game with 7:35 left in the third quarter ... freshman linebacker Chidozie Oparanozie (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School, W.Va.) posted a team and career high 13 tackles (four solo) including 1.5 tackles for loss and also broke up a pass ... freshman punter Josh Brisk (Plantation, Fla./American Heritage School) placed four of his nine punts inside the 20 in the rain and fog ... he averaged 38.6 yards on his punts including a 49-yarder.