New Haven wins the battle of Northeast-10 unbeatens

Zach Mauro rushed for 175 yards and quarterback Connor Degenhardt accounted for four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) as New Haven beat Bentley 31-14 on Saturday in West Haven to take control in the race for the Northeast-10 conference title.

New Haven (8-1, 7-0 NE-10) jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead behind two Degenhardt touchdown runs and a Briant DeFelice field goal. Degenhardt hooked up with Dev Holmes on a 20-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter before capping the scoring in the fourth on a 1-yard touchdown plunge.

New Haven can wrap up an unbeatean NE-10 campaign at winless Franklin Pierce next Saturday.

For Bentley (8-1, 6-1 NE-10), quarterback Stephen Sturm had a 16-yard rushing touchdown and a 20-yard passing touchdown in the second half.

Sacred Heart 14, Saint Francis 13: At Loretto, Pa., Marquez McCray threw two touchdown passes and Sacred Heart held on for a win.

McCray, who was 14-of-16 passing for 224 yards, found Rob DiNota for a 41-yard score and Naseim Brantley for 23 yards in the second quarter and that was enough for the defense of the Pioneers (6-3, 4-1 Northeast Conference).

The Red Flash (4-5, 3-1) missed a 42-yard field goal on the last play of the game.

Saint Francis opened the scoring when Raymond Crittenden returned a block punt 25 yards late in the first quarter. Alex Schmoke made a 42-yard field goal with a second left in the second quarter to pull the Red Flash within 14-10.

Schmoke connected from 41 yards to cap the first drive of the second half to end the scoring.

Saint Francis kept Malik Grant in check. Grant leads FCS in rushing with 1,039 yards, including 589 in the last three games but could only muster 71 in the defensive battle. Sacred Heart finished with 369 yards and the Pioneers held Saint Francis to 246.

WCSU 48, Fitchburg State 13: At Fitchburg, Mass., Chad Blaszky caught a 17-yard touchdown pass and had an 18-yard rushing score as WestConn ended its season at 5-5 (4-4 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference).

Quarterback John Giller threw for three touchdowns, while Julian Ferguson and Walter Crain pulled in TD receptions from nine and 61 yards in WestConn’s second-straight victory. Mack Driver plowed in for two more scores on the ground.

Fitchburg State fell to 0-9 (0-7).

Pace 18, SCSU 16: At Pleasantville, N.Y., the Owls saw a nine-point halftime lead slip away in the third quarter in an NE-10 loss.

Tylon Papallo put SCSU (4-5, 3-4 NE-10) ahead 9-0 with a 47 yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Pace (2-7, 2-6) answered with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, including a Neimar Santouse 99-yard return on a fumble recovery.

Papallo finished with 133 yards and a touchdown receiving to go with his long touchdown run.

CCSU 30, Bryant 15: At New Britain, Romelo Williams accounted for 233 yards and a touchdown and Central Connecticut controlled Bryant.

After Sacred Heart’s 4-1 record in the Northeast Conference, Bryant, Central Connecticut, Duquesne and St. Francis (PA) are tied for second at 3-2.

Williams threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyshaun James with 23 seconds left before halftime for a 13-7 lead and the Blue Devils led the rest of the way.

Central Connecticut (3-6) put together scoring drives of 65, 75 and 52 yards in the process of holding the ball for 35 minutes.

WPI 38, Coast Guard 6:

At Worcester, Mass., Zachary Levy carried 19 times for 219 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Engineers in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference game.

WPI improved to 3-6 (2-3 NEWMAC).

The lone score for Coast Guard (2-7, 0-5 NEWMAC) came on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Joe Armentrout to Jacob Wagner in the third quarter.

Williams 25, Wesleyan 0: At Williamstown, Mass., the Cardinals were held to 212 total yards on offense as they dropped their second straight.

David Estevez finished with a team-high 80 yards rushing for Wesleyan (6-2, 6-2 NESCAC). Ivan Shuran kicked four field goals for Williams (8-0, 8-0 NESCAC).

Trinity 49, Amherst 7: At Hartford, Spencer Fetter threw for 341 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Bantams to an NESCAC win.

Devante Reid finished with 157 yards and two touchdowns receiving on nine catches to go with a rushing touchdown for Trinity (7-1, 7-1 NESCAC). Thomas Walsh added a pair of touchdown receptions, while Jonathan Girard had 109 yards receiving and a touchdown on nine catches.

For Amherst (5-3, 5-3), Brad Breckenridge had the lone score on a 4-yard touchdown run.