Pioneers continue run toward conference title, playoff berth
FAIRFIELD — The numbers don’t lie. These days, the Sacred Heart University football team is mighty difficult to stop.
The Pioneers made quick work of Robert Morris on Saturday at Campus Field. They erupted for 35 first- half points in a 38- 7 rout of the worst team in the Northeast Conference.
Coming off back- to- back 500yard performances, the Pioneers finished their first four drives with touchdowns. Two of those — both 1- yard runs — came courtesy of quarterback Kevin Duke ( 10- of- 17, 138 yards, two interceptions), who was complemented by an explosive ground game for yet another week.
Jordan Meachum followed up his school record- setting 318- yard day against Bryant by rushing for 145 yards and two touchdowns. His freshman counterpart Julius Chestnut added 152 yards and a score on the ground.
“Our O- line’s gelling and playing their ( butts) off,” Pioneers head coach Mark Nofri said. “They’re sound and they’re physical. When you’ve got two backs like that, you give them a crease and they’ll find the holes. Right now offensively, they’re clicking. That’s what you want. You want to be able to run the ball to set up the pass.”
Added Meachum, a senior: “It just feels good to have a groove going. We’ve got to keep it going. We’ve got to keep working hard.”
With their third straight win, the Pioneers — 6- 3 overall and 4- 0 in the NEC for the first time since 2001 — maintained control over their own destiny. A win next week at Duquesne would clinch at least a share of the conference title and an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
“[ There’s] so much excitement,” Chestnut said. “We were just screaming in the locker room just now. We’ve got two more weeks left and we can be in the playoffs. We’ve got to take it week by
week.”
Nofri admitted that with so much potentially at stake next week, he feared his players might overlook Robert Morris. The Colonials entered the day at the bottom of the NEC standings ( 2- 7, 0- 5), having allowed almost 45 points per game.
It certainly didn’t take long, though, for the Pioneers to ease Nofri’s concerns. They drove 78 yards on seven plays on their opening drive, capped by a Duke touchdown. Then, after Noah Provenzano intercepted Jimmy Walker on the next series, Meachum scored on a 16- yard run to make it 14- 0.
The Pioneers would increase their lead to 21- 0 after the first quarter and 35- 0 at halftime.
“That [ overlooking Robert Morris] was my concern all week,” Nofri said. “You look at Robert Morris’ record; their record is not who they are. They play hard. … As a head coach, I was concerned until the final clock went off there.”
The Pioneers out- gained Robert Morris 485- 172, with 347 of those yards coming on the ground. The dominant performance came on the heels of a 49- 26 win over Bryant, in which they ran for 538 yards.
Meachum, who has eclipsed 100 yards in five straight weeks, said that every week from here on out is a “championship game.” The Pioneers sit one game up on Central Connecticut State and Duquesne with two to play. They hold the head- to- head tiebreaker over the Blue Devils.