Box Score
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.- The Christopher Newport University football team sent a Homecoming crowd of 5,222 home happy Saturday night. The Captains won their third straight game, a 24-7 verdict over Averett University at POMOCO Stadium.

CNU trailed, 7-0, late in the first half and proceeded to score 24 unanswered points for the triumph. The Captains improved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

"We just couldn't get the offense going for about three and a half quarters," Head Coach Matt Kelchner said. "Our defense was solid again, and we finally broke loose a bit there at the end. I give Averett credit, they played hard and gave us a good game."

The Cougars lost for the sixth straight time, and fell to 1-8 overall and 0-6 in the conference.

Averett opened the scoring late in the second quarter thanks to a nine play drive that covered 72 yards. The Cougars broke the scoreless tie with a nine-yard scoring run from Xavier Morgan to give Averett a 7-0 advantage.

The Captains then travelled 71 yards in just over a minute and a half to even the game before halftime. Junior quarterback Marcus Morrast scored on a five-yard run, the seventh play of the drive, to even the game at 7-7 at the intermission.

Following a scoreless third quarter, the Captains broke the game open by scoring 17 points in the final quarter. Junior kicker Mason Studer connected on a 22-yard field goal to give CNU its first lead of the evening with 12:08 to play.

Christopher Newport then scored twice on running plays from sophomore Paul Dukes to put the game away. Dukes scored on a 21-yard scamper with 10:41 on the fourth quarter clock, and then reached the endzone again on a 10-yard run with 3:01 to go to give the Captains the 24-7 triumph.

Dukes finished the night with 125 yards rushing on 17 carries and two scores. Morrast ran for 77 yards and a touchdown and also completed eight of 20 passes for 159 yards.

"Marcus was throwing the ball high tonight...he missed on his first eight attempts," Kelchner continued. "But he got it going, made some adjustments and really helped us in the fourth quarter. Our offensive line did a better job too and opened some good gaps for Marcus and Paul (Dukes)."

CNU's defense came into the game leading the USA South in scoring defense as well as rushing and overall yardage numbers. They should continue to lead all three categories following their effort Saturday night. The Captains allowed just seven points, 96 rushing yards, and 253 total yards to the Cougars.

Senior linebacker Evan Moog went over the 100-tackle mark for the season with a team-high 14 stops. Moog also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Jalen Nellum intercepted two Averett passes, and sophomore linebacker Mic Edwards posted nine tackles.

The victory was the 11th over Averett in 13 games in the all-time series.

In addition to being Homecoming Weekend at CNU, the game also featured Senior Night honors as 18 senior members of the squad and three student assistant coaches were recognized before kickoff.

The Captains won four of five home games in 2013 and are now 46-20 all-time at POMOCO Stadium for a winning percentage of 70 percent.

CNU concludes the regular season next Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at Ferrum College. The Captains could match their all-time best regular-season record of 8-2 with a win next week.