EWING, N.J. - For the first time in the 16-year history of Christopher Newport University football, the Captains have posted a 4-0 record to start a season. CNU, ranked 24th in the country, defeated the College of New Jersey Saturday, 17-0, marking the first shutout for the Captains in nine seasons.
"We did some very good things on defense and on special teams today," Head Coach
Matt Kelchner said. "I think our offense got off to a good start, but we didn't execute at times and really got hurt by way too many penalties. TCNJ has a good defense, and we knew that coming in. This result obviously has a whole lot to do with what our defense did today."
Christopher Newport jumped to an early lead thanks to an eight-play, 66-yard drive on its first possession of the afternoon at Lions Stadium. Junior quarterback
K.J. Kearney connected with junior receiver
Khiry Weaver on a seven-yard scoring pass to put the Captains on the board. The score with 8:43 on the first quarter clock proved to be all the points the Captains would need.
The 7-0 score would remain until the third quarter, as both offenses stalled time and time again. The Captains finally added to the lead with a 25-yard field goal from sophomore kicker
Grant Kelchner to go up by ten.
CNU's defense was dominant from the start, allowing the Lions only 113 yards for the day. Junior
Justus Drakeford intercepted a fourth quarter pass and returned the ball 19 yards for the final score of the day, accounting for the 17-0 verdict. For Drakeford, it was his second returned interception of the season and the fourth defensive score of the year for CNU in as many games. Drakeford joined former CNU defensive standout
Cameron Barlow as the only Captains to ever record two picks for touchdowns in the same season.
Kearney, who has been named the Offensive Player of the Week in the NJAC the last two weeks, completed his first five passes before throwing an interception late in the opening quarter. The pick snapped a streak of 107 straight passes for CNU's quarterback without an interception. Kearney finished the day with 196 passing yards and was 20 of 28. Senior wide receiver
Taylor Loudan caught ten of Kearney's passes for the Captains for 92 yards.
The shutout in front of 1,724 fans was the first by a CNU squad since 2007 when the Captains blanked Shenandoah at POMOCO Stadium, 42-0. It was the eighth all-time CNU shutout, and just the second all-time on the road (the Captains downed Averett in Danville in 2001, CNU's first season of football, 45-0).
The Captains, leading the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 3-0 league record, are now 4-0 heading into another road game in New Jersey next Saturday at Rowan. The Profs lost Saturday in the final minute of play at Montclair State, 21-14, to fall to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the NJAC. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. in Glassboro, N.J.
