NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Christopher Newport University football squad hits the road for the first time this fall, heading to Danville, Va., Saturday to take on the Cougars of Averett University. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Daly Field at Frank R. Campbell Stadium.

"Saturday will be a good test for our team," Head Coach Art Link said. "Obviously it's our first road game, and Averett showed last week they've got an explosive offense and a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. We're going to have to play well and do our best to carry over the momentum that we built last week."

The Captains won their opener last Saturday in thrilling fashion at home over Washington and Lee, 28-24, while Averett opened the season with a loss at Ferrum College last Saturday, 31-24. Art Link's squad was powered by sophomore starting quarterback Matt Dzierski in the opener at TowneBank Stadium. Dzierski threw for two touchdowns, and ran for two scores, including what proved to be the game-winner with just 39 second left on the clock. For his efforts, Dzierski, who was making his first start, was selected the Offensive Player of the Week in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), and was also selected to the honor roll of outstanding weekly performances by the DC Touchdown Club.

Averett dug a deeper hole to climb out of than the Captains, and fell behind at Ferrum last week by a 31-10 score before mounting a fourth quarter comeback. The Cougars scored two touchdowns in the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, but fell short in the 31-24 defeat. AU recorded 322 passing yards in the game, while rushing for just 50 yards vs. the Panthers. 

The game with Averett will be the 15th meeting all-time of the two programs. The Captains and Cougars met routinely over the first 14 seasons of Christopher Newport football as conference foes in the USA South. The Captains won 12 of the previous 14 games played from 2001 through 2014 against AU, and are 7-1 all-time playing in Danville. In the last matchup on October 18, 2014, Christopher Newport cruised to a 38-7 victory at AU.

Saturday's game will be the second of four non-conference games this season for the Captains leading up to a six-game conference schedule in the NJAC. You can access the complete Captains Game Notes package by clicking HERE..  

The game will be broadcast live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network (Xtra 99.1 FM) with the pre-game show beginning at 5:30 p.m. You can listen to the action by clicking HERE.

Live video can be accessed by clicking HERE. There will also be live stats available during the action by clicking HERE.

Christopher Newport returns home next week, hosting Ferrum College at TowneBank Stadium on Saturday, September 18th. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m., and the game will feature a celebration of 20 years of Christopher Newport football including a special pre-game ceremony honoring longtime Captains coach Matt Kelchner.