NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Junior quarterback
Matt Dzierski ran for two scores and threw a touchdown pass, leading the Captains of Christopher Newport University to a 20-14 victory Saturday over Rowan University. The victory at Kelchner Field at TowneBank Stadium came in the New Jersey Athletic Conference opener for both schools.
Dzierski, the NJAC's Offensive Player of the Year last year, tallied 316 total yards as the Captains improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Profs, now 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the NJAC, scored both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter but fell short in their comeback effort.
"This is a really good win for our program,"
Paul Crowley said following his first NJAC game as a head coach. "
Matt Dzierski had an incredible game and I'm very happy overall with the way we competed. We've got some things to clean up, but this is a good win over a quality program."
Dzierski completed 13 of 26 pass attempts for 184 yards on the day, and opened the scoring with a first quarter touchdown strike to freshman
Colin Hart from 34 yards out. The score, just four minutes into the game, culminated a 10-play, 91-yard drive on the opening possession of the afternoon and gave the Captains a 6-0 edge. Dzierski would later score on a one-yard run in the second quarter to give the Captains a 13-0 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, the Captains were without the services of freshman running backs
Gunner White and
Tyler Perry due to injury, and Dzierski took over as the primary ball carrier. He ended the day with 132 yards on the ground on 25 carries, with his biggest play of the day coming midway through the third quarter, when he eluded defenders with several nifty moves and scampered 61 yards for a score to gave the Captains a 20-0 advantage.
CNU's defense held strong through the first three quarters, not allowing a point before the Profs late rally. Rowan junior running back James Fara scored twice in the final stanza on runs of two and nine yards to make things interesting. His second trip to the end zone came with 5:52 remaining in the game, shortly after the Profs had blocked a punt, and cut CNU's lead to six.
Christopher Newport got the ball back, and managed to maintain possession and run out the clock to seal the 20-14 triumph. The offensive unit converted two first downs in the final minutes, including a key fourth down, five-yard run by Dzierski, to extend the drive and run out the remaining time.
While Dzierski paced the offense for the Captains, CNU's defense was led by junior linebacker
Kindrick Braxton's 12 tackles, which included nine solo stops.. Junior linebacker
Michael Evans added eight, and junior defensive back
Shawn Hamilton posted seven. Freshman cornerback
Yasir Geter recorded the only interception of the day for CNU.
"I give our defense a lot of credit, they did a really good job today against a good offensive team," Crowley continued. "I think there was some fatigue in the fourth quarter, but overall to give up just 14 points after shutting them out for three quarters was an excellent effort."
The Captains dominated time of possession, holding the ball more than nine minutes longer than the Profs, and ran a total of 62 offensive plays in the home victory. Dzierski either ran or threw the ball a total of 51 times in those 62 plays.
The victory, in front of 1,673 fans, was the fourth in the last five years over the Profs. Rowan now leads the all-time series, 8-5. Saturday's game was the fourth straight at home for the Captains, a stretch that saw the team post a 2-2 record.
Christopher Newport has now reached the midway point of the 2022 schedule, with five games down and five remaining. The Captains are off next week, and return to action on Saturday, October 15th, at Kean University. The NJAC game in Union, New Jersey, is scheduled to kick off at 12 noon.
In other games on the opening day of conference play in the NJAC Saturday, Salisbury beat Montclair State, 30-7, and William Paterson came from behind to beat Kean, 22-15.
