NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University registered a dominant performance Saturday afternoon, shutting down Catholic University, 38-7, at Kelchner Field at TowneBank Stadium. The Family Weekend victory raised the Captains' record to 2-2 on the season, and left the Cardinals with a 1-3 mark.

A crowd of 6,148, the third-largest in CNU football history, enjoyed a sunny, autumnal afternoon that saw the Captains score touchdowns on their first four possessions of the day. CNU's defense recorded six sacks, three interceptions, and set a new school record by yielding -48 yards rushing to the Cardinals for the day.

"Both sides of the ball came out ready to play today," Head Coach Paul Crowley said. "We talked all week about defensive pressure, we hadn't had a sack all season until today, and I think we really made some great strides. 

The Captains opened the day with an eight-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a two-yard run by junior quarterback Matt Dzierski. CNU used a six-play, 50-yard drive to score on its second possession, as freshman running back Gunner White finished it off with a 12-yard scamper for a score.

Catholic posted its only score of the day late in the opening quarter on a 36-yard scoring pass from sophomore quarterback John Whalen to sophomore Malachi Hansen. Freshman running back Tyler Perry owned the second quarter for the Captains, scoring on runs of seven and one yard, for his first two career CNU scores. The result was a 28-7 Captains lead at the intermission.

In the third quarter, senior cornerback Josh Uvodich intercepted a pass and ran 44 yards for the first defensive score of the season for the Captains, and the first touchdown of Uvodich's career. Senior kicker Ryan Castle completed the scoring, booting a 39-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to account for the 38-7 final verdict.  

Christopher Newport compiled 212 rushing yards on 48 carries, and all four offensive touchdowns came on runs. Dzierski led the rushing attack with 51 yards on 11 carries. White recorded 46 yards on ten attempts, and Perry rushed for 44 yards on 13 tries. Senior Xander Jedlick led the squad in receptions with four for 68 yards.

"When we can, we want to be a ball-control offense and keep our defense off the field," Crowley continued. "We obviously have a good quarterback, but when you can be successful only throwing the ball ten times, then you're able to control the clock and sustain drives. We did a great job today keeping the balance where it needs to be." 

Junior linebacker Michael Evans led the defense with ten tackles, including seven unassisted stops. Uvodich, junior Shawn Hamilton, and freshman Brandon Peterson picked off passes, and the six sacks were posted by eight different defenders (senior Luke Nitowski, freshman Deven Norman, freshman Austin Shifflett, and sophomore Marquis Kimble each recorded full sacks, while senior Jason Massengill, junior Carson Turner, freshman Roshon Carter, and senior Jack Madaj each got credit for half sacks).

Saturday's victory was the second straight over Catholic, as the Captains won the first meeting ever of the programs last year in Washington, D.C., 31-14.

The Captains concluded their non-conference schedule with the lop-sided triumph, and six games remain on the schedule, all in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Christopher Newport hosts Rowan University (2-1) next Saturday, October 1st, with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m. at TowneBank Stadium.

"Rowan looks like they're returning to their old form back when they were a Top 10 or 20 program," Crowley said. "We're going to work hard this week to get ready for them, I know how good this league is and just how tough it is week in and week out, so our work is cut out for us."