WAYNE, N.J. - Christopher Newport University improved to 7-0 Saturday afternoon, racing past William Paterson University, 52-7, at Wightman Stadium. Junior quarterback
Connor Barry threw for three scores and ran for three touchdowns as the 15th-ranked Captains upped their New Jersey Athletic Conference record to 4-0. WPU fell to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in NJAC play.
Barry, who leads the nation in pass efficiency, completed 17 of 18 passes for 340 yards, and connected on his last 14 pass attempts of the day before leaving with the game in hand in the third quarter. Barry twice threw to senior wide receiver
Colin Hart for scores on 42 and 30 yard plays. Hart finished the day with eight receptions for 204 yards.
"Anytime you have a receiver go over 200 yards, that's something special," Head Coach
Paul Crowley said following his team's 12th straight victory dating back to last season. "Colin has been a great player for us for a long time and he and
Connor Barry really made some big plays today."
Barry has now thrown 26 touchdown passes this season, a new single season school record, with just one interception over the first seven game. His big day took him over the 2,000-yard mark for the year with 2,054 with three regular season games still to play. Two of Barry's scoring runs came on one-yard plunges, and the other on an eight-yard scamper. In addition to his two scoring throws to Hart, he also hit freshman tight end
Fred Cowell IV on a four-yard strike in the third quarter.
CNU broke open a 7-7 game in the opening quarter and scored 45 unanswered points to coast to the road victory on a cool and cloudy day in north Jersey. The Captains held a 35-7 lead at halftime and added two touchdowns and a 26-yard field goal from freshman
Jonathan Gates to conclude the scoring. Freshman running back
Drevyon Tharrington opened the scoring with a 33-yard first quarter touchdown run, and led the Captains in rushing with 60 yards on just three carries.
Christopher Newport out-gained WPU in total yardage, 543-157, and 65 of William Paterson's yards for the day came on its only scoring drive in the first quarter. Sophomore defensive back
Eddie Henderson and freshman linebacker
Jackson Ambruzs led the CNU defense with five tackles each. The Captains logged three sacks on the day, with Ambruzs and defensive linemen
Connor Estrella and
Deven Norman each recording one.
The Captains have now scored 49 or more points in five of their seven victories this season. CNU was the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation before Saturday's 52-point outburst, and have tallied at least 38 in every game this year.
The game was the tenth in the all-time series with the Pioneers, and the Captains now hold a 9-1 series lead and have won the last four. The Captains remain tied for the top spot in the NJAC standings with Salisbury University at 4-0 following Salisbury's 31-28 road victory at Rowan on Saturday.
Christopher Newport returns to TowneBank Stadium next Saturday, November 1st, to host the Red Hawks of Montclair State University. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., The game will be a part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the CNU football program. The Hawks are 3-4 overall and 2-2 in league play after winning, 48-20, at Vermont State-Castleton on Saturday.
"We certainly know that Montclair State will give us a great battle next week," Crowley continued. "They're always one of the most physical teams in the NJAC and we remember certainly that they beat us two years ago at TowneBank Stadium. We'll get back to work to get ready for what I'm sure will be another tough challenge."
