LORETTO, Pa. - A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) recorded 256 yards from scrimmage with two touchdowns as Duquesne overcame a slow start to earn a 27-20 comeback road win over Saint Francis U on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Field.

Trailing 13-6 at halftime, the Dukes (5-3, 2-1) outscored the Red Flash (2-5, 0-2) 21-7 in the second half en route to the Northeast Conference victory.

Hines finished with 165 yards on the ground with a touchdown on 28 carries to go with three catches for a team-high 91 yards and a receiving score.

Saint Francis jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, keeping the Dukes off the board in the first quarter for the first time this season.

In the closing seconds of the opening period, Harvey Clayton Jr. (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef/Illinois) picked off a Bear Fenimore pass and returned it 35 yards to the Red Flash 17-yard line. This set up a 33-yard field goal by Mitch MacZura (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic/Ohio State) to shrink the deficit to 10-3.

The two teams would trade field goals in the second quarter, as MacZura moved to 7-for-7 on field goals on the season with a 19-yarder late in the half to cut the Red Flash's advantage to 13-6.

After the Duquesne defense held Saint Francis to a combined 12 yards on its first two drives of the third quarter, the Dukes found the end zone for the first time on the afternoon on a 26-yard touchdown completion from Daniel Parr (Jupiter, Fla./William T. Dwyer/FAU) to Hines on the screen play, knotting the game up at 13-13.
 
The eight-play scoring drive covered 66 yards, including a 21-yard rush by Hines and a 15-yard reception by Kellon Taylor (Landover, Md./DeMatha Catholic).

SFU would retake the lead, responding with a touchdown of its own on a 56-yard pass from Fenimore to Cyrus Holder to go ahead 20-13 with 2:33 to play in the third quarter.
 
On Duquesne's next march, the Dukes took advantage of a Red Flash unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to go with a 15-yard completion to Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) to move into SFU territory.
 
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Parr found Crawford in the back left corner of the end zone to even the score at 20-20 after MacZura's extra point went through the uprights.
 
The DU defense forced two Red Flash three-and-outs in a row as the Dukes took over at their own 10-yard line with 8:51 remaining following a Saint Francis punt.
 
Duquesne used a pair of completions to Taylor and Kareem Coles Jr. (San Diego, Calif./Madison/Idaho) for a combined 35 yards as well as a defensive holding penalty to move into Red Flash territory.
 
Two plays later, Hines spun out of a tackle and bounced out to the left side 37 yards for the Dukes touchdown, giving Duquesne its first lead of the afternoon at 27-20.
 
The Red Flash threatened on the ensuing drive by moving to the DU 25-yard line, but the Dukes defense would not allow SFU to move any closer than that, forcing three incompletions and a rush for a loss of one yard to secure the turnover on downs.
 
Duquesne drained 3:18 off the clock on the next drive, with a MacZura punt pinning the Red Flash at its own 10-yard line with 38 ticks to play and no timeouts. The Dukes were able to keep SFU out of the end zone, securing the NEC road win.
 
Duquesne finished with a 364-313 edge in total yards, including a 181-70 advantage on the ground. The Dukes limited the Red Flash to the lowest rushing output for an opponent since holding Bryant to 58 rushing yards in last year's season finale.
 
Clayton Jr. led Duquesne with a career-high nine tackles (eight solo) with the interception and a pair of pass breakups.
 
Jassir Jordan (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa/Milford Academy) tallied five tackles (five solo) with two pass breakups to go with a 29-yard kick return, giving the Dukes good field position on DU's game-tying scoring drive.

Parr completed 12-of-28 attempts for 183 yards and two touchdowns, converting on 8-of-12 passes with the two scores in the second half.

Crawford finished with a team-high four receptions for 41 yards while Taylor added three catches for 36 yards.
 
Duquesne is off next week before traveling to Staten Island, N.Y. to take on Wagner on Saturday, Nov. 3.


Game Notes

• Duquesne improved to 37-8 all-time against Saint Francis U. The Dukes snapped a two-game skid in games played in Loretto.
• Hines now has 3,083 career rushing yards, needing just 106 yards to pass Mike Hilliard for fourth among all-time leading rushers in school history.
• Hines posted his 16th career 100-yard rushing performance and third of this season. He came into the contest as the NEC leader in rushing touchdowns and now has 10 on the season.
• Hines now owns sole possession of third place among career leaders in rushing touchdowns in school history with 33.
• Hines hauled in his second career touchdown reception on Saturday, his first since catching a touchdown as a freshman in a 54-35 win at Jacksonville on Oct. 1, 2016. His 91 receiving yards marked a career-high, as well.
• Crawford is now second in school history with 165 career receptions, passing Bruce Hocker (2004-07) who tallied 162 catches. Chris King (2012-15 holds the school record with 175 career receptions. Crawford is also tied with Michel Warfield (2002-04) for fourth in school history with 29 career receiving touchdowns.
• MacZura is now 7-for-7 on the season on field goals and was 3-for-3 on extra points on Saturday. In addition, he punted six times, averaging 42.6 yards with two inside the Red Flash 10-yard line.