PITTSBURGH – Duquesne handed first-place Sacred Heart its first Northeast Conference defeat of the season with a 28-24 victory on senior day on Saturday afternoon at Arthur J. Rooney Field.
The Dukes (7-3, 4-1) celebrated senior day with their fourth straight triumph, moving into a three-way tie for first place in the NEC. This sets up a pivotal matchup next Saturday on the road at Central Connecticut State. Duquesne would claim at least a share of the conference title and the league's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs with a win over the Blue Devils.
On Saturday, A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) rushed for 213 yards on 31 carries with a touchdown, his fourth consecutive game with over 200 yards from scrimmage. Eclipsing the 1,000-mark for the season in the contest, Hines becomes just the second player in program history to post three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He and Duquesne's all-time leading rusher Larry McCoy (2009-12) are the only two players in school history to do so.
The Dukes got things rolling early, as Jassir Jordan (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa/Milford Academy) returned the opening kickoff 76 yards to the SHU six-yard line. This set up a four-yard touchdown rush by Daniel Parr (Jupiter, Fla./William T. Dwyer/FAU) to give Duquesne an early edge.
The Dukes doubled their advantage on the next drive when Hines took a handoff 32 yards to pay dirt for Duquesne.
The Pioneers would get on the board in the second quarter when Julius Chestnut broke off a 71-yard touchdown run, cutting the Dukes' lead in half.
Duquesne answered right back when Parr hit Kellon Taylor (Landover, Md./DeMatha Catholic) in stride up the right sideline for the 36-yard touchdown, putting the Dukes ahead 21-7.
The two teams traded scores in the third quarter as Sacred Heart responded with a one-yard touchdown rush by Jordan Meachum before Daquan Worley (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville/Penn State) added a one-yard rushing score of his own for Duquesne, pushing the DU advantage to 28-14.
A three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kevin Duke and a 37-yard field goal by Noah Gettman cut into that deficit, shrinking the margin to 28-24 in the final stanza.
Duquesne would look to tack on three points as the Dukes lined up for a 34-yard field goal, but a turnover on a botched play gave the Pioneers possession with just under three minutes remaining in the contest.
Facing a Sacred Heart rushing attack which had tallied 346 yards on the ground to that point, the Duquesne defense recorded two tackles for a loss of five yards on first and second down. After a completion on third down, Abner Roberts batted down the Kevin Duke pass attempt on fourth down, regaining possession for the Dukes.
Hines would rush three times on the Duquesne drive, picking up a total of 12 yards for the first down to seal the win for the Dukes.
In his last four games, Hines has rushed for 792 yards with six touchdowns.
Taylor finished with five receptions for a career-high 86 yards and a touchdown.
Roberts paced the DU defense with eight tackles (five solo) with a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Brandon Stanback (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and Brett Zanotto (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional/Penn State) added seven tackles apiece for Duquesne.
Jordan totaled 127 yards on three kick returns for the Dukes.
Duquesne finished with a 380-378 edge in total yards.
Next Saturday's matchup with Central Connecticut State is slated for a noon ET kickoff from New Britain, Conn. The game will air live on ESPN3.
The Dukes will look to avenge last season's heartbreaking 28-27 loss to the Blue Devils at Rooney Field. CCSU defeated Saint Francis U 30-14 on Saturday in Loretto. In its last trip to CCSU in 2016, Duquesne claimed a share of its fourth NEC title with a win over the Blue Devils.
GAME NOTES
- Hines now has 3,528 career rushing yards with 35 rushing touchdowns.
- Nehari Crawford now has 172 career receptions, just four catches shy of the school record.
- Duquesne wins its fourth straight over Sacred Heart. The Dukes improve to 10-4 all-time against the Pioneers.
- Duquesne has now registered seven total victories for the fourth straight season and for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
- The Dukes improve to 18-5 in NEC play since the start of the 2015 season, including a 10-2 record at Rooney Field.
- In his 200th career game as a head coach (five seasons at Westminster, 14 seasons at Duquesne), Jerry Schmitt earned his 90th win with the Dukes on Saturday.
