PITTSBURGH – A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C. / Fike) returned to the Duquesne lineup in a big way on Saturday, tallying 140 yards on the ground with a touchdown while the Dukes' defense forced three turnovers in a 21-14 victory over LIU in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener at Arthur J. Rooney Field.
 
DU improves to 3-2 on the season while the Sharks drop to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in conference action.
 
After missing the Dayton and New Hampshire games, Hines toted the ball 32 times and posted his 22nd career 100-yard rushing performance in helping Duquesne secure the win in the first league matchup of the season. In addition, he became the third Dukes player to reach the 4,000-yard rushing mark in the triumph.
 
Daivon Ellison (Linden, N.J. / Don Bosco Prep / Syracuse) finished with a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery to go with four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss on the day for the DU defense.
 
After forcing LIU to punt on the game's opening drive, Mark Allen (Hyattsville, Md. / DeMatha Catholic / Penn State) found the end zone on a 20-yard rush to put the Dukes on the board. Allen's third touchdown of the season capped a nine-play, 74-yard scoring march which included 32 yards on the ground from him and 33 from Hines.  
 
Early in the second quarter, Mitch MacZura (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic / Ohio State) connected on a 26-yard field goal to give Duquesne a 10-0 lead, a play set up by a 38-yard completion from Daniel Parr (Jupiter, Fla. / William T. Dwyer / FAU) to Dominic Thieman (Fort Lauderdale, Fla. / St. Thomas Aquinas / Illinois).
 
With under a minute to play in the first half and the Sharks driving deep in Duquesne territory, Todd Hill (Homestead, Pa. / Steel Valley) stripped LIU quarterback Clay Beathard at the Dukes' 13-yard line before the fumble was picked up by Ellison and returned 21 yards to the Duquesne 36-yard line.  
 
The Dukes took over with just 24 ticks showing on the first half clock, when Davie Henderson (Winter Haven, Fla. / Winter Haven) made an acrobatic one-handed catch by the visitor's sideline for a 24-yard gain on the very next play to put the Dukes in LIU territory.
 
Following a 20-yard completion from Parr to Kareem Coles Jr. (San Diego, Calif. / Madison / Idaho) and a Sharks sack, Jacob Gill nailed a career-long 45-yard field goal as time expired to extend the Duquesne advantage to 13-0 at halftime.
 
After forcing the Dukes to punt on their first two drives of the second half, LIU found the end zone for the first time on the afternoon as Clay Beathard hit Jonathon DeBique on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 4:50 to play in the third stanza.
 
Duquesne countered early in the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown rush from Hines to make it a two-score game. The Dukes converted a two-point conversion on a trick pass play from Coles Jr. to Thieman in the back of the end zone to go ahead 21-7 with just over 11 minutes to play.
 
A pair of big receptions by Coles Jr. (27 yards) and Dontay Mayfield (Homestead, Fla. / Gulliver Prep / UCF) (24 yards) led to the touchdown on the Duquesne 80-yard scoring drive.
 
The visiting Sharks would answer with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Beathard to Steven Chambers with 3:55 to play in the contest.
 
Taking over at their own 21-yard line, the Dukes relied on their All-American running back to seal the conference win, and he responded. Hines rushed six times for 30 yards – including a pair of third down conversions – to secure the victory for Duquesne.
 
With his 41st career rushing touchdown on Saturday, Hines ties Pedro Bowman (1981-84) for the most in program history. He also joined Larry McCoy (4,549 yards / 2009-12) and Donte Small (4,260 yards / 1998-01) as the only players in program history to rush for 4,000 career yards.
 
Allen added eight carries for 47 yards and a score for Duquesne, while Coles Jr. led the Dukes' receiving corps with four catches for 61 yards.
 
Mason Williams (Pasadena, Calif. / St. Francis / Duke), Spencer DeMedal (New Wilmington, Pa. / Wilmington Area), Brendan Thompson (Germantown, Md. / Northwest / Millersville) and Hill all led Duquesne with seven tackles apiece. Hill - making his first career start – finished with four solo tackles, 1.5 sacks for a total of 15 yards and the forced fumble.
 
GAME NOTES

• Duquesne improves to 20-5 in NEC play since the start of the 2015 season including an 11-2 mark at Rooney Field.
• Daivon Ellison is the first Duke to record a pair of interceptions in the same game since Trenton Coles vs CCSU on Oct. 3, 2015. These were his first interceptions at Duquesne and the first for the Syracuse transfer since he had a pick on Sept. 9, 2016 against Louisville off future Heisman trophy winner and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
• Jacob Gill's 45-yard field goal to end the first half was the longest field goal by a Duquesne kicker since Austin Crimmins hit a 45-yarder in a win at Jacksonville on Oct. 1, 2016.
• Todd Hill had one of his team-high seven tackles in a crucial moment in the second quarter for the Dukes. He tracked down LIU running back Jonathon DeBique on a 58-yard gain with a touchdown-saving tackle at the Duquesne 20-yard line. Five plays later, Hill's strip sack gave the Dukes the ball back and set up a field goal to close out the half.
• Dontay Mayfield's first career reception could not have come at a better time for the Dukes. The UCF transfer hauled in a 24-yard reception in between a pair of Sharks defenders at the LIU five-yard line. Two plays later, A.J. Hines scored what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown.
• 15th-year head coach Jerry Schmitt now has 95 wins at Duquesne, just two victories from tying Greg Gattuso as the program's winningest coach.

 
 
NEXT UP
Duquesne is off next week before traveling to Fairfield, Conn. for an NEC contest against Sacred Heart on Oct. 19. Kickoff is slated for noon ET in a matchup of the 2018 NEC co-champions.