EASTON, Mass. – The Duquesne University football team was defeated 24-20 at Stonehill in its Northeast Conference (NEC) opener on a rainy afternoon at W.B. Mason Stadium.
 
Wide receiver Abdul Janneh led the Dukes (1-4, 0-1 NEC) on offense in the setback with six catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Billy Lucas paced the backfield with 88 yards on 19 carries (4.6 yards per carry).
 
Both Duquesne quarterbacks saw action, with Joe Mischler completing 15 of 22 attempts for 144 yards and a touchdown. Darius Perrantes ended the day 4-of-11 with 27 yards and a touchdown.
 
Todd Hill was the top Duquesne defender. He finished with six tackles (all solo), three tackles for loss, including two sacks, and one quarterback hurry.
 
Stonehill (3-0, 1-0 NEC) debuted in the NEC and went with an up-tempo pace on the first possession of the game to move the ball into the red zone. The Dukes' defense finally strung together a trio of stops to force a field goal that made the score 3-0 with 11:04 to play in the first quarter.
 
Duquesne responded with a scoring drive of its own to knot the score up at 3-3. Mischler converted a 3^rd and 13 with his feet to help setup Brian Bruzdewicz's 24-yard field goal.
 
The Dukes got the ball right back on a pooch-kick that was recovered at the Stonehill 39-yard line. Five plays later quarterback Darius Perrantes connected with Janneh for an eight-yard touchdown that made the score 10-3 in the final minute of the first quarter.
 
After each team traded possessions that ended in punts, Stonehill knotted up the game with a scoring drive of its own. Skyhawks' quarterback Ashur Carraha got the Dukes' defense to collapse on a zone-read play and scampered 30 yards to tie the game at 10-10 with 9:48 left in the first half.
 
Duquesne moved the ball down to the Stonehill 25-yard line, but the drive stalled and the Dukes failed to convert a fourth-and-short with 4:12 to play until halftime. Two plays into Stonehill's drive, Ryan Webb intercepted an overthrown pass to give Duquesne the ball right back.
 
Dwayne Menders, Jr. made an acrobatic back-shoulder catch for 25 yards on the first play of the drive, before Mischler found a wide open Janneh down the sideline for a 26-yard touchdown that made the score 17-10 in the final minute before halftime.
 
The Dukes went three-and-out on their first offensive possession of the second half. Stonehill tied up the game with a nine-play, 59-yard drive that ended with and eight-yard Carraha touchdown pass to Will Diamantis with 9:19 to play in the third quarter.
 
Duquesne answered with a scoring drive of its own. Mischler took the Dukes on a 17-play drive that took nearly eight minutes off of the clock, before settling for a 28-yard Bruzdewicz field goal that made the score 20-17 with 1:43 left in the third quarter. Duquesne converted three third downs and a fourth down during the 65-yard drive.
 
Stonehill reclaimed the lead for the first time since the first quarter on the next possession. Carraha found his running back Jermaine Corbett coming out of the backfield for a 50-yard catch-and-run touchdown down the sideline to put the Dukes in a 24-20 hole less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
 
After trading possessions, the Dukes got the ball back with just over seven minutes to play in the game on its own 28-yard line. Mischler took a shot down the sideline, but it was intercepted by Stonehill's Kevin Porch. Both defenses exchanged three and outs to keep the game at 24-20 with Stonehill taking over possession with just over three minutes to play in the game. The Skyhawks drove the ball into Duquesne territory and pinned the Dukes at their own four-yard line on a punt. Perrantes was intercepted on the first play of the team's final drive to seal the Duquesne loss.
 
Cobett led the Skyhawks with 130 yards on 26 carries with three receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown (193 all-purpose). Carraha was 12 of 18 for 149 yards with two touchdowns.
 
The Dukes will return home for their annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 8 when they host Merrimack at Arthur J. Rooney Field for an NEC contest. Kickoff of the game is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the contest set to be broadcast on ESPN3 as part of the NEC Game of the Week package.
 
GAME NOTES: Janneh has scored a touchdown in three of the team's five games … The two-touchdown performance was his second of the season (Youngstown State) … Duquesne held possessions for nearly 34 minutes and ran 72 plays, compared to 54 by Stonehill … Stonehill averaged 5.3 yards per carry on the ground … Bruzdewicz converted both of his field goal attempts and is now 6-of-10 on the season … The game was played in rainy conditions with the remnants of Hurricane Ian hitting the New England region … Stonehill was the third and final first-time opponent for the Dukes this season (Florida State & Thomas More) … Duquesne won the first-ever meeting against Merrimack last season, 37-14, in North Andover, Mass. ... Stonehill, who is in its first year transitioning from NCAA Division II to Division I FCS, was playing its first official NEC game against the Dukes.