PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University football team improved to 3-0 in Northeast Conference play with a 38-35 win over reigning league champion Saint Francis on Saturday afternoon in front of a standing-room only Homecoming & Family Weekend crowd of 3,052 at Rooney Field.
Duquesne racked up 21 points over the final 2:29 of the first half to extend its lead to 24 (31-7) at the break. The Red Flash rallied in the fourth quarter with 21 points of their own and had an opportunity to tie the game on a 45-yard field goal with 10 seconds left but missed wide right as the Dukes held on for the win.
For the third time this season, the Dukes scored on their opening drive – a nine-play, 62-yard effort – and never trailed. Darius Perrantes threw his first of three touchdown passes in the game to Keshawn Brown from 17-yards out as DU struck first for the fifth time out of seven games.
Dayvia Gbor snagged his second interception of the season on Saint Francis' first time out on offense near midfield and returned it inside the 40, but DU was unable to capitalize.
Duquesne got back on the board with a 27-yard field goal from Brian Bruzdewicz early in the second quarter and the Red Flash found the endzone for the first time to make it 10-7 midway through the second.
The DU scoring spree followed. Perrantes completed 5-of-6 passes on an 11-play, 75-yard drive over 5:27 of game time, the longest drive of the game for the Dukes, which was capped off by a 29-yard dot to DJ Powell streaking down the far sideline two-and-a-half minutes before the half.
Perrantes struck again two plays after a quick three-and-out by the Duquesne defense, finding Joey Isabella for a 69-yard touchdown for his first touchdown of the season. And the Dukes weren't ready for halftime just yet. Saint Francis botched a punt attempt in the final seconds, Tim Lowery scooped up the wild snap and waltzed in for a 15-yard touchdown return to put DU by its largest margin of the game (31-7).
A rather quiet third quarter saw SFU tally a touchdown at the tail end, but Duquesne responded right back with a Taj Butts punch in from four yards out regaining a 38-14 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play.
The Red Flash found the endzone again, then blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to make it a game again and narrow their deficit to 10 (38-28) at the 4:24 mark in the fourth.
Duquesne missed a field goal on the following drive and Saint Francis capitalized on the opportunity with its third straight touchdown drive to put the score 38-35 Dukes with 57 seconds left on the clock.
Out of timeouts, SFU made a desperation on-side kick attempt and recovered it at the Duquesne 45-yard line. The Dukes defense held strong forcing a 45-yard field goal attempt, which went wide.
NOTES
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Today's crowd of 3,052 was the largest at Rooney Field since the 2007 season opener against Bucknell.
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Joey Isabella, a preseason all-conference selection who has battled injuries, finished with a game and career-high 116 yards on four catches with his first TD of the year … Duquesne has now had a 100+ yard receiver in back-to-back weeks … DJ Powell grabbed a season-high five catches and totaled 69 yards with a score … DU had three different players with a receiving touchdown (Isabella, Powell, and Keshawn Brown) for the second straight game.
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Darius Perrantes recorded his second straight, fourth of the season, and ninth career 200+ yard passing game posting 227 yards on 13-of-24 passing for three TDs and an interception …. He has thrown for three TDs in three games now including back-to-back efforts extending his league-leading touchdown total to 14 on the season … Perrantes improves to 11-7 as the Dukes starting QB.
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The 69-yard touchdown pass from Perrantes to Isabella was the longest play and touchdown of the season for Duquesne.
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JaMario Clements paced the run game with 88 yards on 14 carries for an average of 6.3 per rush, his third straight game with 70+ yards ... Taj Butts has scored in back-to-back games and has three touchdowns on the season to lead the trio of running backs, who all have multiple scores.
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Duquesne had a narrow edge in total offense (392 yards), including 165-138 in rushing yards and 227-204 in the pass game … DU is now 4-0 when holding the total offense and passing yard advantages.
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CJ Barnes finished a tackle shy of his career high with 10 stops (4 solo) to lead the Dukes defense … Noah Palmer wrapped up a pair of sacks, a career-best mark, while Khatavian Franks added his first sack as a Duke on the final defensive stand.
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The defensive score by Tim Lowery was the second of the season for Duquesne (Ayden Garnes pick-six in the season opener) ... Lowery also recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half.
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Duquesne improves to 39-10 all-time versus Saint Francis, 23-3 in Pittsburgh, and 10-2 at Rooney Field … The win snapped a two-game losing streak to the Red Flash … DU is now 3-0 in games decided by three points or less against SFU and the three-point margin was the closest result since the 24-21 home win in 2012.
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The 3-0 conference start for Duquesne is the best since the 2020-21 spring season, which they went 4-0.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCES
Head Coach Jerry Schmitt
Tim Lowery & Darius Perrantes
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