PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University football team extended its home-opening win streak to 17 straight seasons with a 35-0, Senior Day win over West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at Rooney Field. The victory evens the Dukes' record at 2-2 on the season and was the 150^th career win for head coach Jerry Schmitt.
 
Jordan Heisey made his first start as a Duke at quarterback and threw for 161 yards with three touchdowns on 17-for-23 passing to lead a Duquesne offense that was firing on all cylinders throughout the afternoon.
 
All three passing touchdowns came in the second quarter, which was disrupted by a 59-minute weather delay. Joey Isabella snagged the first one on the last offensive play before the lightning strike to go up 14-0, then Jermaine Johnson added a pair of endzone grabs on back-to-back drives out of the hiatus, his first scores in the Red and Blue.
 
JaMario Clements and Shawn Solomon, Jr. bookended the scoring with touchdown runs in the first and fourth quarters, respectively.
 
Reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Week Luke Miller and CJ Barnes each had an interception. Barnes paced a balanced defensive unit with five tackles (four solos) in the shutout. The Dukes defense combined to hold West Virginia Wesleyan to 11 rushing yards on 17 carries and stopped the Bobcats on 13 of their 15 third downs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a punt from each side on their first possessions, Miller swiped a third-down pass deep inside Bobcat territory for his first career interception setting the Heisey-led Duquesne offense up with just 26 yards to go.
 
Four plays later, Clements punched in the first six points of the game from one yard out at the 3:49 mark in the first quarter.
 
The Dukes got back on the board with a Heisey to Isabella connection with 10:14 to play in the second quarter, just three plays after a 24-yard catch by Isabella down the near sideline on 3^rd-and-4.
 
Lightning struck immediately after the ensuing kickoff and sent the teams to their locker rooms for a near hour delay.
 
On the first possession back, Barnes hauled in his second career interception and the DU offense got right back to work.
 
Heisey found John Erby three times for 25-, 17- and 17-yard receptions, then capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown to Johnson putting the Dukes up 21-0 with 3:18 to go in the first half.
 
A defensive stand allowed Duquesne to get the ball back with 52 seconds remaining in the second frame and DU capitalized. Heisey and Johnson connected again for six on an eight-yard post with 24 seconds on the clock after Solomon put the Dukes in the redzone on the first play of the drive via a 26-yard scamper.
 
Duquesne's defense continued its dominance in the second half, allowing just three first downs and 57 yards of total offense.
 
Solomon added the final touchdown of the day for the Dukes on the first play of the fourth quarter from seven yards out, his second consecutive game with a touchdown. The sophomore running back took the ball on all four plays on the 49-yard touchdown drive.
 
NOTES

• Jerry Schmitt's 150 wins include 28 from five seasons at Westminster (2000-05) and 122 in his 20^th season at Duquesne … Schmitt, already the winningest coach in DU program history, is now one of seven active FCS coaches with 150 career wins.
• Duquesne is now 123-35 all-time at Rooney Field and 25-1 in non-conference play since the beginning of the 2008 season … It was the 17^th straight season with a home-opening win (25 of the last 26) … DU improves to 19-1 in home openers and 32-3 in non-conference home games under Schmitt.
• This was seventh straight season taking on a non-Division I opponent, DU is now 18-3 vs. non-D1 since joining FCS in 1993 and has won 13 straight matchups.
• With the shutout, the Dukes have now held their home-opening opponent to single digits in three of the last four seasons.
• DU outgained WVWC, 426-155, including 265-11 on the ground … The Dukes had 22 first downs to Wesleyan's nine.
• The 265-yard rushing attack was paced by Shawn Solomon, Jr. with an early career-high 89 on 10 rushes (8.9 per carry) and a touchdown … Freshman Dazhaun Hopkins added 70 yards and JaMario Clements had 64 yards.
• 11 rushing yards allowed is the second-least by a Duquesne defense since joining the NEC in 2008 ... Fewest is -10 rushing yards in 2021 against Virginia Lynchburg.
• Graduate student Jermaine Johnson posted his first career two-touchdown game … John Erby tied his career-high with seven catches totaling 91 yards.
• Michael Berarducci converted a fake punt with a 25-yard rush to extend DU's opening drive of the second half.
• Luke Miller's interception was the first of his career … CJ Barnes' was his second with one in 2022 vs. Wagner.
• Led by Barnes' five tackles, Duquesne had 25 players record a tackle in the win … Luke Miller, Jason Patterson and Adrian Ramirez all had a tackle-for-loss, while Carlos Ramirez and Ty Howard each charted half a TFL.
• Duquesne has now had a weather delay effect a contest in three straight seasons (at Florida State in 2022, at WVU in 2023).
• The Dukes honored the 2024 senior class prior to the game with 37 seniors taking part in the recognition.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jerry Schmitt


Jordan Heisey


Luke Miller


UP NEXT
Duquesne will be off for a week before opening conference play against LIU on Homecoming and Family Weekend - October 5 at Rooney Field. Kick off is scheduled for 1 pm. BUY TICKETS

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