NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University football team lost to LIU-Post, 24-13, in a Northeast 10 Conference match-up at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn. With the loss, SCSU drops to 4-5 overall and 3-5 in the NE10 while the Engineers remain perfect at 9-0 overall and 8-0 in conference play.
Owls' running back and NE10 leading rusher
Eli Parks (Bristol, Conn.) banged away at the LIU Post defense and rambled to 129 yards on 25 carries with a touchdown. Senior back
Vochan Fowler (Bridgeport, Conn.) had 11 carries for the Owls, and also scored his fourth touchdown of the season. Quarterback
Matthew Sapere (Old Lyme, Conn.) was 13-for-28 for 184 yards but was 10-for-14 for 134 yards as the Owls pressured late. Sapere hooked up with five different receivers, including four for multiple catches, led by
Julian Chung's (Franklin Square, N.Y.) five-reception, 64-yard day.
Defensively,
Rasheed Pierre (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded a team-high 11 tackles, including one for a loss, while
Brandon Pelzer (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) had 10 takedowns for the afternoon.
David Spears, Jr. had three sacks for the day and
Miles Thomas (Manchester, Conn.) had an interception late in the game.
Kyle Armour (Newington, Conn.) recorded eight tackles for day, and handled the Owls' punt duties – dropping three inside the Engineers' 20-yard line.
SCORING
- LIU-Post 7, SCSU 0 (00:23, 1st): Michael Richardson scored the Pioneers' first points of the day off a 40-yard pass from Chris Laviano.
- LIU-Post 10, SCSU 0 (5;11, 2nd): Joey Tolgyesi converted a 20-yard field goal.
- LIU-Post 17, SCSU 0 (11:21, 3rd): Malik Pierre scored from a yard out to cap a six-play, 60-yard drive.
- SCSU 7, LIU-Post 17 (12:17, 4th): Vochan Fowler scored on a one-yard run for SCSU's first points of the day to finish off a 14-play, 87-yard Owls drive.
- SCSU 13, LIU-Post 17 (8:33, 4th): Eli Parks' 27-yard touchdown run cut LIU-Post's lead to four points with half of the final quarter to play.
- LIU-Post 24, SCSU 13 (2:14, 4th): A pair of first-down measurements that went LIU-Post's way sealed the Owls' fate before Laviano found Richardson in the back of the Owls' end zone to put the game out of reach in the final minutes.
NOTES
- Parks has now run for 120+ yards in seven of his nine games played this season including the Owls last four games.
- For the year, Parks has accumulated a league-leading 1,137 yards as well as 11 rushing touchdowns.
- Fowler's touchdown was his fourth of the season and his first since Sept. 29 against Bentley.
- Spears' three-sack day gives him seven for the season and four in his last three games.
- Thomas' interception was his second of the season, and first since the Owls' season-opener against Gannon.
UP NEXT
Southern Connecticut State will play its final game of the season at Merrimack on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. in North Andover, Mass.
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