NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut football saw a tight Northeast-10 Conference matchup against American International, which was part of SCSU's Homecoming & Parent's Weekend, end in a 27-21 at Jess Dow Field. 

Tylon Papallo scored twice for the Owls, both on a pair of 50-plus yard touchdowns. Papallo finished the day with five catches for 128 yards. E'lijah Gray finished with 26 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown, as well as 41 yard run. On defense, Joenel Figueroa led the Owls with seven tackles while also picking off a pass in the Owls end zone with Southern trailing by six late in the game. Jordan Berrios had his first career interception, which came in the second half and AIC pushing downfield. Ray Magliozzi also had seven tackles for the Owls. 

Southern jumped out to an early lead when Keith Ridley hooked up with Tylon Papallo for a 56-yard touchdown. Following Orlin Lopez's extra-point attempt, Southern sat on a 7-0 lead after their first possession of the game. AIC tied the game with six minutes to play in the first quarter, 7-7. The Yellow Jackets opened their lead to 21-7 with scores on back-to-back possessions.  

With just under 12 minutes to play in the half, Ridley and Papallo hooked up again, this time on a 51-yard pass that saw the Owls quarterback throw a gorgeous pass down the sideline that Papallo caught in stride to trim AIC's lead to 21-14. AIC responded with another score, but Derek Omoregie blocked the extra-point attempt, as the Yellow Jackets led 27-14.  

On the their next possession, E'lijah Gray set up a touchdown with a 41-yard run that ended just past the Owls bench inside the 20-yard line. After Ridley connected with Jack Hennessy on an eight-yard pass, Gray punched it in from 11 yards out to get the Owls within six points, 27-21, heading to the half.  

Southern returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 21 when it travels to Pleasantville, N.Y. to take on Pace in a NE10 matchup set for 1 p.m.