FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Sacred Heart came out swinging early Saturday afternoon, scoring on each of its first four possessions against a Stetson team with 10 first-time starters en route to a 42-3 victory over the Hatters in the 2017 season-opener for both teams.
The loss for Stetson to the Pioneers marks the second consecutive season the Hatters have lost to the scholarship program from the Northeast Conference on opening weekend.
The veteran Sacred Heart team flexed its offensive muscles early, getting touchdown runs of 2, 10 and 26 yards from senior quarterback Kevin Duke in the first half, to go with a 26-yard TD pass from Duke to Andrew O'Neill to build a 28-3 lead at the intermission.
The only highlight of the opening half for Stetson was a 36-yard field goal by redshirt freshman
Jonny Messina.
The third quarter was more of the same as the Hatters were unable to generate anything offensively while the Stetson defense struggled to stop the Pioneers.
A mistake on special teams early in the half led to an Ose Imeokparia touchdown run from 15-yards out. The Pioneers then closed the quarter with a five play drive that covered 66 yards with Imamu Mayfield taking it in from 10-yards away for the score.
The Hatters managed just 145 yards of total offense in the game, with just 18 on the ground thanks to the four sacks allowed for 30 yards. The Pioneers, on the other hand, rolled up 456 yards of total offense with Duke accounting for 81 on the ground and 155 through the air.
Mayfield led Sacred Heart with 93 yards on 14 carries.
Stetson was led on the defensive side of the ball by graduate student
Jeb Boudreaux. The PFL's leading returning tackler had 15 stops in the opener with three for loss and two sacks.
Conrad Fonseca finished with eight stops.
Seniors Kevin Parry and CJ Parvelus led Sacred Heart with seven tackles each. The Pioneers piled up 14 tackles for loss in the game, including the four sacks.
One bright spot in the game for the Hatters was the work of redshirt freshman punter
Matias Gasc, who averaged 38.6 yards on eight punts, with a long of 59 yards and two downed inside the 20. Gasc was, however, responsible for both turnovers in the game. One came on a fake punt play when he threw deep for an interception and the other came early in the third quarter when he mishandled a snap and was tackled inside the Stetson 10 yard line.
The Hatters will open play in the Pioneer Football League next weekend, traveling back to the northeast to face Marist, who fell to Bucknell in its season-opener on Saturday.
The game in Poughkeepsie next week is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.
