Football Triumphs In Overtime Over SHU

Brady Olson found Elijah Howard on the first place of overtime for a touchdown to give the Central Connecticut State football team a 42-35 win over visiting Sacred Heart University. The Blue Devils won their fourth consecutive overtime game to improve to 3-3 on the season, while the Pioneers fell to 4-2.  

Olson threw for a career-high 323 yards on a career-best 28 completions, with a single-game best four touchdowns, while scoring a fifth with his feet, to power the Blue Devils offense on Saturday. Howard ran for 102 yards on Saturday and had 171 all-purpose yards as he made five catches for 69 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.  

After the overtime score, the Pioneers earned first and goal on the one-yard line. Malachai Wright, on first down, and Eric Jackson, on third down, stuffed rushing attempts for a loss of yardage, giving SHU a last play on fourth down from the two-yard line. After a long scramble by the Pioneers quarterback, Brayden Hall defended a pass into the corner of the endzone, forcing the pass incomplete to seal the win. 

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE 

Score: CCSU 42, SACRED HEART 35 (OT) 
Records: CCSU (3-3, 1-0 NEC), SHU (4-2) 
Location: Arute Field | New Britain, CT 

KEY MOMENTS 

• Central opened the scoring on its second possession of the game. Elijah Howard scampered 48 yards on third down to move the ball to the SHU 22 yard line. On second-and-goal from the seven, Brady Olson would connect with David Pardo on the left side of the endzone to put Central ahead, 7-0. 

• Jack Hennessey kicked field goals on back-to-back Blue Devils possessions to extend the margin. A 23-yard rush by Olson highlighted a 57-yard drive to set up Hennessey'sfirst kick from 26 yards. CCSU covered 87 yards on its next drive and capped it with a 22-yard field goal to make it 13-0. 

• The Pioneers would get on the board with touchdowns on their final two drives of the half to make it a one-score game at halftime. A six-play, 75-yard drive was capped with a one-yard run by Jack Snyder for their first score. 

• CCSU answered with a 10-play drive covering 90 yards in just 2:41. Olson would complete six passes on the drive, including a 29-yard touchdown to Michael Trovarelli along the right sideline to extend the lead to 20-7. 

• Sacred Heart went 75 yards in just 1:06 to make it 20-14 at halftime. Snyder completed five passes on the drive, including a 22-yard pass to Payton Rhoades for the touchdown. 

• SHU would take the lead late in the third quarter, going 60 yards for the go-ahead score. Trey Eberhart had a nine-yard run for the score to make it 21-20 with just under 40 minutes to go in the period. 

• Central came back with a 72-yard drive for the score to go ahead midway through the fourth quarter to set up a high-scoring finish. A pass interference flag on third down kept the drive alive to set up a 32-yard play-action pass to Donovan Marcus for the touchdown. The Blue Devils converted the two-point conversion with a short pass to Pardo to make it 28-21. 

• SHU covered 65 yards in five plays to tie the game. A pair of long rushes powered the drive, including a 15-yard run by Snyder for his second scoring run of the day. 

• The Blue Devils would recapture the lead with 2:54 to play. A 23-yard pass to Donovan Wadley moved the ball inside the redzone before a short pass to Ricky Ortega moved the ball inside the 10-yard line. On first down, Olson punched it in from nine yards to make it 35-28. 

• The Pioneers covered 76 yards in seven plays in 1:48 to tie the game with just over a minute left. Snyder scrambled on third down to keep play alive and found Jason Palmieri near the goal line for a 37-yard score to tie the game. 

• In overtime, Olson connected with Howard on first down for a 25-yard score down the left side to put Central in front, 42-35. SHU would move to the one-yard line, but the Blue Devils' defense would stand tall and prevent the Pioneers advance before forcing an incompletion on fourth down. 

NUMBER TO KNOW 

5 – Olson accounted for five total scores in the win for CCSU.  

NOTES & NUMBERS 

• Olson finished 28-of-40 and became the first Blue Devil to throw for 300+ yards since Jacob Dolegala on October 6, 2018. He posted his second straight three-touchdown passes game. It was his fourth career game with CCSU that he posted three passing touchdowns. 

• Howard moved into sixth place on the CCSU career rushing list with 2,274 yards. 

• CCSU was 4-4 in the red zone on Saturday and are now 22-24 on the year, with 14 touchdowns. 

• The Blue Devils finished with 8.0 TFL, led by 2.5 from Gavin Taylor.  CCSU came into the game ranked 15th nationally with 7.2 TFL per game. 

• The Blue Devils recorded their first sack in three games, finishing with 4.0 sacks on the day. Taylor compiled 1.5 on the day. 

• CCSU has won four straight overtime games. 

• Central leads the all-time series, 14-12. 

UP NEXT 

• CCSU travels to Robert Morris for an NEC matchup at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11.