NEW BRITAIN — Crown them champs, again!

For a second-straight season, the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils football team won the NEC title, following a 35-28 Saturday win over the Mercyhurst Lakers on Saturday at Arute Field in New Britain, Connecticut.

With the win, CCSU has earned another trip to the FCS Playoffs and its first back-to-back FCS playoff berth in program history.

Last season, the Blue Devils were projected to finish last in the NEC, but ended up on top as NEC champions. This season, they were picked to repeat as conference champions, and head coach Adam Lechtenberg wanted his players to prove the league right.

“Our message in the offseason was prove them right,” Lechtenberg. “We only had eight starters back, so this is relatively a new team. It was a new experience for our guys. The biggest thing is they want to pick us first or last, it doesn’t matter.”

With three of Central’s previous four games resulting in one score games and with a share of the title on the line for Mercyhurst, Lechtenberg expected Saturday’s game to come down to the final quarter.

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“We talked about it before the game and at halftime, it’s almost exactly how I expected it,” said Lechtenberg.
“We knew it would come down to all the games in this league. It’s a great league.”

Following a Mercyhurst punt on its first offensive possession, Howard showed why he’s the league’s best running back. Howard took the first CCSU offensive snap for a 22-yard touchdown run, giving CCSU a 7-0 lead less than two minutes in.

Mercyhurst tied the game up a few minutes later. After being forced to punt, the Lakers’ special teams unit recovered a muff punt at the CCSU five-yard line. A play later, wide receiver Dylan Evans took a sweep five yards to tie the game 7-7 with 10:05 left in the opening frame.

The Lakers took its first lead of the game on its next offensive possession. After forcing a CCSU three-and-out, the Lakers used just seven-play 34-yard drive that was capped by a Troble 2-yard touchdown run. This gave the Lakers a 14-7 lead.

The Blue Devils responded on its next drive with a touchdown of its own. Set up by a 38-yard run by Howard, the Blue Devils marched 72 yards down the field on just eight plays tying the game. Howard rushed for his second first quarter touchdown, scoring on a 4-yard run with 51 seconds left in the quarter, tying the game 14-14.

The Lakers took a 21-14 lead midway through the second quarter when Troble broke loose for a 63-yard touchdown run. The Blue Devils tied the game with 5:31 left in the half. Olson threw a 15-yard strike to wide receiver Michael Trovarelli.

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CCSU retook the lead to begin the second half. Olson threw his second touchdown of the game, connecting with running back Donny Marcus 17 yards through the air for a score. Central gained a 28-21 lead.

The back-and-forth jabs from both sides would continue with Mercyhurst tying the game again with 2:03 left in the third quarter. Wide receiver Taylor Wright-Rawls hauled in his first touchdown reception of the season as Urena found him on an 11-yard touchdown pass.

In the final quarter, CCSU retook the lead and held Mercyhurst scoreless. Olson connected with Howard on an eight-yard touchdown pass with 11:09 taking a 35-28 lead.

“They’re the two best offensive players in the league,” said Lechtenberg. “We are fortunate to have the two best players in the league. They do great things every week, they continue to make plays, and I’m really proud of them.”

The Blue Devils defense came up with two red zone stops in the final quarter including a final-minute stand where they forced four-straight incompletions.

CCSU will find out its FCS Playoff opponent when the selection show airs on Sunday, November 23 at 12:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

Hear From The Players

CCSU quarterback Brady Olson (22-35, 221 yards, three touchdowns, one interceptions) and running back Elijah Howard (29 total touches, 188 yards, three touchdowns) led the offensive effort in Saturday’s win. They also both reached career milestones.

Howard’s 163-yard rushing performance was a third game in a row where he rushed for at least 100 yards. This brought his season total to 1,078 yards, the first team he surpassed 1,000 yards in a single season.

“It’s a great accomplishment, shout-out to the O-line and coach Mersh and coach Brooks giving us the keys to run with,” said Howard.

With three touchdown passes in the win, Olson upped his touchdown pass total with the Blue Devils to 40, and 50 in his collegiate career. He’s hoping his and the team’s consistency carries into their playoff game next Saturday.

“We’re just trying to keep being consistent, I think we’ve done that and now hopefully our consistency will lead on into next week,” said Olson.