The Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils had a dominant 31-7 performance against the Saint Francis Red Flash on Sept. 13 at Arute Field. The Red Flash was Central’s first Northeast Conference matchup of the season.
CCSU quarterback Brady Olson had a solid game, throwing for 193 yards and tossing two touchdowns. The running back duo of Elijah Howard and Donny Marcus were responsible for all four of Central’s touchdowns. Howard scored two receiving touchdowns, and Marcus ran for two on the ground.
Defensive back Christopher Jean was the star on the other side of the ball, securing five tackles, hauling in an interception, forcing a fumble, recovering a fumble on special teams and breaking up two passes.
On CCSU’s first drive of the game, they were stopped after four plays and were forced to punt on fourth down. Saint Francis mishandled the punt, and Jean was able to recover the ball for Central on SFU’s 17-yard line. Four plays later, Olson hit Howard on a pass for a 1-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
After four consecutive punts, Saint Francis quarterback Nick Whitfield Jr. connected on a 71-yard pass that took them all the way to Central’s 27-yard line. Running back Jahmil Perryman would eventually rush to the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown simultaneously as the first quarter ended, and SFU would tie the game at seven.
After a quick CCSU three-and-out, the Red Flash started their drive at their 27-yard line and drove the ball down to Central’s 40-yard line with the help of a roughing the passer call going their way, and with a brand new first down from the penalty, they were able to get the ball down to the Blue Devils’ 18-yard line, but their drive stalled, and SFU’s kicker missed a 32-yard field goal on fourth down with 8:32 remaining in the second quarter.
Late into the second quarter, Central called a timeout with 1:49 remaining. After Saint Francis’ punt, the Blue Devils received the ball with 1:40 remaining but decided to be conservative and run out the rest of the time in the first half and go into the locker room with a tie ball game.
On the second drive of the third quarter, the Blue Devils recovered another muffed punt, this time recovered by defensive lineman Shin Tanaka at SFU’s 13-yard line. Due to an offensive holding by Howard and a pass that was completed for negative yards, CCSU saw themselves backing up to the Red Flashes’ 23-yard line on fourth down and had to attempt a 40-yard field goal, which was missed.
With 10:07 remaining in the third quarter, Jean intercepted Whitfield Jr. on SFU’s 35-yard line. Olson was able to complete a 23-yard pass to Howard that ended on the 1-yard line, and Marcus sealed the drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to take a 14-7 lead.
Later in the quarter, Olson was once again able to find Howard in the zone and expanded the lead to 21-7 following four stout plays by the defense that included two tackles for loss.
Central kicker Jack Hennessey converted on a 35-yard field goal to make it a 24-7 lead with 12:13 remaining in the game.
Marcus scored his second touchdown of the game with 9:55 remaining, and the last four drives ended with two punts, a turnover on downs by Saint Francis and a kneel to end the game by CCSU.
At the end of the game, Central head coach Adam Lechtenberg expressed how important it was to start the season 1-0 in conference play.
“We have four or five goals on the team for the year,” he said. “One of them is to win our first conference game at home.”
Lechtenberg also praised Jean for his performance.
“He’s a playmaker,” he said. “He’s a great kid, he plays hard and he’s fast. So we’re proud of him.”
Jean said that he knows that other teams in the NEC are watching them and hoping that they lose, and they just use it as fuel because they know they have a target on their back and want to turn it into a championship.
Jean explained why being versatile and able to make plays on special teams and defense is important.
“If you show that you can be that guy in different fields, a lot of people are going to understand and have to respect you,” he said. “They’re going to be like, ‘He’s that guy we can’t go at.””
Howard described why he and his running back group try to maximize their potential by being effective in the running game and in the passing game.
“[So] they can’t just load the box up,” he said. “We got really good hands, and we’re always going to be open.”
Howard missed the previous game against American International College on Sept. 6 with an injury but said he is now fully healthy and was able to get mental reps while he was sitting out.
After Saint Francis’ only touchdown of the game, CCSU scored 24 points in a row in the second half to seal the win comfortably. They are now on a seven-game home winning streak.
This game marked the last time that they will face each other as NEC and Division I opponents, with SFU making their transition to Division III in 2026. Lechtenberg is 2-1 against the Red Flash as head coach of the Blue Devils.
Jean was named NEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Defensive back Brayden Hall was also recognized as the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week, totaling 77 punt return yards and an average of 15.4 yards per punt return. Howard and Jean were also named NEC Prime Performers. The players were recognized on Monday, Sept. 15.
CCSU is now 2-1 and will try to take down the Merrimack Warriors in their first game of the season outside of Connecticut on Sept. 20 at Duane Stadium.
