Duquesne Football’s Many Miscues Lead To Loss

Duquesne football kicker Matthew Castelnovo prepared to kick the ball short, following his coaching staff’s direction after the Dukes overcame several potentially back-breaking mistakes to take the lead Saturday afternoon at Rooney Field with the NEC Championship secure if the team were to win.

Instead as Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt explained, the kick went 15 yards shorter as Stonehill took over on its own 38.

A defense which stood tall through adversity in the fourth quarter could not do so one final time as Duquesne fell 33-28.

“We had done a good job of placing it so we did not get a big return,” Schmitt explained. “We had a couple of returns there on us, so we felt that if we could place it to one of their up guys. Obviously, we missed on that, we didn’t do a good job on that.”

Duquesne had to overcome a 17-0 deficit to start its senior day and also already earned a share of the NEC crown but earned the opportunity to advance on its homefield to secure the solo title for just the second time in program history, with 2015 being the first.

Instead after using so much energy to come back, the efforts were just short as the last drive after the kickoff saw the Skyhawks player Chris Domercant rush it in from 21 yards out following a Duquesne timeout.

This left Duquesne 32 seconds to find a winner, which the Dukes were unable to do.

“We’re pretty upset,” Duquesne safety Zeke Daure admitted afterwards. “We had a chance to do it on our home field and didn’t come up on top. I think everyone’s pretty upset about it. We battled through some adversity and that makes us a well-tested team for next week now. You just wish you could come on top in these types of situations.”

Schmitt admitted that the game was not his team’s best and that the Dukes had more unforced errors in a 60-minute period that they had in a long time.

In total, there were 24 total penalties for 229 combined yards. Duquesne was whistled eight times, but also did not turn on several passes defensively, came up empty on two fourth-quarter drives and just made other self-inflicted mistakes.

“(We) shot ourselves in the foot all game,” determined Daure. “A lot of penalties, a lot of stupid mistakes all game. We gave them a lot, one drive we gave them 30 yards on two penalties. It’s really frustrating.”

A bright spot for Duquesne came with Gianni Rizzo’s career highs with 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. Jayden Johnson added a game-high 13 tackles.

Wide receiver Keshawn Brown achieved a career high 103 receiving yards, the overwhelming bulk of which came on an 89-yard passing play on a slant pattern.

Now Duquesne has to turn the page for next Saturday’s noon contest against Merrimack, which will air on NEC Front Row.

Schmitt had long instilled a 24-hour rule after games, and he knows it is a huge task to overcome Saturday’s effort and that ownership needed to be taken by all involved in the program.

“Right now it’s hard to dwell but I think going into Monday we’ll be ready to go,” Daure hoped. “Next week is technically our Super Bowl, it’s the biggest game of the year now. We always say that anyways, so we’ll just put our heads back on and try to pick ourselves up and hopefully go win next week.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a first quarter for Duquesne to forget as Stonehill started with Jermaine Corbett putting in two decent runs, putting the Skyhawks into the red zone.

The drive would stall as Perry Shelbred converted a 22-yard field goal.

As Duquesne tried to move past the emotion of senior day and what was at stake, its turn with the football lasted one play as quarterback Darius Perrantes fumbled the football. Shortly after, Jake Newsham would cross the goal line on a third down pass extending the Skyhawks advantage.

Edward Robinson took it to the ground on Duquesne’s first play from scrimmage, but a hard hit resulted in a fumble which Justin Waters returned 17 yards.

All of a sudden, Duquesne found itself down 17-0.

The Dukes would regroup, going on an 11-play, 60-yard drive culminating in JaMario Clements punching the ball in from two yards out.

Stonehill would lead 20-7 after the first quarter after a field goal split the uprights in the closing moments.

Duquesne had an opportunity as the second quarter began but Perrantes mistimed multiple throws and on fourth down, two Dukes receivers were open but bumped into each other causing a turnover on downs.

Stonehill took over and had a 2nd-&-27 before Duquesne bailed the Skyhawks out with a personal foul.

Despite this, Duquesne’s defense made a stand and when back on the attack, Perrantes found Brown on a slant route. Brown made the catch and made a move to shake his defender. A crucial DJ Powell block allowed Brown to find open field and the end zone.

Perrantes would prove to have an affinity for the deep ball as his nine completions went for 298 yards, averaging just over 33 yards a pass.

Stonehill struggled to advance the ball and on fourth down a bad snap saw a sequence in which the Dukes took over on the Skyhawk 37.

On third down, Perrantes saw open field and rushed for the first down, but after he cut the dash turned into a 34-yard score giving Duquesne the lead, a 21-20 advantage it would hold into halftime.

The third quarter did not see much movement until Corbett was ejected after picking up his second personal foul after saying something right beside an official. Corbett’s day ended with 111 rushing yards.

It was the second consecutive game that Duquesne allowed a 100-yard rusher.

“We’re wearing down in our front and they were really good, the running game,” Schmitt said. “It’s a challenge for us and we’re using a lot of people, a lot of young guys and interchange to hold up in that front. We weren’t as strong as when we started the season. I kind of expect teams to run it a little bit on us.”

Stonehill would have another running back in Zavion Woodard rush the ball in from a yard out, to reclaim the lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Duquesne welcomed the fourth quarter with Perrantes finding Joey Isabella for a 49-yard connection down to the Skyhawks seven. The ensuing play saw a pass tipped and intercepted.

After the Dukes defense stood tall, Perrantes found Powell for 54 yards. Duquesne had the ball as close as the 15-yard line, but Perrantes spun out of trouble only to fall on his own accord. The error took the Dukes out of field goal range and the team turned it over on downs.

Once again Duquesne’s defense stood tall and the third time would prove to be the charm for the Dukes offense.

This occasion Perrantes was less reliant on the deep ball, taking what Stonehill gave him and opening up more reads in the process.

Ultimately, it was Robinson who cut right and found the end zone untouched.

After the short kick, Stonehill quarterback Ashur Carraha found Noah Canty for 29 yards, a play which left the Skyhawks just outside of field goal range.

A few plays later, Domercant scored his touchdown as Duquesne left itself some time to secure the title. Instead, the drive was unsuccessful though on the penultimate play, Powell just missed scoring a touchdown.

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