After becoming battle tested with two consecutive FBS opponents to kick off their season, Duquesne (1-2) won a resilient battle against a top-25 FCS team in Youngstown State (1-2), 28-25. Additionally, the Penguins just happen to be the team that ended the Dukes season a year ago.
With the win over the Penguins, the Dukes are now in the victory column and will look to use the big win to their advantage moving forward.
“This team, I felt it through camp and the first couple of games, they had a character about them that they were just going to play hard football all of the time and they got a chance to show it for 60 minutes today,” Dukes head coach Jerry Schmitt told the media following the game. “That’s what we talked about all week and they did it. I kind of had a feeling about that’s how this team was but you don’t know until you get into that fourth quarter and they proved me right.”
The Dukes started the game with the ball and opened with a long, sustained drive that went eight plays and 45 yards but the Penguins defense forced an incompletion by Darius Perrantes on fourth-and-four.
The Penguins first drive went eerily similar to the Dukes, going 43 yards in eight plays. The difference between the two initial drives was that the Penguins settled on fourth down and took the lead on a 45-yard field goal by Andrew Lastovka.
Despite the turnover on downs on their first drive, the Dukes offense stayed on-beat as JaMario Clements took off for a 72-yard gain on the first play of their second drive. On the next play, the Dukes took the lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Shawn Soloman.
Clements finished the game with 12 carries for game-high 204 yards and one touchdown.
“I feel like, this was a game that everybody, even my last running back coach, knew I was due for it,” Clement told reporters after the game. “I had injuries at the start of my [collegiate] career that I never had in high school so just bouncing back from those, this was a game that was due for me.”
The Penguins answered this touchdown with one of their own. Using 13 plays and converting a fourth-and-one, the Penguins re-claimed the lead on a quarterback keeper by Beau Brungard.
After forcing a Dukes punt, the Penguins scored again, extending their lead to 10 points. Using another long drive, the Penguins capped their second touchdown off with a 5-yard touchdown run by Tyshon King.
The Dukes managed to respond with a touchdown of their own before halftime as Perrantes found Tedy Afful on a 3-yard touchdown strike. The Dukes trailed 17-14 as the teams entered the intermission.
“I think it was huge [to score here,]” Schmitt said. “We’ve had a number of those situations, where we were down a touchdown or 10 or 14 and had the ball and just didn’t put it in. I think to do that gave us great confidence.”
The Penguins looked to re-extend their lead to open the second half as they were driving deep into Dukes territory. On a second-and-three from the Dukes’ 13-yard line, Brungard threw an interception to Antonio Epps in the end zone.
That turnover reignited the Dukes momentum as they drove the ball 80 yards down the field in 11 plays and re-claimed the lead. The score came on Perrantes and Afful’s second scoring connection of the afternoon.
Perrantes finished the game completing 17 of 26 passes for a game-high 157 yards and two touchdowns. Afful led the Dukes with a game-high seven catches for 56 yards and two touchdowns.
On the Penguins ensuing drive, the Dukes forced a punt that was shanked, setting up the Dukes at the plus-46 and in position to take a two possession lead. Unfortunately for the Dukes, the Penguins defense forced a three-and-out.
Then on their next offensive drive, the Penguins drove all the way into the Dukes territory and looked poise to score. That was until Nico Pate sacked Brungard for a loss of six, setting up a long third down. On that third down play, Brungard’s pass sailed incomplete, forcing the Penguins to punt.
Starting on their own 8-yard line, the Dukes needed a few first downs to close the game. Instead, Clements took a 75-yard run to the house to give the Dukes a two possession lead.
The Penguins scored again with less than 30 seconds left but it ended up being too little, too late for Youngstown State.
Next week, the Dukes play their home opener against West Virginia Wesleyan while the Penguins play another Pittsburgh-based team in the Pitt Panthers.
