Duquesne Overwhelms West Virginia Wesleyan To Win Home Opener

The Duquesne Football Team overcame its starting quarterback being out with concussion and a 59-minute delay in winning a 17th straight season opener 35-0 over West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon at Rooney Field.

In doing so, Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt earned his 150th career win and the Dukes won their third home opener in the last four years by not conceding a double-digit point total.

“It means that I’ve had a lot of good football players at Duquesne, good coaching staff and great support,” Schmitt said of the milestone. “I’ve been here a long time and been fortunate to be here at this place. It’s very nice to get to that level but the next one is most important one.

Following the game, Schmitt was presented with the game ball by senior associate athletic director Rick Christensen which he lifted in the air, receiving an ovation from the team.

“I told the guys after I love winning on senior day,” stated Schmitt on the postgame huddle. “We recognize those guys; we appreciate them, and we celebrated with them. I love winning on Rooney and it’s great to get the win. I told them last, I love winning with the Dukes. We started off a bit sluggish, but they answered what I wanted which was to play with detail and we eventually got to that.”

Duquesne held West Virginia Wesleyan to 11 rushing yards, while going for 265 on their own.

Senior quarterback Jordan Heisey got the start under center Saturday, going 17-for-23 for 161 yards. Of his three touchdown passes, two went to Jermaine Johnson, good for the first scores in the latter’s Duquesne tenure.

“I think I found out Tuesday for sure that DP was going to be out,” he explained. “Really, it’s a little cliché because as a backup you’re always trying to stay ready, but it’s definitely different getting more reps during the week. I think our coaches did a great job preparing me this week and the other QBs. We have pretty good guys on the outside and front who make it pretty easy for me.”

Defensively sophomore linebacker Luke Miller recorded his first career interception and CJ Barnes earned the second of his Dukes career. Junior linebacker Dom Fusca earned a career high with his three tackles.

After a slow start, Duquesne forced an interception as Miller essentially played centerfield, ultimately having the ball comfortably settle in his waiting hands.

“We actually dropped into our coverage where I’m our middle runner, which means I basically control the middle of the field,” said Miller. “I was lined up over the center, so it was a hard read for the quarterback to see me get out there fast and make the interception. I’m going to give credit to all of my buddies up front putting pressure in his face and throwing that bad ball for me.”

It was Miller’s first career interception and left the Dukes with a short field, needing four plays to go the 26 yards where the current NEC Offensive Player of the Week JaMario Clements scored from a yard out.

In the second quarter, Heisey timed a route where Joey Isabella made a circus catch along the Duquesne sideline.

Three players later the pair connected again, this time in the end zone.

When West Virginia Wesleyan’s offense took to the field, a Duquesne staffer shouted at an official with four others following suit as a lightning strike was heard, ultimately delaying the game for 59 minutes.

Both teams had the opportunity to take a 10-minute warm up and Duquesne would pick right back up where they left off with a pair of Johnson touchdowns, making the score 28-0 in the Dukes favor at halftime.

Duquesne’s final score came in the fourth quarter when Shawn Solomon Jr took to the ground, punching six points in from seven yards out. Solomon was the Dukes leading rusher with 89 yards on the afternoon.

Prior to the game over 40 Duquesne seniors were honored with family members and friends escorting each towards midfield to be recognized.

The next week will serve as a bye week before Duquesne has its homecoming game Oct. 5 against LIU.

“We won our last two games, so we feel good about that, we’ll celebrate that for a day or two,” Schmitt concluded. “We have to be careful that we have to get a lot of work done for conference play. It’s a really good time for us to heal up, get ready and we have a home game.”

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