FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Haven Wins Fifth NE10 Title in Program History.
WEST HAVEN, Conn. - Christopher Ais hadn't even landed on the Blue Turf in his final carry in an absolute slugfest between the two best teams in the Northeast-10 Conference when the celebration began on the home sideline at DellaCamera Stadium.
Helmets came off, screams of joy could be heard and University of New Haven football coach Chris Pincince raised both of his arms in the air as the Chargers were about to wrap up a 24-17 victory versus visiting Bentley to secure the program's second outright NE10 title in the last three years.
"It is amazing," New Haven quarterback Daelen Menard said. "Everybody is super excited, super happy, there are smiles on everybody's faces and I love it."
New Haven twice rallied from three-point deficits in the second half with Menard connecting with Dev Holmes for 25 and 53-yard touchdown passes.
The second one was the back breaker as Bentley had just regained the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mark Waid.
"We knew if we saw the picture we liked, we could hit it this week," said Holmes, who had five catches for 99 yards. "We saw it and you saw the result. Daelen threw a perfect ball, I ran under it and scored. That changed the moment of the game."
New Haven still needed a key sack by defensive lineman Chisom Okoro and an interception by Jalen Fisher to keep Bentley from answering back.
After Menard's third-down pass to Kasi Hazzard was wiped out by a late flag resulting in a holding penalty, Bentley had another chance to regain the lead.
Three plays later Christian Ais intercepted a pass and returned it inside the Bentley 10.
"We were in man and any time we were in man, I just keep my eyes open," Ais said. "Once he hit the numbers, I just looked for the QB and the ball was right there.
"It was just instincts, see ball, get ball and I just wanted to be a ball hawk and that is what I did. My coach was telling me that big-time players make big plays and we wanted to make some more plays."
New Haven was unable to turn the takeaway into seven points as Vincenzo DeSimone hit a 25-yard field goal to give the Chargers the 24-17 lead with 4:48 left.
"I wish he could have scored a touchdown and ended the game right there," Pincince said. "They challenged him and he answered the bell."
Bentley (6-4, 5-2 in the Northeast-10) did drive into New Haven territory before a holding penalty and a key tackle on third down by Joe Vitale set up the Falcons with a fourth-down play. Waid's pass fell incomplete and three runs by Christopher Ais allowed New Haven to force Bentley to burn its final timeouts. When Ais lunged over the line to gain to pick up the final first down of the game, New Haven's players and coaches could finally exhale.
"We have faced a lot of adversity this year, we played a lot of nailbiters," Holmes said. "It has been an up-and-down season so having so many guys. It is very sweet. You don't get to win a conference championship every year and it means that just much more."
Bentley's Tajon Vasser returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
The New Haven defense kept the lead from growing with David Abolarinwa and Vitale teaming up for a sack on third down on Bentley's next possession with Okoro forcing an intentional grounding penalty and after a stop by Jaysen Triunfer, Okoro and Triunfer combined for a sack.
"For the past couple of weeks guys were playing in front of us," said Okoro, who had 2.5 of New Haven's four sacks. "Once we knew we were going to get in there, we knew that we had to seize the opportunity to do what we needed to do."
In between those two drives, Christopher Ais got the ball nine times on a 10-play drive with his 4-yard scoring run tying the game at 7.
Bentley's Wade converted on third and fourth down on a 15-play drive that finished with Mason Campbell's 40-yard field goal with 4:07 left in the first half.
A third-down pass to Javon Turner on New Haven's next drive was originally ruled complete before being reversed to being an incomplete pass to give Bentley one last chance to add to the lead.
Vitale got his hand on a third-down pass by Wade to keep the game at 10-7.
That set up the wild finish.
"They [New Haven's eight wins] haven't been pretty for most of the year," Pincince said. "They really love each other and play hard for each other. We are a physical football team. The way our defense played, the way they tackled that kid [Waid], turned him over a couple of times. I can't say enough about how hard they played.
"They love playing football, they love coming out here and competing. They have faced some adversity, some ups and downs. I wish it had been a little easier in a couple of these games, but they believe in each other, we believe in them and hopefully we get a shot to play some more."
New Haven (8-2, 6-1 in the NE10) began the week ranked 10th in the Super Region One rankings with seven teams reaching the Division II playoffs.
No. 1 Slippery Rock, No. 4 California (PA) and No. 8 Fairmont State all lost so the Chargers could move into the top seven. There is a stipulation that a team in the top nine in the regional rankings can move into top seven if they win their conference title and no team from that conference is in the top seven. New Haven would be eligible to be bumped up into the top seven.
The top four teams in each region get seeded and the other three teams can be sent to face the No. 2, 3 or 4 seed based on geography. A team facing an opponent at least 600 miles away is required to take a flight so that could result in New Haven being sent to face Slippery Rock or perhaps even Kutztown.
The NCAA playoff field will be announced during the selection show on NCAA.com on Sunday beginning at 6 p.m.
Before the game, 19 players suiting up at home for the final time were honored.
Holmes, Damon Burton (who had a team-high 11 tackles), Musa Hemby (five tackles), Triunfer, tight end Kevin Foelsch, DeSimone, receiver Elijah Jeffreys and starting offensive lineman Xavier Bryson as well as running backs Jake Conlan and Hunter Cobb, were among the players recognized.
"My emotions are running wild," Holmes said. "For this to be my last regular season game of my college career, to cap it off with a win and to win the conference, it means the world."
������������������������ ���������� ����������������@UNewHavenFB takes down @FootballBentley in a winner-takes-all final game of the regular season.
— The NE10 (@TheNortheast10) November 12, 2023
The Chargers are your 2023 NE10 Champions.#NE10EMBRACE I #NCAAFB I #NCAAD2 I #D2FB pic.twitter.com/0ccUolXLf1
-Recap provided by New Haven athletic communications-
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 12 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
