The University’s football team’s second half rally against the Dukes of Duquesne University came up short resulting in a 30-21 loss to their former Northeast Conference foe. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 2-1 while the Dukes improve to 2-2.
The Hawks fell behind at halftime, 24-7, and had to fight and claw their way back into the game in order to make a respectable showing. In most sports, you never want to fall behind because then you have to put forth extra effort and energy to escape with a win. This was no exception. In the second half, the Hawks outscored the Dukes, 14-6, but it just wasn’t enough in the end.
“I didn’t think we played well enough in the first half to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game,” said head coach Kevin Callahan. “In the second half I was happy the way our players fought back and got themselves back in it. We put ourselves in the position that it was a one score game and we had the ball. If we could have been able to get on the board at that point I think it could have changed the outcome. We didn’t have the ability to make plays when we really needed to today. Duquesne did a good job along the defensive line and we made it difficult for us to find any consistency in the run game. Without being able to run the ball, it made throwing the ball all the more difficult.”
MU jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on their first drive of the contest, an 11-play drive that took almost five minutes off of the game clock, when senior quarterback Brandon Hill found senior receiver Neal Sterling for a 17-yard scoring strike. However, things went downhill for the Hawks from there, as Duquesne scored 24-unanswered-points before returning to the locker room for halftime. In an effort to get back into the game during the second half, the Hawks leaned heavily on their passing attack, putting the game in the hands of Hill and their wide receivers, a position that is a strong point of the MU attack due to the amount of playmakers and overall depth.
Hill, who finished the contest completing 24-of-42 passes for 258-yards to nine different receivers, found senior tight end Hakeem Valles for a two-yard-score towards the end of the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 13-points at 27-14. MU used the momentum gained from the score when, on the very next drive, sophomore defensive back Teddie Martinez intercepted Dillon Buechel’s pass, and returned it 51 yards to set up the Hawks’ offense with great field position. On the first play after the forced turnover, sophomore running back Lavon Chaney found pay dirt from six-yards out to trim the deficit, and really put pressure on the Dukes, making it a one score game at 27-21. Unfortuanetly for the Hawks, the Duquesne defense bunkered down, and kept MU from founding the endzone the rest of the game. The Dukes finally put the game out of reach when Austin Crimmins connected on a 24-yard field goal with 2:59 remaining in the game.
Senior wide receiver Lamar Davenport led all Hawk receivers with five receptions for 53-yards while Sterling, who missed the second half with an ankle injury, contributed with four catches for 53-yards and a first quarter score. The Hawks were hurt by the ineffectiveness of their run game as senior running back KB Asante rushed for 25-yards on 17-carries. Chaney led the rushing attack with 33-yards on eight-rushes and added a fourth quarter touchdown. Duquesne found much more success with its running attack as the Dukes managed to gain 103 total yards on the ground on 31 rushing attempts, one less than the 32 attempts by the blue and white. It’s worth noting that the Hawks were without two starters along the offensive line, senior Reece Johnston and junior Hunter McHugh, due to injuries and the offensive line required some reshuffling. Also, the Hawks continued to be plagued by costly penalties. For the contest, the Hawks accumulated nine penalties for 78-yards.
The Hawks will take to the road this Saturday to play against the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh University (0-3). The game will be played at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem and kickoff is slated for 12:30 pm. This is a rematch of last year’s home opener in which the MU lost in dramatic fashion, 28-25. The Hawks will look to improve to 3-1 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
