Saturday, September 4
Fairfield, Conn.
6 p.m.
Bucknell University
0-1
0
at
21
Sacred Heart
1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Bucknell
0
0
0
0
0
Sacred Heart
0
7
7
7
21
Photo by: Max Bunzel
Sacred Heart Tops Bucknell Football
9/4/2021 9:12:00 PM | Football
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Sacred Heart downed the Bucknell football team, 21-0, on Saturday night at Campus Field.
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The Pioneers (1-0, 0-0 NEC) pulled away from the Bison (0-1, 0-0 PL) during the second half, scoring two of their three touchdowns. Consensus All-American running back Julius Chestnut led the way, running for 170 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries.
"Hats off to how tough we competed on defense," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "Our players really hung in there. We just left them out on the field too long as an offense. We just weren't able to generate enough consistency in our offensive play, and that's obviously got to change moving forward."
At halftime, Bucknell trailed by only a 7-0 margin. With 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Bison came up with their biggest stop of the half. Sacred Heart was poised just outside of the red zone, having marched 65 yards in 14 plays to Bucknell's 21-yard line. Facing 4th and 3, the Pioneers gave the ball to Chestnut, who Ben Allen and Ryan Betz teamed to stuff for no gain. Â
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Sacred Heart ultimately broke the scoreless deadlock with 32 seconds left before halftime; Marquez McCray found L.J. Haskett for a 32-yard touchdown catch to finish off a five-play, 60-yard drive.
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The Pioneers threatened to extend their lead on their first drive of the third quarter, but Sterling Deary forced a fumble at the Bison's 15-yard line. The ball bounced off of another player before landing in the hands of a diving Nathaniel Carson.
Bucknell failed to capitalize on its resulting drive. Sacred Heart responded by putting together a 14-play, 60-yard scoring drive of its own, which was capped by Chestnut's two-yard touchdown run.
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The Bison's best scoring opportunity of the second half came after forcing the Pioneers to punt from their own end zone. They took over at Sacred Heart's 35-yard line but couldn't take advantage of their favorable field position; they were stymied by a false start penalty and a pair of passes that fell incomplete.
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The Pioneers found the end zone right after that failed drive. Malik Grant's four-yard touchdown run was set up by a 40-yard catch by Naseim Brantley;Â Brantley outleaped his defender to come up with McCray's deep throw.
Sacred Heart finished with advantages in total offense (455-143) and first downs (24-11), notably preventing Bucknell from reaching the red zone. The Pioneers became the first team to blank the Bison since Sept. 9, 2017, a 20-0 whitewashing by Holy Cross. Sacred Heart previously blanked Bucknell in their first-ever meeting, a 16-0 shutout during the 2013 campaign.
This marked the first time since 1958 that the Bison were shut out to start a campaign. That season, their first under legendary head coach Bob Odell, they were blanked by Gettysburg, 6-0, in their opener. They have now been shut out in their first game 16 times, with 14 of those scoreless results occurring before 1950.Â
Bucknell had 10 players make their first career start, including six on the defensive side of the ball. Only five of the 22 Bison who started the 2021 opener had at least five career starts under their belt entering the game.
Bucknell played the majority of the second half without starting quarterback and team captain Tarrin Earle. They also lost captain Jacob Russ, an anchor on the offensive line, to injury. Notably, their fellow captains Grayson Cherubino and Dominic Lyles, a 2021 Spring All-Patriot League honoree, missed the game to injury and illness (not COVID-19 related) respectively.
Earle totaled 39 yards on 6-for-14 passing, adding 29 yards on five carries. Nick Semptimphelter completed 2-of-8 passes for 26 yards in relief. Coleman Bennett paced the Bison with 33 rushing yards; he also recorded 44 yards on two kickoff returns. Connor Holmes and Damian Harris tied for the team high in receiving yards (23).
Defensively, eight Bison made at least five tackles, with Blake Leake (9), Justin Fisher (9), Allen (7) and Tyler Alston (7) leading the way. Each set a new career high in the process.
For the Pioneers, McCray completed 15-of-27 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. Brantley (67), Rob DiNota (37) and Haskett (32) all exceeded 30 receiving yards. Jalen Gopie and Rayshad Wallace tied for the team lead in tackles (5).
The Bison next travel to Villanova for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday, Sept. 11.
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The Pioneers (1-0, 0-0 NEC) pulled away from the Bison (0-1, 0-0 PL) during the second half, scoring two of their three touchdowns. Consensus All-American running back Julius Chestnut led the way, running for 170 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries.
"Hats off to how tough we competed on defense," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "Our players really hung in there. We just left them out on the field too long as an offense. We just weren't able to generate enough consistency in our offensive play, and that's obviously got to change moving forward."
At halftime, Bucknell trailed by only a 7-0 margin. With 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Bison came up with their biggest stop of the half. Sacred Heart was poised just outside of the red zone, having marched 65 yards in 14 plays to Bucknell's 21-yard line. Facing 4th and 3, the Pioneers gave the ball to Chestnut, who Ben Allen and Ryan Betz teamed to stuff for no gain. Â
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Sacred Heart ultimately broke the scoreless deadlock with 32 seconds left before halftime; Marquez McCray found L.J. Haskett for a 32-yard touchdown catch to finish off a five-play, 60-yard drive.
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The Pioneers threatened to extend their lead on their first drive of the third quarter, but Sterling Deary forced a fumble at the Bison's 15-yard line. The ball bounced off of another player before landing in the hands of a diving Nathaniel Carson.
Bucknell failed to capitalize on its resulting drive. Sacred Heart responded by putting together a 14-play, 60-yard scoring drive of its own, which was capped by Chestnut's two-yard touchdown run.
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The Bison's best scoring opportunity of the second half came after forcing the Pioneers to punt from their own end zone. They took over at Sacred Heart's 35-yard line but couldn't take advantage of their favorable field position; they were stymied by a false start penalty and a pair of passes that fell incomplete.
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The Pioneers found the end zone right after that failed drive. Malik Grant's four-yard touchdown run was set up by a 40-yard catch by Naseim Brantley;Â Brantley outleaped his defender to come up with McCray's deep throw.
Sacred Heart finished with advantages in total offense (455-143) and first downs (24-11), notably preventing Bucknell from reaching the red zone. The Pioneers became the first team to blank the Bison since Sept. 9, 2017, a 20-0 whitewashing by Holy Cross. Sacred Heart previously blanked Bucknell in their first-ever meeting, a 16-0 shutout during the 2013 campaign.
This marked the first time since 1958 that the Bison were shut out to start a campaign. That season, their first under legendary head coach Bob Odell, they were blanked by Gettysburg, 6-0, in their opener. They have now been shut out in their first game 16 times, with 14 of those scoreless results occurring before 1950.Â
Bucknell had 10 players make their first career start, including six on the defensive side of the ball. Only five of the 22 Bison who started the 2021 opener had at least five career starts under their belt entering the game.
Bucknell played the majority of the second half without starting quarterback and team captain Tarrin Earle. They also lost captain Jacob Russ, an anchor on the offensive line, to injury. Notably, their fellow captains Grayson Cherubino and Dominic Lyles, a 2021 Spring All-Patriot League honoree, missed the game to injury and illness (not COVID-19 related) respectively.
Earle totaled 39 yards on 6-for-14 passing, adding 29 yards on five carries. Nick Semptimphelter completed 2-of-8 passes for 26 yards in relief. Coleman Bennett paced the Bison with 33 rushing yards; he also recorded 44 yards on two kickoff returns. Connor Holmes and Damian Harris tied for the team high in receiving yards (23).
Defensively, eight Bison made at least five tackles, with Blake Leake (9), Justin Fisher (9), Allen (7) and Tyler Alston (7) leading the way. Each set a new career high in the process.
For the Pioneers, McCray completed 15-of-27 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. Brantley (67), Rob DiNota (37) and Haskett (32) all exceeded 30 receiving yards. Jalen Gopie and Rayshad Wallace tied for the team lead in tackles (5).
The Bison next travel to Villanova for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
SHU
Total Yards
143
455
Pass Yards
65
159
Rushing Yards
78
296
Penalty Yards
15
25
1st Downs
11
24
3rd Downs
2
5
4th Downs
0
5
TOP
25:37
34:20
2nd Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, SHU 7
SHU - Haskett,LJ 32 yd pass from McCray,Marquez (Renzi,Sam kick) plays, yards, TOP
3rd Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, SHU 14
SHU - Chestnut,Julius 2 yd run (Renzi,Sam kick), plays, yards, TOP
4th Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, SHU 21
SHU - Grant,Malik 4 yd run (Renzi,Sam kick), plays, yards, TOP
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
6
TD
0
YDS
39
INT
0
CMP
2
TD
0
YDS
26
INT
0
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DL
/ Football
CB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OL
/ FootballQB
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