DURHAM – Senior Trevor Knight threw four touchdown passes in his first game at quarterback since the season opener to lead the University of New Hampshire football team to its first win of the season, 28-0, over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Stadium.
The UNH defense tossed its first shutout since notching a 14-0 win over Central Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA FCS Division I tournament last year on Nov. 25. It was the team’s first regular season shutout in nearly eight years, since stopping Richmond, 17-0, on Oct. 9, 2010, at home in Cowell Stadium.
The Wildcats are now 1-4 overall and play their second of three straight home games against Stony Brook next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for Homecoming. Holy Cross fell to 1-5 with the loss.
Knight completed 22 of his 38 passes for 237 yards and the four scores with one interception. He had not played since injuring his shoulder in the second period of UNH’s first game at Maine on Aug. 30.
Senior wide receiver Neil O’Connor led the Wildcats with 10 catches for 108 yards. Senior wide receiver Kieran Presley had five catches for 87 yards.
O’Connor and Presley each caught touchdown passes from Knight. Redshirt freshman Sean Coyne and junior tight end Justin Malone-Woods had the other touchdown catches.
UNH collected a season-high 439 yards of offense under Knight, who didn’t miss a beat returning from injury. He connected with Presley for a 1-yard score to cap UNH’s first drive with 11:03 left in the first quarter, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the season. Knight connected with Coyne for a 6-yard touchdown later in the first and finished the quarter 10-for-12 for 106 yards.
The ’Cats took that 14-0 lead into halftime and doubled it in the third as Knight passed for two more touchdowns. His first was a 3-yarder to Malone-Woods with 10:08 left in the quarter and the second was to O’Connor for eight yards with 2:53 left.
The Wildcat defense allowed Holy Cross just 233 yards of offense and came up with a pair of interceptions. Junior safety Rick Ellison and senior linebacker Jared Kuehl had the picks.
(Allen Lessels is the UNH Insider and can be reached at Allen.Lessels@unh.edu)Elon 27
James Madison 24
HARRISONBURG, Va. – Davis Cheek connected with Avery Jones on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:17 to play and Elon upset FCS second-ranked James Madison 27-24 on Saturday, ending the Dukes’ record 20-game Colonial Athletic Association winning streak.
It was James Madison’s first conference loss since October 31, 2015.
Set up by Gregg Liggs Jr.’s fumble recovery, Cheek engineered a 10-play, 74-yard drive and found Jones in the corner of the end zone. Connor Christianson sealed it with an easy interception in the closing seconds.
Malcolm Summers’ career-long 59-yard TD run – Elon’s longest play of the season – put the Phoenix (4-1, 2-0) up 20-12 early in the fourth quarter, but the Dukes (4-2, 2-1) closed to 20-18 on Trai Sharp’s six-yard run and pulled ahead 24-20 after DiNucci hit Riley Stapleton on 10-yard touchdown pass.
But Stapleton fumbled on James Madison’s next possession and Elon took advantage.
Cheek was 16 of 32 for 286 yards passing and Summers gained 186 yards on 20 carries. DiNucci was 24 of 41 for 316 yards for the Dukes, who entered the game riding an FCS-best 19-game home win streak. Ethan Ratke kicked four field goals.
Maine 13
Villanova 10
ORONO, Maine – Kenny Doak kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal on the final play of the game, lifting Maine to a 13-10 win over Villanova on Saturday.
Maine, taking over on its 17 with 1:39 to play, converted a third-and-1 and got 20 yards on an Isaia Robinson pass to Jaquan Blair to get into Villanova territory. Three more plays netted nine yards before the Black Bears took a timeout with three seconds left. Doak, a sophomore from Pennsylvania, beat his previous-best by 14 yards.
The Black Bears (3-2, 2-0 CA) ended a four-game losing streak in the series. They had 308 yards while holding the Wildcats (3-3, 0-3) to 181.
Both starting quarterbacks threw two interceptions. The teams traded field goals in the first half and 2-yard touchdown runs – Jo Fitzpatrick for Maine, Aaron Forbes for Villanova – in the third quarter.
The Wildcats were 3 of 13 on third downs.
William & Mary 25
Albany 22
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Shon Mitchell ran for a late touchdown and pulled in the two-point conversion pass that gave William & Mary a 25-22 win over Albany Saturday afternoon.
The Tribe (2-3, 1-1 CAA) trailed 22-17 when Mitchell took it in from six yards out with 50 seconds to play. Wide receiver Isaiah Kinder tossed him the 2-point conversion pass, making it 25-22. After the kickoff, Corey Parker intercepted Vincent Testaverde, preserving the win.
Mitchell threw a 50-yard touchdown to DeVonte Dedmon on the opening drive. Albany scored 13 unanswered points after that before Kris Hooper kicked a 39-yard field goal for the Tribe just before the end of the half and they trailed 13-10.
The Great Danes (2-3, 0-2) extended their lead to 22-10 in the fourth quarter but a touchdown pass from Mitchell to Dedmon cut it to 22-17 with 5:17 to play.
Mitchell had 263 yards and two touchdowns passing.
Testaverde had 131 yards passing for Albany. Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks ran for 221 yards and a score.