Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey football team played 24^th-ranked Christopher Newport University tough, but the Captains wrestled a 17-0 victory in the Lions home opener on Saturday afternoon.
 
TCNJ (0-3) held the top offense in the New Jersey Athletic Conference to just 252 yards, but they were they were limited to only 113 yards on offense and were unable to put points on the board. The Captains (4-0) used an early touchdown, a third-quarter field goal, and a defensive score late in the fourth quarter to capture their fourth victory of the season.
 
On their opening drive, CNU marched 66 yards on eight plays in 4:48 to take a quick 7-0 lead. C.J. Kearney capped the drive with a seven-yard scoring strike to Khiry Weaver in the back of the end zone. From there, the Lions defense tightened and held the Captains to just 99 yards over their next five drives. Jordan Rogers (Long Branch, NJ/Long Branch) intercepted a pass and the defense forced five punts to keep CNU scoreless through the remainder of the half.
 
The Lions' defense picked up where it left off after the intermission. After Kearney completed a 16-yard pass to Taylor Loudan, TCNJ produced back-to-back sacks on second and third down. Abdelrahman Ragab (Brielle, NJ/Edison) brought Kearney down for a 10-yard loss and Grant Castellanos (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) followed with a sack for a 1-yard loss to force a punt.
 
After a 25-yard field goal by Grant Kelchner made it a 10-0 game, the Captains put together a solid drive early in the fourth period and moved down to the Lions 21-yard line. But TCNJ put together three straight tackles for loss of yardage to push the CNU back to the 32 and out of field goal range.
 
The Captains iced their fourth win when Justus Drakeford intercepted a pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown.
 
TCNJ junior Troy Domenick (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) posted a game-high 11 tackles, seven of which were solo. Ragab, Castellanos, sophomore Max Busca (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), and freshman Erik Graham (Ocean Port, NJ/Shore Regional) all registered sacks in the game.
 
On the offensive side, wide receiver Thomas Koenig (Bayville, NJ/Central Regional) and tight Chase Vena (Tabernacle, NJ/Seneca) each finished with four receptions, while Jeff Mattonelli (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) had three catches. Freshman Zach Warcola (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) booted six punts for an average of 42.0 yards and a long of 53.
 
Kearney was 20-of-29 for 196 yards and Loudan hauled in 10 catches for 92 yards.
 
The Lions are back on the road next Saturday, visiting Salisbury University for a NJAC contest slated for 1 p.m.