MADISON, N.J. – The TCNJ football team opened its 2018 season Friday night with its lone non-conference game at FDU-Florham. Despite falling behind, 28-0, the Lions clawed back into the game before losing, 35-21.

TCNJ (0-1) got off to a slow start on offense, starting its first seven drives with three punts, three turnovers and a turnover on downs. FDU-Florham (1-0) capitalized by taking a 7-0 lead after an 11-play, 88-yard drive on its opening possession following a TCNJ punt. Jagger Green found Mike Panzarino from 15 yards out to cap the drive with 9:45 left in the first quarter.

A Lions' fumble gave the Devils a short field later in the first, and Steve Iannone finished the 25-yard drive with a 10-yard rush to make it 14-0 with 6:26 left. Green threw two more passes to Panzarino in the second quarter to double the Devils' lead to 28-0.

TCNJ fought back late in the first half. The Lions embarked on a five-play, 66-yard drive that included a 22-yard pass from Donoghue to Jack Clevenger to the FDU-Florham 42 yard line. Three plays later, Donoghue found freshman Jaiden Elliott wide open down the middle for a 29-yard touchdown. That made it 28-7 with 2:11 left in the second quarter. Elliott had four grabs for a team-leading 69 yards.

TCNJ kept the momentum rolling early in the second half. Jalen Harmon intercepted Green on the first drive of the second half. The Lions took advantage of the quick change with a completed deep shot to Ibn Bailey on first down. The 46-yard gain put the Lions at the FDU-Florham 4 yard line. TCNJ thought that it scored on another completion to Bailey in the corner of the end zone, but he was flagged for offensive pass interference. TCNJ eventually turned the ball over on downs.

The third quarter remained scoreless, but the Devils scored on the second play of the fourth quarter on Panzarino's fourth touchdown reception.

Donoghue completed three straight passes on a TCNJ fourth quarter-drive, including two in a row to Clevenger. The second of those put the Lions at the FDU-Florham 3, and Clevenger's toe-tap on the sideline led to Donoghue's dive into the end zone on the next play to cut the score to 35-14 with 9:00 left in the fourth quarter. Clevenger finished with a team-high five catches for 66 yards. Donoghue went 12-for-25 for 178 yards. He threw a touchdown and ran for another while throwing two interceptions.

Backup quarterback Dave Jachera led the Lions to another scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. He rushed for 24 yards on three straight plays to start the drive, and he followed that with a completion to Elliott for 25 yards to the FDU-Florham 7. Two plays later, Pacini plunged in with his first career touchdown to make it 35-21 with 1:59 remaining. Pacini finished with 33 yards on nine carries. Jachera led the Lions with 37 yards on the ground.

Xavier Santos had a game-high 11 tackles to lead the TCNJ defense. Tariq Ali had four tackles and five pass breakups.

Zach Warcola averaged 50.6 yards on his seven punts. Three landed inside the 20 and he had a long of 68 yards.

TCNJ returns to action next Saturday for its home opener. The Lions host Frostburg State at 1 p.m.