NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The TCNJ football team's valiant second-half effort came up just short of a storybook ending in a tale of two halves at Christopher Newport on Saturday, when the Lions nearly overcame a pair of 17-point deficits in a 24-21 NJAC setback.

TCNJ was held scoreless in a rough first half but flipped a switch after the break, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions to get within three on a touchdown pass from Trevor Bopp to Jake McKown on the penultimate play of the third. The Lions had three chances to go in front, but never managed to cash in and saw their bid to hand the Captains their first league loss fall just short of the mark.

Jayson Schmidt rushed racked up 181 total yards and a pair of touchdowns in a breakout second half and Nick Celli and Ryan McGuire combined for seven sacks for TCNJ, but a slow start put the blue and gold in a three-possession hole that proved a little too much to erase.

The game started inauspiciously for the Lions, who got sacks from McGuire and Celli but were unable to get the Captains off the field on the opening drive. A personal foul gifted CNU a first down near midfield, but TCNJ looked set to take the ball back after getting the hosts into 4^th-and-9 at the 32. Going into the wind, the Captains eschewed a long field goal attempt in favor of going for it and the gamble paid off as Trey Hayes came down with a spectacular diving catch in the end zone on a long heave from Matt Dzierski to open the scoring.

Trevor Bopp's first pass of the afternoon was intercepted and returned to the Lions' 22, putting the defense in another precarious position. The unit came up big, however, stuffing two designed QB runs before holding the Captains to a 24-yard field goal.

Following a series of punts and field-position tussles, CNU expanded its lead to 17-0 at the 4:24 mark of the second period as Dzierski found Trey Lancaster open in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown.

The Lions finally got their offense untracked at the end of the half, picking up a series of first downs to cross midfield for the first time on a swing pass to Jayson Schmidt. Facing 4^th-and-3 just across the 50, Bopp connected with Malin Jasinski for a huge first down to keep the drive alive. On 4^th-and-8 from the CNU 37, Bopp eluded the rush and lofted a pass down the left sideline that fell just short of Joey Bellamy Jr., whose pleas for pass interference were rejected.

After being held to just 64 yards on 29 first-half snaps, the offense got going with two long touchdown drives to start the second half. It started right away as Bopp completed a quick slant to Jasinski for a first down on the first play after intermission. With tight end Thomas Burke in motion on a 3^rd-and-1, Schmidt took advantage of a possibly distracted Captains front, busting through a big hole and sprinting untouched to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown as TCNJ got on the board and trimmed the CNU lead to 17-7 barely a minute into the third.

Back-to-back sacks by Celli led to an immediate three-and-out, but TCNJ was unable to take advantage of strong starting field position on its next possession and gave the ball back to the hosts. CNU wasted little time taking it all the way down the field as Gunner White broke off a 41-yard run on the first play of the march and capped it with a 15-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it 24-7 at the 8:00 mark of the quarter.

Schmidt continued to keep the Lions within striking distance, leaking out on a wheel route for a 53-yard gain down the right sideline and cutting the CNU lead to 24-14 as Bopp hit him in stride for a 14-yard touchdown connection with 6:04 to go in the third.

An unsportsmanlike penalty on CNU gave the Lions a fourth-down conversion, and Bopp completed consecutive 15-yard passes to Joe Ciempola and Jake McKown, the second into the end zone to make it 24-21 with a single tick on the third-quarter timer.

Ryan McGuire killed the next two Captain possessions with sacks, but TCNJ was unable to bridge the gap. The Lions had one last chance from their own 20 with 2:03 remaining, and got off to a promising start with a 20-yard reception by McKown. Jasinski was knocked down deep into his route on the next play, but no flag was thrown and Bopp's pass was intercepted at the Captains' 40. White's 36-yard run effectively ended the contest.

White was hard to handle, piling up 174 yards on 28 totes. Hayes finished with five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half.

McGuire racked up 4.0 tackles for loss and matched Flaherty and Cole Groschel for the team lead with nine tackles. Celli's 5.0 tackles for loss gave him a second game this season with at least that many stops in the backfield, and the senior also forced a fumble.

The Lions' defense was particularly effective against the Captains' array of end-arounds and stretch running plays to the outside, with Chris McCormack and Dominick Nocero each notching a tackle for loss in the first half.

TCNJ wraps up the 2022 campaign with Senior Night against Kean on Friday.