NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The TCNJ football team kept unbeaten Christopher Newport in check for a quarter and a half, but the scoring came in bunches from there as the Captains wrapped up their NJAC title with a 42-0 shutout on Saturday.
Christopher Newport (9-0, 6-0) broke a scoreless deadlock with 8:16 to go in the second quarter, the first of six touchdowns in a span of just over 15 minutes of game time.
The Lions (3-6, 2-4) were in it early, getting an interception from
Brayden Kelly in the end zone on the Captains' first possession before driving deep into CNU territory as
Walker Bailey picked up a 4
th-and-2 on a keeper down to the hosts' 38-yard line. The Blue & Gold gained just three yards from there, however, and were forced to punt.
TCNJ forced another CNU punt and moved into the home side's territory again on the next set of possessions, but another promising drive short-circuited and the Captains went ahead for good with a 7-play, 80-yard touchdown march to open the scoring.
Newport scored two more touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half, heading into the locker rooms with a 21-0 lead after a strip-sack of Bailey resulted in a very short field and a short touchdown pass with 19 seconds before intermission.
The Captains returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to go up 28-0, and needed just three plays on their next possession to get into the end zone again on a 20-yard run by Jordin Lennon. After another TCNJ three-and-out, Braylon Addy found pay dirt on a 48-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring with 6:59 to go in the third.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- CNU outgained the Lions, 412-144, including 208 yards on the ground
- The Captains averaged 8.1 yards per play
- TCNJ had the only two takeaways of the game, both on interceptions – one by Kelly and the other by rookie Jayden Carter
- TCNJ converted just 1 of 12 third-down attempts
FOR THE FOES
- Brandon Pena was 14-of-19 for 198 yards and two touchdowns with one interception
- Addy, Lennon, and Pena all had touchdown runs
- Ethan Barham led CNU with five catches for 86 yards, while Addy also caught four balls for 48 yards and a score
- Connor Estrella had two sacks and forced two fumbles, while James Howard added 1.5 sacks
STANDOUT LIONS
- Kelly picked off his third pass of the year and second INT in as many games
- Carter collected his first career interception
- Christian Giordano paced the Pride with six tackles, two of them for loss
- CJ Dingle added five tackles and Remy Feniello had one TFL among his four total stops
- Sam Dech rushed 23 times for a team-high 64 yards
- Grant Lorentzen had a 24-yard reception and a 40-yard kickoff return
UP NEXT
- The Lions wrap up the regular season against Kean on Friday, November 13, with Senior Night celebrations to take place before kickoff
