Duquesne falls to Stonehill in thriller, stalling Northeast Conference title, FCS playoffs bid
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Duquesne’s shot at a Northeast Conference outright title and an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs will have to wait another week.
A win Saturday over Stonehill at Rooney Field would have accomplished both of those things, butthe Dukes lost to the visiting Skyhawks, 33-28.
Now, Duquesne (6-4, 5-1 NEC) must win its regular-season finale next weekend at Merrimack, the NEC’s second-place team, which won Saturday, to win sole possession of the league title and make the playoffs.
The Dukes scored a go-ahead touchdown with 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining to take a 28-27 lead, but, on the ensuing kickoff to Stonehill, failed to execute a squib kick that instead set up the Skyhawks at their own 38-yard line.
Needing only a field goal to win, Stonehill (4-5, 3-3) marched downfield and scored a touchdown on a 21-yard jet sweep.
“We just felt we could place (the kick) to one of (Stonehill’s) up guys, but, obviously, we missed on that,” Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said. “That ball was supposed to be 15 yards deeper.”
Stonehill managed to win despite racking up 154 yards in penalties. Two of those — back-to-back unsportsmanlike conduct calls in the third quarter — led to the disqualification of arguably the Skyhawks’ top player, tailback Jermaine Corbett.
The NEC’s second-leading rusher entering Saturday, he ran 21 times for 111 yards against Duquesne.
The Skyhawks also dropped a sure pick-six in the third quarter and had a kickoff return touchdown called back. But Stonehill was able to pull off the win largely because it won the turnover battle, 4-0.
Duquesne quarterback Darius Perrantes was erratic for most of the day. He threw two interceptions, lost a fumble and finished with 298 yards on 9-of-25 passing.
Perrantes made several big throws during the game but, on multiple occasions, the football seemed to leave his hand awkwardly.
“The ball didn’t come out with the crispness that it does when he’s going down the field,” Schmitt said. “There were a few things I know he’d like to have back.”
Fumbles on Dukes’ first two offensive plays were recovered by the Skyhawks, who took a 17-0 lead midway through the first half.
The Dukes got back in the fight in the second, when Perrantes hit Keshawn Brown on a short pass that Brown turned upfield for an 89-yard touchdown.
With 3:39 left in the second quarter, Perrantes scored on a 34-yard run to put his team ahead 21-20, a lead Duquesne carried into halftime.
Late in the third, Stonehill capped a 12-play, 63-yard drive with a short touchdown run, retaking the lead 27-21.
Duquesne tailback Edward Robinson scored late in the fourth, but after the Dukes’ kickoff misfire, Stonehill got to work quickly.
Noah Canty made a key, 29-yard reception that put the ball on Duquesne’s 33.A few plays later, Chris Domercant scored on a jet sweep.
Duquesne got the ball back with 57 seconds and two timeouts, beginning from its 42.
The Dukes penetrated as far as Stonehill’s 33 but couldn’t find any end-of-game magic.
Perrantes did attempt a pass to a wide-open Brown in the corner of the end zone that would have done the trick, but the ball was slightly underthrown and got tipped.
The Dukes play at Merrimack on Nov. 18 with the NEC crown and an FCS playoffs appearance on the line.
“It’ll be huge for us to overcome this adversity,” Schmitt said. “Major disappointment, obviously. I told (the players) after, we own this. It’s on us — staff, players, everybody that works here — we own this. So now, in 24 hours, we’re going to get back to work and play our last football game next week.”