Duquesne football will host NEC championship game April 11 vs. Sacred Heart
Spring football appears to suit Duquesne.
The Dukes, who won all four games this spring after the covid-19 pandemic wiped out the fall season, will host the Northeast Conference championship game against Sacred Heart on April 11 at Arthur J. Rooney Field.
Conference officials said a kickoff time has not been set. The game will be shown on ESPN3.
The top-seeded Dukes won the right to be the host for the title game by defeating Bryant, 20-10, on Sunday. Duquesne is led by quarterback Joe Mischler, who has completed 68.9% of his passes (62 of 90) for 860 yards and six touchdowns, and running back Garrett Owens (403 yards rushing).
Sacred Heart (2-1) had the second-highest winning percentage in the NEC. Its regular-season finale at Wagner was canceled Sunday after the team paused all activities because of positive covid protocols within the program.
The Dukes defeated Sacred Heart, 30-27, in the first game of the spring season March 7 at Rooney Field. Duquesne has won six consecutive meetings with the Pioneers and own a 12-4 edge in the all-time series.
The winner will earn the league’s automatic bid to the 16-team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs later in April.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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