CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — New Haven lost to Austin Peay 42-17 on Saturday at Fortera Stadium. Niko Boyce (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) made his first start for the Blue & Gold in the game and made a solid showing, completing 25/39 passes for 227 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Tommy Troy (Essex, Conn./Valley Regional).
New Haven answered Austin Peay’s opening touchdown with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Nikolay Boyce’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Troy before Liam Quigley’s (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Govenor Livingston) PAT tied the score at 7-7. After Austin Peay moved back ahead 14-7 on a 65-yard touchdown pass, the Chargers drove 62 yards, including Boyce’s 41-yard completion to D’Arious Reed (Nashville, Tenn.), and Jack Morgese (Florham Park, N.J./Pope John XXIII) made a 20-yard field goal with 46 seconds left. The Chargers finished the first quarter trailing 14-10 despite scoring on both red-zone trips.
The Chargers’ defense answered a blocked punt with a goal-line stand, as Rikervin Encarnacion forced a fumble near the goal line and Frederick Borkey (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Thomas More) recovered at New Haven’s 1 with the score still 21-10. The offense moved off the goal line with a 17-yard Zaon Laney (Hoboken, N.J./Rahway) run and later reached the Austin Peay 40, but the Chargers did not score in the quarter. Austin Peay added two special-teams touchdowns after New Haven’s kicks and carried a 35-10 lead out of the second quarter…