NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -
Bo Catherwood and
Hardley Gilmore each put up over 100 yards from scrimmage for the offense, but the American International College football team fell 30-19 to Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, September 19 in a nonconference game between Northeast 10 Conference teams.
AIC falls to 2-1 with the loss.
Southern Connecticut opened the scoring quickly after starting on their own 35 after the initial kickoff went out-of-bounds. A 15-yard catch put the ball at midfield, and then a 12-yard rush closed the gap further. Two plays later, they went deep, and Seth Westover caught a go route pass in the endzone for the score.
On their next turn, the Owls drove the field 72 yards, getting into the red zone before being forced to settle for a field goal; the key stop on third down was forced by
Jahsin Jacobs nearly sacking Brandon Jorgensen.Â
That was the lone scoring until late in the second quarter; AIC started on its own 20 after a second field goal attempt from the Owls went off track. Gilmore was the key to the drive, drawing a pass interference penalty early, then making a 30-yard catch before adding another 25 with a 20-yard reception plus a facemasking call to put AIC on the Owls 5-yard line.
From there, Catherwood did the rest, slamming through the middle for a touchdown, and after
Luke Sheets hit the PAT, AIC trailed 10-7.
AIC went three-and-out to start the second half and the Owls took advantage, dialing up two 10-plus yard plays before John Amaning broke off a 52-yard run, narrowly falling short of a touchdown when
Connor Dietz caught up to him and tackled him at the AIC 2-yard line. However, Brody Tooker caught a touchdown pass two plays later to score the points.
Two drives later, the Yellow Jackets faced starting on their own 8-yard line. Undaunted,
Daron Bryden found Catherwood open for a 30-yard pass to the right side to break away from the team's own goal line, then hit
Christopher Washington two plays later for 18 more yards.
A sack forced AIC into fourth-and-seven, but Bryden found Gilmore for a 21-yard gain and new life on the drive. Pushing into the red zone, the Owls defense put up a wall on the goal line, forcing AIC into another fourth down, but Bryden dialed up Gilmore for a touchdown catch in the end zone, cutting the gap to 17-13 on the last play of the quarter.
The next points came in the fourth on a special teams play, as the Owls pinned AIC back and blocked a punt. Alex Perez got hands to the ball, and Kelvin McKnight picked it up in the end zone for a stunning touchdown. Things then turned again as two plays later, Emeka Yearwood intercepted a pass in AIC territory, and the Owls needed to go just 38 yards to add another seven points onto the board.
AIC did not give up, with the next drive opening with back-to-back explosive plays. Washington went 22 yards on a catch, and then Catherwood carved up the middle for a 31-yard carry. The Owls again seemed to have AIC stopped in the red zone by forcing a fourth down, but Bryden went for it all and found Catherwood open in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown strike with just over five minutes to play.
Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, that was it for the scoring; the team attempted an onside kick but the Owls recovered, and kept AIC at bay from there.
Bryden threw for 278 total yards on 20 completions; Gilmore totaled six catches and 133 yards, while Catherwood made five catches for 71 yards and added 55 yards rushing on 17 carries.
Jakkai Stith was excellent defensively, with three of his eight tackles going for losses including a pair of sacks.
Roneil Romain and
Shamar Pink both had seven tackes and forced a fumble; 2.5 of Pink's stops were behind the line, including a 12-yard sack.
Eric Jennings also took down the quarterback once.Â
AIC will return home Saturday, September 26 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against Assumption University in an NE10 contest.
