Home was not where the win was for the Setters football team this time around.
The Setters got trounced in their home opener 44-10 by the Chargers of New Haven University. Despite the 1,100 fans in attendance, the Setters still struggled in all three phases of football.
The gap in the two teams’ rushing attack was larger than the Grand Canyon. Pace managed a meager 22 rushing yards compared to the Chargers 279 yards on the ground. Pace’s leading rusher junior criminal justice major Jashon Dawson totaled six carries for 16 yards on the ground. Six different Chargers beat that mark by themselves.
The ground crew of New Haven gashed the Setters run defense throughout the game. Chargers running back Mike DeCaro, Victor Jones, and Justen Wilson all managed over 11 yards per carry against the abysmal Setters run defense. The Chargers success on the ground is not surprising considering that Pace has given up an average of 341 rushing yards per game this season.
Despite getting stuck in the mud on the ground, the Setters did well through the air. Junior criminal justice major Jordan Raynor completed 27 of his 42 passes for 224 yards. Raynor completed more passes than Chargers quarterback Ronnie Nelson (27-8) and threw for more yards throughout the game (224-152). Yet the aerial assault was not enough.
Even though the Setters had 71 total offensive plays compared to New Haven’s 51, the Chargers managed 440 total yards compared to Pace’s 246. This difference emerged because the Chargers picked up larger chunks of yardage at a time than the Setters.
The rare instances that New Haven decided to throw, they picked up an average of 14.6 yards per pass. In contrast, when the Setters took to the skies, they managed to average only 5.3 yards per pass.
Pace held a 3-0 lead in the game with 7:16 to play in the first quarter. However, the Chargers went on to score the next 44 points in the game and left the Setters with another loss. Still, those who had Dawson on their fantasy team were happy to see him score Pace’s only touchdown in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.
With the loss the Setters fall to 0-3 on the year with a record of 0-2 in Northeast-10 play. Pace will be shipping up to Boston to take on the Yellow Jackets of American International College on September 21.