Josh Pitsenberger ran for 106 yards and a touchdown and Noah Piper’s 37-yard field goal with 3:50 remaining helped Yale to a 13-10 in at Princeton on Saturday in New Jersey. The win keeps the Elis in contention for the Ivy League championship that will come down to The Game against undefeated Harvard on Nov. 22 at Yale Bowl.
The Bulldogs (7-2, 5-1 Ivy League) drove 55 yards in 12 plays taking five minutes to set up Piper, who kicked another 37-yarder to tie the score at 3 in the middle of the second quarter. Harvard (9-0, 6-0) defeated Penn, 45-43, to set up the season-ending showdown.
On Princeton’s eighth play of its final drive, Kai Colón’s pressured throw was intercepted by Joshua Tarver with 1:04 left and Yale ran five plays to expire time. Colón finished with 177 yards passing. Ethan Clark ran for 90 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run as Princeton (3-6, 2-4) tied it at 10 with 8:46 left.
Princeton’s only lead occurred on Esteban Nunez Perez’s 29-yard field goal with 5:29 left in the first quarter. After Piper’s first 37-yarder, Pitsenberger crashed in from the one for a 10-3 lead just before halftime.
Duquesne 38, Central Connecticut State 33: At Pittsburgh, Taj Butts rushed for a career-high 254 yards and scored three touchdowns, Antonio Epps intercepted a deflected pass in the end zone with less than 30 seconds to go as the Blue Devils lost their first Northeast Conference game.
Brady Olson, who threw for 423 yards and four touchdowns, gave the Blue Devils a 33-32 lead with two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.
Elijah Howard had 113 yards and a touchdown on the ground for the Blue Devils (7-4, 5-1), who could have clinched a playoff berth with a win. Olson was 28 of 45 with two picks. Peter Cleary had five receptions for 111 yards and a score, Michael Trovarelli had two scoring catches and Donovan Wadley had the fourth.
Wadley had a 50-yard scoring catch and Trovarelli a 40-yarder on consecutive possessions for a 33-32 lead with four minutes to go. CCSU had 588 yards of offense to 525 for the Dukes. Central still controls its own destiny in the battle for the NEC crown and will end the regular season on Nov. 22 at home against Mercyhurst.
Butts, who had missed several games with an injury, burst up the middle for a 59-yard score with 3:19 to play. Olson guided the Blue Devils down field but his last pass was broken up by Henry Pickens III and Epps was there to grab the loose ball.
Butts carried only 14 times for the Dukes (6-5, 4-2 NEC) ,with his other two scoring runs covering 29 and 57 yards. Duquesne quarterback Tyler Riddell had three touchdown passes, two to Joey Isabella.
Sacred Heart 42, Merrimack 37: At Fairfield, Jack Snyder and Mitchell Summers both ran for a pair of touchdowns to lift the Pioneers. Snyder, who ran for 163 yards on eight carries, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Casey and then scored on runs of 82 and 23 yards.
Summers carried 23 times for 150 yards with scores covering 53 yards and 1 yard, which put Sacred Heart on top for good 28-24 late in the third quarter. Then Trey Eberhart broke free for an 81-yard score on the next possession as he finished with 107 yards on six carries.
The Pioneers (8-3) had 424 yards on the ground while Snyder completed 8 of 11 passes for 97 yards. Ayden Pereira was 20 of 40 for 170 yards and two touchdowns and had 22 keepers for 173 yards and two more scores for the Warriors (3-8), who had 499 total yards.
Merchant Marine 39, Coast Guard 38: At Boston, Merchant Marine quarterback Bubba Mustain scored from seven yards out with 20 seconds remaining to lead the Mariners to the win in the annual Secretaries’ Cup, played this year at Fenway Park.
Mustain rushed for 274 yards and three touchdowns and completed 6 of 8 passes for 150 yards and two more scores for the Merchant Marine (6-2).
Coast Guard’s Harrison Hensley rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns, including a 10-yard run that put the Bears up 38-33 with 6:20 remaining. Quarterback Sean Burns completed 10 of 21 passes for 119 yards and a TD while rushing for 50 yards and two scores for Coast Guard (7-3).