Duquesne loses bid for NEC title in overtime loss to Sacred Heart

Football in the ‘Burgh on a Sunday usually means a fall date with the Pittsburgh Steelers. On this particular spring Sunday afternoon during a season of uncertainty, college football was the showcase on the Bluff.

But the home team did not prevail.

Sacred Heart forced Duquesne quarterback Joe Mischler to fumble with the Dukes driving to stay alive in overtime, and the Pioneers recovered the ball to preserve a 34-27 victory in the Northeast Conference championship game at Rooney Field.

The play overshadowed an otherwise splendid performance by Mischler, the sophomore transfer from Ohio University, who completed 23 of 40 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns.

Sacred Heart (3-1) advances to the FCS playoffs April 24, the Pioneers’ third appearance. Pairings for the 16-team field will be announced April 18.

Marquez McCray’s 29-yard scoring pass to Naseim Brantley on fourth down gave Sacred Heart the lead on the first possession of overtime and the Pioneers held on to earn the NEC’s automatic bid.

“The kid made a great play and a great catch,” Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said. “That’s what we liked to do, too, and they made a great play. Give them credit.”

It was the first overtime game since 2009 for No. 25 Duquesne (4-1), which now turns its attention to an anticipated return to a normal fall schedule, beginning Sept. 4 at TCU.

Mischler, despite fumbling the ball away with the game on the line, remained upbeat, grateful for a chance to play during the ongoing pandemic that altered the season’s structure.

“Not the way we wanted things to end,” he said, “but you’ve got to give credit to Sacred Heart. They played at a really high level, and we didn’t play well enough to win. No excuses, we’ve got to play better.”

Duquesne also was bidding for its third FCS playoff berth. The Dukes in their most recent appearance in 2018 defeated Towson in a first-round game before losing to South Dakota State.

The NEC representative previously was determined by the regular-season champion, but the format changed this year in an abbreviated schedule that was played under covid guidelines.

“We really didn’t even know if we were going to play this year,” Mischler said. “It’s been like bonus football being with these guys. The overall leadership on the team is fantastic, so I’m really happy to be able to get out here and play these five games. I can promise you we’re going to work even harder moving forward.”

McCray completed 15 of 23 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns and Julius Chestnut, the leading rusher in FCS, gained 173 yards and added another score to lead Sacred Heart, whose only loss was a 30-27 decision to Duquesne on March 7 in the regular-season opener.

Chestnut entered the game averaging 181.3 yards per game.

Omar Fraser forced the game-ending fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Frank Alfano to seal the outcome for Sacred Heart.

Duquesne freshman Billy Lucas gained 110 yards rushing in place of injured starter Garrett Owens, the team’s leading rusher, while Cyrus Holder caught eight passes for 131 yards and a touchdown and Joey Isabella had six receptions for 76 yards and two scores for the Dukes.

Duquesne overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

“We didn’t play our best football game, but I was very proud of our players coming back in a situation where we made some mistakes,” Schmitt said. “We have to learn this lesson, but everything else about the spring football season turned out positive for us.”

Sacred Heart won the first half to take a 12-7 lead at the break.

Duquesne took possession to start the second half after winning the opening toss and deferring to Sacred Heart, and the Dukes managed to regain the lead after falling behind in the second quarter.

Isabella’s one-handed catch in the back of the end zone, an 11-yard pass play from Mischler, gave Duquesne a 13-12 lead just 3:19 into the third quarter.

But Sacred Heart scored twice to take a 27-13 lead.

The Pioneers came back on the next drive and scored a touchdown on Malik Grant’s 1-yard run, then added Chestnut’s 6-yard scoring run after McCray passed 34 yards to Troy Holland to set up the score.

Duquesne closed within 27-20 early in the fourth quarter on Mischler’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Holder, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive that saw Mischler complete 4 of 5 passes for 60 yards.

The drive was kept alive on fourth-and-2 when Mike Smigley rushed 2 yards on a fake punt for a Duquesne first down at the Dukes 35.

The Dukes appeared to be back in business on freshman Isabella’s 72-yard punt return, but the play was nullified by a blocking-in-the-back penalty.

Yet, they still had time to pull even, and Mischler wasted very little of it, engineering an impressive 5-play, 98-yard drive that took just 1:36. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Isabella and Brian Bruzdewicz’s extra point knotted the score at 27-27.

Mischler passed for all 98 yards, completing 4 of 5 passes, during the drive.

Sacred Heart opened the scoring in the first quarter on a trick play resulting in Brantley’s 6-yard touchdown pass to offensive lineman Garrett Lynn for a 6-0 lead.

On second down, Brantley took a pitch from McCray and found open in the end zone the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Lynn, who was an eligible receiver on the play.

Duquesne went in front 7-6 just 10 seconds before the end of the quarter on Lucas’ 1-yard touchdown run.

The Dukes failed to add to the lead in the second quarter, when they drove to the Sacred Heart 17 before Bruzdewicz’s 35-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right.

Sacred Heart drove 80 yards in nine plays and took a 12-7 lead on McRay’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Rob DiNota.

Duquesne look as though it would regain the lead before halftime, but Mischler’s pass was intercepted by Randy Brito with 45 seconds left in the first half.

“I challenged our guys a little bit,” Schmitt said. “I said, ‘That’s not us with 13 points in three quarters.’ I’m proud of them. We didn’t play great, but they made the comeback. Just didn’t finish it.”