Duquesne, Robert Morris renew backyard rivalry game

The backyard football rivalry between Duquesne and Robert Morris is on again after a four-year hiatus and with a berth in the FCS playoffs in sight.

Both teams enter the regular-season home stretch undefeated in Northeast Conference play, each with three games remaining.

“Should be a great showing of two great teams playing hard,” Duquesne quarterback Darius Perrantes said of Saturday’s noon matchup between the NEC co-leaders at Duquesne’s Rooney Field.

No. 24 Duquesne (6-2, 3-0), which moved into the AFCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Monday for the first time this season, is looking to extend a six-game winning streak, its longest since 2018.

The Dukes are among six teams with unbeaten records in FCS play.

Meanwhile, Robert Morris (6-3, 3-0) has come on strong of late, posting shutouts in three of its past four games — all victories — after a 0-2 start that included a 23-21 loss to Division II Edinboro on Sept. 7.

“The best thing that happened to us was losing to Edinboro,” Robert Morris coach Bernard Clark said. “Our minds were looking past Edinboro, but after that we were able to reset our minds. For sure, it was disappointing, but it was an eye-opener.”

Since then, RMU is 6-1, the lone loss a 31-7 setback at Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 28. The Colonials own shutout victories Oct. 12 against Delaware (23-0), Oct. 26 against St. Francis, Pa. (17-0); and last week against Merrimack (6-0).

Robert Morris’ other loss came in its Aug. 31 opener at Utah State, 36-14, in the Colonials’ only game this season against an FBS opponent.

RMU led the Aggies at halftime 14-10, but they failed to score in the second half despite quarterback Anthony Chiccitt, a Bethel Park product, completing 22 of 30 passes for 171 yards.

For the year, Chiccitt has completed 172 for 255 (67.4%) for 1,971 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“He’s had a great career. He’s a really good quarterback, and he’s a local guy,” Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said. “Our quarterback is pretty good, too. The defenses have some challenges on their hands. It’ll be a fun game to watch.”

Chiccitt’s favorite receiver has been Noah Robinson, with 46 catches for 670 yards and four touchdowns.

Perrantes, a Walter Payton Award candidate for FCS Offensive Player of the Year for a second year in a row, has thrown for 1,418 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing 108 of 182 passes (53.3%).

“This is a known game for us, but I wasn’t here for the last games they played,” Perrantes said. “We hear things from outsiders and other schools. We’re hearing it from alumni, from teammates that know players on their team. Definitely excited for the challenge.”

It marks the 22nd meeting between Duquesne and Robert Morris in a series dating to the inception of the RMU program in 1994. But they haven’t played one another since Robert Morris came away with a 41-21 home victory in 2019 at Joe Walton Stadium before leaving the NEC to join the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference.

“It’s really exciting because I haven’t gotten to play against them,” said A.J. Ackerman, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound fifth-year defensive lineman who came to Duquesne in 2020 from Elizabeth-Forward. “It’s fun to have that close location with them.”

After four seasons in the Big South/OVC, Robert Morris returned to the NEC as a football-only member at the start of this year. Already, the Colonials are vying for their first league title since 2010.

RMU competes in the Horizon League in all other sports.

“I’m happy to be back for a lot of reasons, and playing this game is one of them,” Clark said. “This is a big, big rivalry for both teams.”

The NEC regular-season champion earns a bid to the FCS playoffs, where defending-champion Duquesne last season dropped a 40-7 decision to Youngstown State in the first round.

The Dukes returned the favor during the regular season this year, earning their first victory after two losses to FBS opponents by beating the Penguins, 28-25, on Sept. 14 at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio.

“It gave us confidence with this team this year,” Schmitt said. “Going into the year playing two FBS teams (road losses of 49-10 to Toledo on Aug. 29 and 56-0 to Boston College on Sept. 7), you’re trying to gauge yourself and figure out just how good this team is. We came out with a win in that third game against a traditionally strong program to build some confidence.”

And the Dukes have kept on winning

“Everything we’ve done throughout the season was leading to us being a decent football team,” Schmitt said.

Part of that coincides with Perrantes’ ability to stay upright. He hasn’t been sacked in the past four games.

“That’s pretty incredible,” Clark said. “Their O-line is outstanding.”

While Clark said it’s an intriguing matchup of “efficient quarterbacks who don’t make mistakes,” Duquesne’s running game will get a boost with the return of Taj Butts from a knee injury that has kept him sidelined for five games.

Butts, who began his college career at Missouri and was Duquesne’s second-leading rusher last season, will be reunited with JaMario Clements to give the Dukes a formidable 1-2 punch in the backfield.

Clements earned NEC Offensive Player of the Week honors following a 31-24 victory over Mercyhurst on Saturday, when he gained 177 yards rushing, including an 86-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that proved to be the decisive score.

With Schmitt standing on the Rooney Field turf on a warm, sun-splashed November day, students strolled past FCS’ smallest-capacity stadium (2,200) as Duquesne prepared for another afternoon practice.

“I told our kids, ‘Congratulations,’ (when they broke into the national rankings this week),” Schmitt said. “They’ve worked hard through the season to get that recognition. But they understand and know that it doesn’t mean anything when we play our games.

“Really, the one you want to be in is at the end of the year.”