PITTSBURGH – Duquesne scored 24 points in the fourth quarter, including its first punt return for a score in 16 years, to put away Wagner, 34-7 in a Northeast Conference match up on Rooney Field.
The win was the second in a row for the Dukes (3-2, 1-0), while Wagner, the defending NEC champion, fell to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the NEC.
Duquesne led 10-7 before putting together a 64-yard drive capped by a two-yard Ryan Ho touchdown run that made it 17-7 just over one minute into the fourth quarter.
Austin Crimmins kicked the second of his two field goals, this one from 23 yards, to make it 20-7 before Devin Rahming took a 52-yard A.J. Firestone punt and zigged-and-zagged his way down the field for a 62-yard touchdown.
Fullback Ethan Dorsey raced 40 yards for his first career rushing TD with 1:38 left to cap the scoring.
Duquesne held Wagner to 233 yards, including 92 in the second half. The Dukes finished with 316 yards including a season-high 127 on the ground.
Freshman Dillon Buechel completed a DU freshman record 25 passes for 189 yards for DU.Gianni Carter caught eight passes for 51 yards to lead the Dukes’ receivers. Jason Douglas paced the running game with 51 yards.
Rahming finished with 134 all-purpose yards on three catches and six punt returns.
Chris Johnson and Sam Martello led the defense with 8 tackles each. Zach Zidian, who had a sack and two tackles for loss, was one of three players with 7 stops each.
Duquesne got on the board first when Buechel, who completed seven of his first eight passes, found Chris King with a 12-yard touchdown pass on the Dukes’ second possession. The Dukes upped the lead to 10-0 on a 47-yard Crimmins field goal on the second play of the second quarter.
DU drove to the Wagner 36 before Jarrett Dieudonne picked off a Buechel pass and returned it to the Duquesne 44. Four plays later, Matthias McKinnon scored from 15 yards out to make it 10-7 with 9:35 left in the half.
One hundred thirty-seven of Duquesne’s 169 first half yards came through the air, while 86 of Wagner’s 141 yards in the opening 30 minutes came on the ground.
Duquesne gained 52 yards and Wagner 47 in a scoreless third quarter.
The Dukes ran four or fewer plays on six straight possessions before Ho’s touchdown run. Ho’s run was preceded by a 16-yard pass from Buechel to Rahming on 3rd-and-10.
DU turned a 23 yard Wagner punt and a 15 yard illegal use of hands penalty into Crimmins’ field goal that upped the lead to 13. The Dukes put it out of reach on Rahming’s touchdown return, which was the first by a Duke since Joe Rosato took a punt 49 yards for a score at Iona on Nov. 1, 1997.
Duquesne continues conference play at cross-town rival Robert Morris (2-3, 0-0) next Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
