WALTHAM, Mass. -- Junior running back Victor Jones (Patterson, N.J.) rushed for 195 yards and scored two touchdowns during a 21-point Charger explosion at the start of the fourth quarter, powering the University of New Haven to a 28-23 win over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference football before close to 3,000 fans at the Bentley Field Friday night.

New Haven (3-1 overall, 1-1 NE-10) took charge of the game by scoring three touchdowns in the first 4:49 of the final stanza. After Jones staked his team to a 14-10 lead with a one-yard scoring plunge, the Chargers used a blocked punt and an interception to score two more quick touchdowns.

As a result, less than four minutes after being on top 10-7, Bentley found itself down 18.  The Falcons scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Bryant Johnson (Hopedale/Milford HS) to classmate Wade Critides (Wayland/Wayland HS) midway through the fourth to pull within 12, and picked up another TD in the final minute to account for the final score.

Jones' first touchdown of the night capped a 10-play, 77-yard drive that included an uncharacteristic five Falcon penalties. One of those, a holding call on a third-and-12, kept the drive alive and was followed by a 15-yard Jones run to midfield.

New Haven forced a three-and-out on the Falcons' ensuing possession. The punt attempt was blocked by sophomore Kervin Edouard (Somerville), recovered in the end zone by sophomore George Gerosa (Branford, Conn.) and all of a sudden the Chargers were up 11.

Johnson was picked off by junior Akaki Ramishvill (Fair Lawn, N.J.) on the very first play after the kickoff return and three plays later, Jones took it in from the 23 for New Haven's third TD of the quarter.

It looked like there was going to be a lot of offense as both teams used extended drives to score on their opening possession of the contest.

Bentley, playing at home for the first time in 2010, opened the game with a seven-play, 67-yard march capped by a five-yard run by Johnson. New Haven countered with a 10-play, 73-yard drive that was finished by a 16-yard pass from junior Ryan Osiecki (Seymour, Conn.) to classmate Sharieff Hall (Brockton).

After two touchdowns in the first nine minutes, there was just three points scored in the next 37, a 31-yard field goal by junior Paul Branco (Brockton/Brockton HS) 69 seconds before the halftime break. Bentley junior Don Hopkins (Waltham/Waltham HS) set up that drive with his second interception of the season.

Johnson was largely Bentley's offense in the game but was guilty of two interceptions. He ran for 57 yards on 10 carries, accounting for nearly half of the team 's 116 rushing yards, and completed 25 of 39 passes for 286 yards. Critides pulled in five balls for 101 yards and senior Kyle Tuthill (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) finished with eight catches for 79 yards.

New Haven, normally known for its passing attack, amassed 242 of its 352 total yards on the ground. Jones, who amassed 149 of his 195 yards in the second half, lugged the ball 29 times. Osiecki put the ball in the air 22 times, with 13 completions for 110 yards.

It was a very unusual game for Bentley, which led Division II in fewest penalty yards a year ago. The Falcons were penalized 13 times, one shy of their total for the first three games, for a total of 102 yards. Four of those resulted in first downs for New Haven, which also saw its share of yellow flags (11 for 95).

Junior safety Mike Gomes (Brockton) led the New Haven defense with 11 tackles and one interception. Senior linebacker Mark Dolan (Barrington, R.I./Barrington HS) had 12 stops for Bentley, and Hopkins followed with 11.

Bentley will look to get back on track next Saturday with a 1:00 encounter at American International.

Box Score (Final)

New Haven vs Bentley (09/24/10 at Waltham, Mass.)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----

New Haven...........  7  0  0 21  - 28       Record: (3-1,1-1)

Bentley.............  7  3  0 13  - 23       Record: (1-3,1-1 

Scoring Summary:

1st 11:18 BEN - Bryant Johnson 5 yd run (Paul Branco kick), 7-67 3:42

    06:07 UNH - Sharieff Hall 16 yd pass from Ryan Osiecki (Chris Scifo kick), 10-73 5:06

2nd 01:09 BEN - Branco 31 yd field goal, 9-32 5:35

4th 13:40 UNH - Victor Jones 1 yd run (Scifo kick), 10-77 5:16

    11:58 UNH - George Gerosa 0 yd blocked punt return (Scifo kick)

    10:11 UNH - Jones 23 yd run (Scifo kick), 3-34 1:31

    07:26 BEN - Wade Critides 28 yd pass from Johnson (Johnson pass failed), 8-90 2:38

    00:31 BEN - Kyle Tuthill 5 yd pass from Johnson (Branco kick), 10-85 1:21

                                    UNH      BEN

FIRST DOWNS...................       22       23

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   42-242   23-116

PASSING YDS (NET).............      110      286

Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  23-13-2  39-25-2

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   65-352   62-402

Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............     3-23      1-3

Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     4-48     4-86

Interception Returns-Yards....      2-1      2-0

Punts (Number-Avg)............   3-32.3   4-30.0

Fumbles-Lost..................      0-0      1-0

Penalties-Yards...............    11-95   13-102

Possession Time...............    31:52    28:08

Third-Down Conversions........  4 of 10   4 of 9

Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   0 of 0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      3-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-1      0-0

RUSHING: New Haven-Victor Jones 29-195; Mike DeCaro 4-22; Sharieff Hall 2-12; Ryan Osiecki 3-6; Josh Smart 1-4; Ronnie Nelson 2-4; TEAM 1-minus 1. Bentley-Bryant Johnson 10-57; Bobby Tarr 4-17; Lorenzo Warren 5-17; Eric DiPietrantonio 1-13; Jack Pizzotti 2-12; Joshua Marsh 1-0.

PASSING: New Haven-Ryan Osiecki 13-22-2-110; Brice DeRosa 0-1-0-0. Bentley-Bryant Johnson 25-39-2-286.

RECEIVING: New Haven-Demetrius Washington 5-40; Kameel Lashley 3-25; Sharieff Hall 3-25; Josh Smart 1-12; Jason Thompson 1-8. Bentley-Kyle Tuthill 8-79; Wade Critides 5-101; John Malone 5-46; Jack Pizzotti 3-17; Eric DiPietrantonio 2-22; Mike Slattery 1-13; Mike Sumrell 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: New Haven-Akaki Ramishvili 1-1; Mike Gomes 1-0. Bentley-Justin Haines 1-0; Don Hopkins 1-0.