Mustangs Shut Out Curry in Season Opener

Box Score

MILTON, Mass. - Senior linebacker Izaiha Pitts had a pair of interceptions, including a 40-yard pick six, and Stevenson University posted the fifth shutout in program history with a 34-0 season opening win over Curry in non-conference football Friday night at Walter M. Katz Field.

After the two teams traded four straight empty drives, Curry (0-1) went from its own 10 to the Stevenson 13 on nine plays.
On third-and-10, Colonel quarterback Nick Juvelier threw a pass that was picked off by Pitts at the 10 and returned 28 yards to the Mustang 38.
The game was scoreless after one quarter.

On fourth-and-10 at its own 20, a low snap by Curry on a punt attempt resulted in a fumble and the Colonel punter was tackled at his own 5 by Hanif Jones.
On the first play from scrimmage, a five-yard run by Kevin Joppy got the Mustangs (1-0) on the board at the 14:19 mark.
After mustering just one first down on its next drive, Curry punted with Stevenson taking over on its own 32.
On an eight-play drive that featured six runs, a one-yard run by Saadiq Pitts with 8:44 left made it 13-0 after the PAT try was no good.
Pitts set up the short run with a 14-yard effort on his previous attempt.
The hosts took over with 3:36 left in the half, and after making it out to their own 42, Izaiha Pitts' second interception of the game with a 40-yard return for the touchdown at the 2:04 mark.
Curry missed a 36-yard field goal with 1:05 left in the half.
Stevenson took a 20-0 lead into intermission.

Stevenson chewed up nearly six and a half minutes on a 16-play, 79-yard drive capped by a one-yard keeper by quarterback Ryan Sedgwick to increase its lead to 27-0 with 5:08 left in the third.
The Mustangs forced a punt on the final Curry drive of the quarter and took over maintaining its lead.

The Mustangs drove 80 yards on five plays, including a 26-yard completion to Chaz Lyles and a 40-yard completion to Keenan Franz to get down to the Curry 6.
A fumble at the Colonel 1 ended the drive and gave the hosts the ball back with 11:36 left.
After a Curry three-and-out and 35-yard punt the Mustangs took over at the Colonel 36.
Two plays later, a 21-yard pass from Sedgwick to Lyles with 10:45 on the clock made it 34-0.
Curry entered the red zone on its final two drives, but came away empty handed both times as the Mustang defense preserved the shutout.
On their first drive, the Colonels had 2nd-and-goal from the Mustang four, but had three straight incompletions.
After Stevenson fumbled and Curry took over at the visitors' 18, the Colonels got down to the Stevenson 1 on three plays.
After a goal line stand on 3rd-and-1, the Colonels were penalized five yards, and a final pass into the end zone was knocked away.

Stevenson's shutout was the fifth in program history and the first since a 34-0 win over FDU-Florham in the 2018 regular season finale.
The Mustang defense had a takeaway for the 67th straight game.
Stevenson has won seven straight regular season road games dating back to 2017.
Joppy carried 22 times for 95 yards, while Saadiq Pitts had 11 rushes for 43 yards.
Sedgwick finished 12-18 passing for 184 yards in his Mustang debut.
Lyles hauled in eight balls for 98 yards.
Garston Banks led the defense with seven tackles, while Jones recorded five.
The Mustangs registered 11 pass breakups.
Stevenson won its season opener for the first time since 2016 and is 5-4 all-time in season openers.