NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (Oct. 7, 2006) – Central Connecticut State scored on its first two plays from scrimmage and ran for 462 yards on offense to solidfy it’s status as a nationally-ranked team and defeat the Saint Francis University football team 62-21 on Saturday afternoon.

Justise Hairston ran for a school record 332 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns to lead the 23^rd-ranked Blue Devils.

Senior quarterback Anthony Doria (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) connected on 17-of-29 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. His 203 yards marked his best yardage output on the season, and he tossed his 50^th career touchdown on his first score of the day. Senior wide receiver Michael Caputo (Bethel Park, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) caught nine passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, senior running back Todd Harris (Duquesne, Pa. / Duquesne) ran 23 times for 102 yards and a touchdown,  and junior Adam Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic) connected on all three of his PAT attempts to run his school-record streak to 69-for-69.

The Red Flash dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the Northeast Conference with the loss. They will play host to Stony Brook at 1 p.m. Saturday at DeGol Field. No. 23 Central Connecticut State improved to 5-1 overall, and 1-1 in the NEC.

Hairston took the first play from scrimmage in the ballgame and went 62 yards untouched to give the Blue Devils and early 7-0 lead. After Saint Francis’ first drive stalled, Hairston took the first play on the next CCSU drive and marched 70 yards to make it 13-0 after the failed PAT kick.

The Blue Devils jumped out 27-0 with 13:55 left in the second quarter before Saint Francis mounted a scoring drive.

Doria took the Red Flash 11 plays and 75 yards in 5 minutes, 39 seconds, capped off by a 10-yard strike to Caputo to cut the lead to 27-7. It was the 50^th career touchdown pass for Doria.

Sophomore Antoine Rivera (Willingboro, N.J. / Willingboro) caught a season-high five passes in the game for 70 yards, including a nine yard touchdown catch that made the game 41-14 with 7:10 left in the third quarter.

Harris added a one yard touchdown run later in the game to complete the Saint Francis scoring.

The Red Flash totaled 381 yards of total offense and held the ball for an even 40:00 in the game, but CCSU’s quick-strike offense proved too much. The Blue Devils had 549 yards of total offense, including 490 on the ground.