Rowan DuBois | staff writer

Duquesne’s four game win streak was snapped on Saturday with a 24-13 loss to Wagner.

The loss was the Dukes first conference loss of the season, and moved them to 5-4 (3-1 NEC). The Seahawks victory snapped their 10-game losing streak against Duquesne.

“We know that we didn’t play our best football game,” Duquesne Head Coach Jerry Schmitt said. “When you do that against any football team, they have a chance to win the game.”

The game came down to special teams errors and a Dukes offense that fell short of prior performances.

The Dukes had averaged 234 rushing yards per game over their last four games, including 356 in the prior week against Mercyhurst. The rushing attack put up its meekest performance of the conference season against the Seahawks (2-6, 1-2), totalling only 77 yards.

During its win streak, Duquesne had outscored its opponents 167 to 39. Coming into the game, Wagner had only one win on the season and no conference wins.

“We have to own this,” said Duquesne defensive back Antonio Epps. “This happened and there’s no changing that. No pointing fingers, no blaming, because that’s never going to accomplish anything.”

Wagner opened the scoring with a drive powered by its run game, capped off by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Seahawks quarterback Jack Stevens. The Dukes struggled to defend the run all day, as Wagner amassed 249 rushing yards, including a game-high 94 yards from running back Andre Hines.

“We had to be more on our toes about the running game,” Epps said. “We knew they had a good downhill runner and a quarterback who could run, and they took advantage of that by beating us in certain spots.”

Duquesne responded with a touchdown drive of their own, and Tyler Riddell dumped a short pass to Joey Isabella, who squeezed past one defender on the sideline before leaping over another into the endzone for a 29-yard touchdown. It was Isabella’s fifth consecutive game with a receiving touchdown, and he leads the FCS with 10 on the season.

After Wagner responded with an eight-minute drive that ended in a field goal, the Dukes were quickly stopped in their own territory. The Dukes attempted a fake punt on the short fourth down, but running back Ness Davis was immediately stuffed and dropped for a loss. Wagner quickly took advantage of field position with a six-yard touchdown run from Stevens. Though the mistake was crucial for the Dukes, they felt they were still in the game.

“When you’re not playing your best football and you’re making some mistakes, [but] you’re still in the football game, you gotta find a way to win the game, whatever it takes,” Schmitt said.

After going into the half trailing 17-7, Duquesne made two stops, and put together a seven-minute touchdown drive which started with a 23-yard Davis rush and ended with a 2-yard punch-in from Riddell.

After getting stopped in the fourth quarter, Duquesne was forced to punt the ball away to Wagner with only six minutes left. In what looked like a tide-turning play, the Seahawks returner muffed the punt, and the Dukes recovered inside the redzone.

However, offensive woes continued for the Dukes. Riddell lost 2 yards on a rush, and two pre-snap penalties forced the Dukes to kick a 49-yard field goal while trailing by 4. Kicker Matt Clark left it short as the Dukes failed to take advantage of their best field position of the afternoon.

“We have to learn from it and understand that we’re going to do everything in our power to play our best football game,” Schmitt said. “And when we don’t necessarily, we just have to stick together and find ways to get it done. We had some opportunities there that we didn’t take advantage of.”

The Duquesne defense finally broke on the following drive, as Hines scampered into the endzone on a 24-yard rush. With under two minutes to play and Duquesne trailing by multiple possessions, the touchdown iced the game for the Seahawks.

“We’re not where we want to be yet,” Epps said. “We still have a long way to go to get to where we want to be, but everything that we worked for is still right in front of us.”

The Dukes offense struggled all day, as their 13 points are the fewest they have managed against a FCS opponent this year. The Seahawks limited big plays throughout the game and held the Dukes to just 3.1 yards per attempt rushing.

“Defensively, they certainly weren’t letting us throw the ball deep,” Schmitt said, “they did a really good job keeping everything in front of them.”

Rowan DuBois can be reached at duboisr1@duq.edu