Jack Morgan | staff writer |

After Duquesne football’s 47-21 homecoming win over the LIU Sharks at Rooney Field on Saturday afternoon, Duquesne Head Coach Jerry Schmitt began his postgame press conference with a few satisfied remarks.

“I love winning on homecoming,” he said, “I love winning on Rooney, and I love winning with the Dukes.”

Duquesne did not just win, it dominated the Sharks. The Dukes opened up the game with three straight scoring drives to make things lopsided quickly, aided by a ground game on fire early and leading the way for quarterback Darius Perrantes’ career-high six-touchdown performance, five passing and one rushing. Perrantes went 15-for-23 with 236 total yards and a largely inconsequential interception.

Perrantes and company got things going early in the first quarter. LIU won the coin toss and chose to defer to the Dukes, who were surgical on their first drive. JaMario Clements picked 34 rushing yards total on the drive, which ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Perrantes to Tedy Afful. The Sharks blocked the extra point, and Duquesne settled for a 6-0 lead.

The Dukes went right back to work on offense after forcing an LIU three-and-out. A bad punt started the drive at only the LIU 43, and it wasn’t long before Perrantes rushed it in from 9 yards off the read option to put Duquesne up 13 with less than 10 minutes gone in the quarter.

Things didn’t get any better for LIU as Duquesne marched down the field again and cashed in for six thanks to a 45-yard dart to Joey Isabella from Perrantes, all before the first quarter came to a close. Isabella would go on to have three receiving touchdowns on the day.

Clements was a large part of the scorching start for the Dukes, accumulating 62 yards on the ground during the three scoring drives.

“It means everything to just come out and start strong,” Clements said. “It’s like we preach, Coach Schmitt makes sure we get on them early and stay on them.”

The blocked kick and another missed extra point meant Duquesne left two points on the board in the first quarter, so backup kicker Andrew Smith came in for Brian Bruzdewicz. Smith would go 4-for-4 in his first game action in two years.

Duquesne’s defense had two chances to stop LIU on fourth down on its first drive of the second quarter, and they came through with a stop the second time and got the ball back at midfield. However, the Dukes did not convert and were forced to punt for the only time of the day.

They quickly forced a Sharks punt and then went down to score their fourth touchdown of the half to make it 26-0. Tight end Daniel Tarabella was credited for his first college score after recovering a Perrantes fumble in the end zone.

LIU QB Michael Love finally got his team on the board with a 67-yard pass to Ethan Greenwood for six. Duquesne responded in kind with Isabella’s second touchdown of the game on a drive powered by backs Clements and Shawn Solomon Jr, who combined for 50 yards. The first half ended with the Dukes in total control, 33-7.

In the first half alone, Duquesne had 164 rushing yards to go with 141 passing yards. It would finish the game with 220 yards passing, its most all season, but that number was still behind the 247 yards on the ground the Dukes picked up.

“We were physical running the football, which was great,” Schmitt said. “We executed very well, and then being able to do that gave Darius and his receivers a bunch of time. And boy, he was on.”

In the second half, it was more of the same for the Dukes. They scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions of the second half, one from Afful and the other from John Erby. The one blemish was the interception thrown by Perrantes, which was tipped at the line of scrimmage. LIU did score two touchdowns of its own in the second half courtesy of wideout Evan Brooks and running back Cory Nichols, though it wasn’t nearly enough to make Duquesne sweat with its cushioned lead.

For homecoming, a littany of Duquesne football alums were in attendance, including members of the 1973 club football championship team. Schmitt believes it helps serve as motivation for the players going forward.

“They want to show them what the ‘24 version [of Duquesne football] is,” Schmitt said. “They know what these teams have done in the past, and they want that. They want to win a championship.”

Schmitt, however, also insisted to his team that they have to take things one game at a time. Riding on a three-game win streak, the Dukes kick off at Saint Francis Saturday at noon as they continue their campaign for a second straight Northeast Conference championship.