Duquesne football wins see-saw affair against Central Connecticut

Darius Perrantes threw for three scores, and his 30-yarder to Cyrus Holder with 29 seconds left carried Duquesne past Central Connecticut, 31-27, on Saturday in a back-and-forth game.

The Blue Devils led 27-24 and sought to add to their lead. But on third-and-6, Duquesne’s Maxi Hradecny sacked Blue Devils quarterback Shon Mitchell and the Dukes’ Tim Lowery recovered at the Duquesne 39-yard line.

Perrantes proceeded to march Duquesne (6-3, 4-2 Northeast Conference) 61 yards in six plays in 82 seconds to complete the game-winning drive. Holder caught five passes for 114 yards.

Kyren Petteway’s 81-yard kickoff return for a score with 9:59 left gave Central Connecticut (3-7, 3-3) its last lead of the game. That followed Billy Lucas’ 2-yard scoring run that ended a 10-play, 43-yard scoring drive that put Duquesne up 24-20 with 10:14 to go.

Mitchell threw for 276 yards and two scores and Tyshaun James caught seven passes for 169 yards and a touchdown.