Saturday’s football game between St. Francis and Duquesne marks the 50th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1914 campaign.
The Dukes are the oldest rival of the Red Flash.
Duquesne leads the series 39-10, with a 20-4 mark when the Red Flash was still a club team from 1914 to 1990, 19-6 since the Loretto program joined NCAA football and 11-5 since the two teams started meeting on the gridiron in Northeast Conference play.
The Dukes hold an 11-2 mark at Rooney Field dating back to the Red Flash NCAA football era. St. Francis defeated the Dukes 23-13 Nov. 7, 1992, and ended a 10-game losing streak in the Steel City Oct. 30, 2021, with a 17-10 decision. In the previous meeting in Pittsburgh, the Red Flash scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but dropped a 38-35 decision. During the 10-game losing streak at Rooney Field, St. Francis was outscored 290-119 in those contests.
The Red Flash is getting a little tour of the Keystone State. Before its bye, St. Francis traveled 130 northeast of campus to play at Bucknell Sept. 27. St. Francis now heads 77.2 miles west to face Duquesne. After another bye week, another team from the Pittsburgh area is on the slate for the Red Flash when Robert Morris comes to St. Francis Oct. 25. Then, a team north of Pittsburgh, Mercyhurst, will make its way to DeGol Field Nov. 8.
Under coach Chris Villarrial, the Loretto program is 10-4 after a bye week. The Red Flash is 6-3 on the road in games after a bye, and will face Duquesne in Pittsburgh for the third straight time after a bye. One of the team’s biggest wins in program history came after a bye when the team defeated No. 22 Liberty 13-7 Sept. 30, 2017.
St. Francis’ first win of the season has come on the road in each of the past three seasons and in four of the previous eight seasons. In three of the four times the win has been on the road, the team had not played at home to that point in the season for its first win (2016, 2019, 2022).
After spending the first three weeks of the season traveling 3,403 miles round-trip, starting Sept. 14, the Red Flash will spend the next 70 days in the state of Pennsylvania. The team will play five games at DeGol Field, two road games, and have two byes in this stretch before its regular-season finale at Stonehill Nov. 22. St. Francis traveled to Louisiana-Monroe (2,209 miles), Buffalo (421 miles) and Central Connecticut State (773 miles in the first 16 days of the season, but will only travel 1,524 miles in the final 71 days of the season round trip: at Bucknell, Sept. 27 (260 miles); at Duquesne, Oct. 11 (157 miles) and Stonehill (1,107 miles).
After the game against Duquesne, St. Francis will have its second bye in three weeks before hosting four straight games at DeGol Field. It will be the first time since the 2004 season that the Red Flash will host four straight games in Loretto.
St. Francis may have used the power of prayer to come from behind to beat Duquesne 29-16 Sept. 25, 1976. Excerpt from a story about this game. “Well, Big guy, I don’t ask for many favors, but we really need a fumble.” – Father Jonas McCarthy, T.O.R. What happened was that we were down 16-0 to the Dukes when we returned an interception for a touchdown to narrow the lead to 16-7. The next play, on the kickoff, the Dukes fumbled and our Red Flash recovered it. I think that the player who fell on the ball was Joe Sheehan. Father McCarthy just shrugged his shoulders, smiled in his humble, laconic way, and said, “Sometimes, he comes through. You just have to ask.” Note: Father McCarthy served as the football team’s coach for eight years and was inducted into the St. Francis Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
Bucknell intercepted the ball in the end zone with 1.5 seconds left to end St. Francis’ comeback hopes Sept. 27. The Red Flash fell 30-23 to the Bison. Quarterback Nick Whitfield Jr. went 31-for-44 for 377 yards passing and a touchdown for the Red Flash.
DJ Maultsby (nine catches, 141 yards) and Peyton Nelson (11 catches, 131 yards) both registered their first career 100-yard games. It marked the second straight week a Red Flash receiver reached 100 receiving yards after Brenden Hodge had 131 yards against Delaware State Sept. 20. Maultby, who dazzled the St. Francis faithful against the Hornets with an acrobatic catch, continued to showcase his ESPN top-10 worthy plays against Bucknell, finishing with a career-high 141 yards on nine catches and his first career touchdown. Nelson had 11 catches for 131 yards. Nelson is the first receiver with 10-plus receptions since Makai Jackson against Wagner Sept. 17, 2022. Maultsby and Nelson both went over 100 receiving yards, marking the first time since the game against Merrimack that the Flash had two receivers reach that standard. Dawson Snyder (163) and Jackson (116) both went over the mark in the 2022 contest.
Raphael Ekechi rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Colin Douglas paced the defense with eight tackles.
Duquesne defeated St. Francis 38-7 on Oct. 12, 2024. Adrian Mejia, the team’s third-string quarterback, came in during the first drive and completed 12 of 21 passes for 113 yards and a TD. The 113 passing yards were a career-high for Mejia, who has switched back to wide receiver in 2025. Jayden Ivory (63 yards) and Markell Holman (35 yards) each had four catches on the day, while Gavin Thompson caught the touchdown. Geno Calgaro fueled the Red Flash defense with nine tackles.
Darius Perrantes went 15-for-30 for 185 yards passing and two touchdown passes. JaMario Clements had a rushing touchdown and 87 yards on 21 carries, while Joey Isabella had six receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. Khatavian Franks paced the Dukes’ defense with eight tackles.
Whitfield missed 2024’s game due to injury, but came in for the final series in the 2023 clash in Pittsburgh.
Duquesne comes into the contest 3-3 overall and 1-0 in NEC play after defeating Stonehill 34-14 in its NEC opener Oct. 4. Penn Cambria graduate Garrett Harrold is a tight end at Duquesne with seven catches for 37 yards.
Quarterback Tyler Riddell threw for 239 yards (19-for-31) with three touchdown passes against Stonehill. Running back Ness Davis registered 111 yards on the ground with one touchdown, while wide receiver Ryan Petras had three catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Tyson Meiguez, the current NEC defensive player of the week, paced the Dukes’ defense with nine tackles and a forced fumble.
Riddell has 1,101 passing yards on 88-for-146 passing and 14 touchdowns. Davis has rushed for 349 yards on 49 carries and a touchdown, while Joey Isabella is the leading receiver with 38 catches for 479 yards and seven touchdowns.
Jabari Odoemenem powers the defense with 28 tackles (18 solo, 10 assisted), while Ethon Cole has 26 tackles (14 solo, 12 assisted). Odoemenem and Dallas Harper have a team-best two interceptions.
St. Francis’ Geno Calgaro ranks 10th in the Football Championship Subdivision with 54 tackles and ninth in tackles per game (10.8). The sophomore also leads the NEC in that category and is sixth in tackles for loss/average per game (6.0/1.0).
Aidan Cirulli leads the NEC in punting yards (1,396), ranks third in punting average (41.3), and his 61-yard punt at Louisiana-Monroe currently is the second longest in the league. He also ranks fifth in FCS in punting yards and is 21st in punting average.
Whitfield has moved into fourth in the NEC in yards with 1,219. He is also third in the league in completion percentage (65.8).
Hodge is sixth in the circuit in receiving yards with 290 yards, while Maultsby is ninth with 219 yards. Peyton Nelson is eighth in receptions (21). Both Maultsby (yards) and Nelson (receptions) led those categories for freshmen.
Kendric Council is 10th in the NEC in tackles (36).
Raphael Ekechi registered an NCAA Division I career high of 54 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns against Bucknell. He added three receptions for eight yards. Ekechi has 147 yards on the ground on 37 attempts this season.
ack Courtney had a season-high three tackles at Bucknell. Courtney has appeared in 27 tilts in his career, recording 39 tackles (14 solo, 25 assisted), seven tackles for a loss, and an interception. He registered a career-high five tackles and a half sack at Long Island Nov. 16, 2024.
Whitfield has a QB efficiency of 140.0 in his past two games, connecting on 57-for-80 with 648 passing yards and two touchdowns. Whitfield had a career night against Bucknell, completing 31 of 44 passes for 377 yards (both career highs). Whitfield has completed at least 26 passes in his past two games. The redshirt junior was 39-for-69 for 306 yards in his first three games (Louisiana-Monroe, Buffalo and Central Connecticut State). He has registered 240-plus passing yards in consecutive games and has reached that mark four times in his career. The New York native needs 46 yards to reach 1,000 passing yards for the second consecutive season. He can reach a new career-high for a season with 80 yards in the air after posting 1,033 yards last year in six games.
Maultsby has recorded 11 catches and 180 yards and a TD catch in his last two games after not registering a catch in his first three collegiate games. He was named NEC rookie of the week after posting nine catches for 141 yards and a TD against Bucknell, including two plays that were selected for the NEC pick-six. He leads the NEC freshmen in receiving yards.
Kahmari Cook has posted back-to-back career-high performances after registering five tackles against Delaware State and then seven tackles against Bucknell. He has 19 tackles (10 solo, nine assisted) in nine career games.
Denzel Lambert has six catches for 74 yards in his last two games, including a career-high 48 yards on three catches, including a 31-yard reception against Bucknell.
Colin Douglas has 32 tackles in 2025 (21 solo, 11 assisted), including 24 tackles in his last three games after a career-high nine tackles against Central Connecticut State, seven against Delaware State, and eight against Bucknell.
Ky’Mir Williams has registered two tackles against both Central Connecticut State and Bucknell.
Peyton Nelson had a career-high 11 catches and 131 yards against Bucknell. He leads all NEC freshmen with 20 catches and is second to Maultsby with 175 yards.
