Jeffery Payne led the Skyhawks with 20 carries for 59 yards.

New Haven, Conn. - Southern Connecticut used a 27 point first quarter and a devastating rushing attack to catapult them to 41-6 win over visiting Stonehill on Saturday afternoon at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn.

Southern Connecticut racked up 472 yards of total offense and had two running backs crack the 100 yard barrier on their way to their eleventh straight win in the series.

Jerom Freeman, the Northeast-10's leading rusher, was a force on the ground, with 21 carries for 123 yards, while fullback John Weichman added 118 yards on just 12 carries.

The Owls opened the game with an impressive nine-play, 72 yard drive that was capped by a 17 yard touchdown strike from Steve Armstrong to Jerell Milligan.

SCSU was back on the board minutes later when Skyhawks signal caller Jon Kaloyanides (Cranston, R.I.) was picked off and the return gave the Owls the ball at the Stonehill 25. Armstrong (9-for-10, 140 yards) then connected with Jonathan Lee for his second touchdown pass of the quarter.

The Owls used another turnover to put points on the board when Martin Manson stepped in front of a Kaloyanides pass and returned it 36 yards to paydirt.

The Skyhawks caused a fumble late in the quarter and put together a six-play drive but were forced to punt, which Mason returned 13 yards setting up the Owls at their own 41. Weichman found a crease on the left side, broke a tackle and sprinted towards the endzone before being caught from behind by Chris Palmer (Santa Barbara, Calif.) at the one yard line. Weichman punched it in on the next play, upping the Owl advantage to 27-0.

Two short rushing touchdowns by Freeman gave the Owls a 41-0 lead before Kaloyanides connected with J.J. Niamkey (Quincy, Mass.) on a 24 yard scoring strike late in the fourth quarter.

Greg Sanzari (Centerport, N.Y.) led Stonehill with 14 tackles, while Jared Zanello (Walpole, Mass.) had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.

With the loss, the Skyhawks fall to 4-4 overall and 4-3 in Northeast-10 action, while the Owls improved to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in Conference play.