Coastal Carolina not overlooking Central Connecticut State

Coastal Carolina doesn’t take its opponents lightly.

The Chanticleers know that 1-5 Central Connecticut State could come in and take a win Saturday at Brooks Stadium (2 p.m. start), and Coastal Carolina offensive lineman Voghens Larrieux – a Connecticut native once recruited by the Blue Devils – will do everything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“We go in every week thinking we’re better than our opponent but we never play down to their level. Every team is coming in to beat us; we know we have a target on our back,” Larrieux said. “At Coastal, we have a winning tradition here and don’t plan to lose that. We play the game of football to win, so we don’t treat any opponent any differently and the game plan doesn’t change for anybody.”

Chants defensive lineman Tarrol Stafford – a New Haven, Conn., native – was also recruited by Central Connecticut State and knows not to take anyone or anything for granted.

“When you underestimate a team you kind of give them leeway to upset you, so we go into every game with the mindset hoping to dominate the team,” Stafford said. “We need to stick to the game plan and just execute on all cylinders.”

Larrieux and Stafford are also ready to get after it against some familiar faces.

“It’s kind of cool playing a team where I have teammates and other guys from my area that I know. It’s kind of like high school all over again. But now there’s more on the line,” Larrieux said. “It does add some extra excitement … I’m ready to get after it.”

Chants head coach Joe Moglia – whose team has suffered two tough, one-point losses to top FCS programs Jacksonville State and Charleston Southern – knows that Central Connecticut State will look to take advantage of the Chants’ run game as star running back De’Angelo Henderson is expected to be out, while backup halfback Oshamar Abercrombie is likely out for the season as well.

It leaves seldom-used senior Kenny Daniels – who mainly saw action on the special teams unit – as the team’s starting running back, and redshirt freshman Ra’Quan Bennett will be his backup.

Daniels impressed as he had 12 carries for 76 yards and Bennett gained 24 yards on five carries in last week’s 17-7 win over Gardner-Webb.

“Both played a good bit [last week] and both of them held their own,” Moglia said. “If something happens to those guys, we have to be prepared with a simple enough package where we wind up doing some magic tricks. But we’re still in the process of trying to figure that out.”

Blue Devils coach Pete Rossomando said whether Henderson plays or not, his team will have to look out for the Chants’ run game.

“I don’t feel like there’s a huge drop down from number one to number two, even without their backup in there,” he said. “They have tremendous depth, and a lot of their success has to do with their offensive line. Now, give Henderson credit. He’s an incredible back. I just feel we’re still going to have our hands full.”

Rossomando believes his team should be in a little better position as the Blue Devils stand 1-5 overall, but knows a non-conference game against a tough opponent like Coastal Carolina will help gauge where his team is at.

“I think we certainly have improved as the year has gone on. We are definitely a better football team than we have been in the past. When I took the job here, I knew this was going to be a rebuilding thing,” he said. “We’re young at some positions, which is good in one way and bad in other ways. I didn’t think we’d be here and figured we’d have a couple more wins at this point but we’re close and our guys work hard every day. They’re pretty resilient and we’re a young team and only six seniors on the team that have any significant playing time. This will be good for them.”

Chants offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude – a Central Connecticut State alum and former quarterback – is friends with Rossomando and is also eager for the matchup and feels it will help both teams.

“This is a great opportunity for our guys seeing different schools in different areas,” Patenaude said. “I just think it’s always cool to see a different opponent, different kind of style, different players from different areas. We do have some guys that have some connections so I think those guys know a lot of guys and it’s just a cool mix. We’re excited.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina not overlooking Central Connecticut State."