CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (Interstat) — Chris Parson threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns, and Austin Peay defeated visiting New Haven 42-17 in an NCAA Football Championship Division game Saturday at Fortera Stadium. Parson, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound quarterback from Brentwood, Tenn., completed 19 of 23 passes and ran six times for 3 yards. The Governors improved to 5-1. The Chargers fell to 0-3. Austin Peay controlled much of the game behind Parson’s arm and a defense that made enough stops to keep New Haven from mounting a comeback.

Austin Peay opened the scoring when Parson found Denver Harper on a short pass that went 10 yards for a touchdown with 12:38 left in the first quarter. Hamilton DiBoyan made the extra point. New Haven answered with 6:09 remaining in the first when Niko Boyce connected with Tommy Troy for a 4-yard touchdown, and Liam Quigley added the extra point. Parson then hit M. Sims for a 65-yard touchdown with 5:56 left in the quarter. New Haven’s Jack Morgese made a 20-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Parson connected with Jaden Robinson on a 66-yard touchdown with 9:54 left. Austin Peay also got a special-teams score when D. Harper returned a Joe Fragale punt 82 yards for a touchdown with 3:31 remaining. New Haven moved the ball through the air but could not finish drives consistently, and Austin Peay carried a comfortable lead into halftime.

New Haven found the end zone again in the third quarter when Troy caught his second touchdown pass of the game. The Chargers’ defense tried to keep the game within reach, but Austin Peay answered with another scoring drive. Parson later capped the Governors’ scoring with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ben Marshall. New Haven’s late possessions could not produce enough points to close the gap.

Boyce led New Haven’s offense by completing 25 of 39 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He also punted once for 47 yards. Zaon Laney rushed 17 times for 90 yards and caught five passes for 24 yards. Troy finished with five receptions for 59 yards and two touchdowns. D’Arious Reed had five catches for 75 yards. Nate Burleson II added four receptions for 28 yards. Matt Chandler caught two passes for 20 yards. Shaun Jackson ran five times for 6 yards and caught one pass for 7 yards. Frank Daniley carried four times for 17 yards. Isaac Glaudin had one reception for 4 yards, LaSalle Rose Jr. had one catch for 5 yards to go with a 6-yard kick return, a minus-3 punt return and one tackle, and Dominic Grguric added one catch for 5 yards. Joe Fragale punted six times for 259 yards. JT Krivinskas returned one kickoff for 11 yards, and Dre Kirton returned a kickoff for 14 yards.

Austin Peay’s Parson was the game’s top performer, with 309 passing yards, four touchdown passes and 3 rushing yards on six carries. Jaden Robinson caught two passes for 75 yards and one touchdown. Ben Marshall had one reception for 26 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Head made three catches for 1 yard, and Xzavier Webber had one reception for 6 yards. Nate Garnett Jr. returned one punt for 18 yards. Logan Leftrick punted five times for 219 yards. Hamilton DiBoyan handled kicking duties for the Governors.

Defensively for New Haven, Frederick Borkey recorded nine tackles. Abdoul Bah had six tackles, half a sack and one quarterback hurry. Irv Briggs finished with three tackles and 1.5 sacks. Ricky Encarnacion had four tackles, and Dre Kirton added four tackles to go with his kick return. Gabe Perez, Lucas Theriaque, Myles Hansford and Brodie Williams each made two tackles. Kenny Seymour had one quarterback hurry. Jett Hall, Chris Hudson, Panos Burlos, Pete Melle, Mason Taylor and Emerson Petr each recorded one tackle.

Austin Peay’s defense spread its production across the lineup. Trevor Hardy had six tackles. RJ Jackson, Markell Redding, Kelton Crisp and Deandre Creary each made five tackles. Crisp also recorded one sack. Jefferson Bretanys Desca and Ta’Ron Haile each had four tackles, while Ja Payton added one tackle. The Governors limited New Haven enough to protect their lead and improve their season record.

The Governors’ offense finished with balance between Parson’s downfield passing and a steady ground game. New Haven’s receivers combined for a number of short and intermediate catches, but the Chargers struggled to turn those gains into points after falling behind. Austin Peay’s special teams also delivered a major swing on Harper’s punt return. New Haven’s defense had moments, including Borkey’s team-high tackle total and Briggs’ pressure in the backfield, but Austin Peay’s early scoring proved too much.

Austin Peay also received a 6-yard reception from Xzavier Webber and a 1-yard catch from Jackson Head as part of its passing distribution. Nate Garnett Jr. contributed an 18-yard punt return, while Logan Leftrick averaged 43.8 yards on five punts. For New Haven, Joe Fragale averaged 43.2 yards on six punts, and LaSalle Rose Jr. handled kick and punt return duties. New Haven also had a team punt that netted no yards. Jonathan Lawson and Chance Fitzgerald appeared in the game without recording a statistic for the Chargers.

Austin Peay is next scheduled to host Tarleton State, while New Haven is set to visit Robert Morris. The Governors improved to 5-1 with the win, and the Chargers moved to 0-3 with the loss.

Interstat’s ELO system had projected Austin Peay with a 77.9 percent probability to win. The total score of 59 went under the over/under line of 50.5.