WASHINGTON, D.C. - Christopher Newport scored 21 first-quarter points en route to a 31-14 victory over the Catholic University football team Saturday at Cardinal Stadium.

The loss snapped a three-game home win streak for the Cardinals (2-2) who were looking to start a season with three-straight home wins for the first time since 2008.

After winning the coin toss, the Captains (2-2) returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to put the Cardinals behind early.

Unphased, Catholic responded with an 8-play, 44-yard drive that was capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Madden Lowe to senior Mark Cheffers to tie the game at 7-7. The drive was setup by a 56-yard kickoff return from freshman Malachi Hansen.

However, Christopher Newport found the endzone again on its first offensive possession, scoring the game's third touchdown just 4:39 into the game on a 66-yard touchown pass.

The Captains held the Cardinals on fourth-down on the ensuing drive before converting the turnover on downs into a 3-yard touchdown run to go in front 21-7 with 5:57 remaining in the opening quarter.

CNU had 172 yards of total offense in the quarter with Matt Dzierski completed 6-of-7 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.

Catholic settled in after the first quarter, limiting the Captains to 259 yards of offense and 10 points over the final three quarters.

After a 21-yard field goal gave Christopher Newport a 24-7 advantage with 5:01 left in the second quarter, the Cardinals pulled within 10 points at the half when Hansen scored on a 2-yard run with 27 seconds to play.

The Captains had the ball for nearly 19 minutes in the opening half and another 19 in the second, finishing with almost 38 minutes in time of possession compared to 22 minutes for Catholic.

The game's only points in the second half came on a 2-yard run by CNU back-up quarterback Scotty Forbes with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter.

The Captains' defense held the Cardinals to 77 yards of total offense in the second half while forcing three punts and two turnovers, one interception and one on downs, on five second-half possessions.

Cheffers finished the game with five catches for 60 yards and the second receiving touchdown of his career while senior Nicholas Gonzalez had four catches for 34 yards.

Lowe was 27-of-46 passing for 194 yards and one touchdown, completing a pass to 11 different receivers. He also rushed for 26 yards.

Senior Dieter Kerat led the defense with 10 total tackles, including one for loss while junior Noah Miller had nine tackles with eight solo.

Catholic concludes its three game homestand next Saturday, Oct. 2 when it hosts MIT in the NEWMAC opener for both teams. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.