Football’s season opener went exactly as it was expected to go: The Huskies (1-0) dismantled the Presbyterian Blue Hose (0-1), of the Football Championship Subdivision, in a 55-3 romp Thursday at Huskie Stadium.

“I’ll put it as simple as I can: We came out and did what we were supposed to do, and I was really happy with that,” said head coach Rod Carey. “I wanted to see us play fast on both sides of the ball, [and] I thought we did. I thought we can out and executed for the most part.”

The Huskies posted what proved to be the game-winning score when redshirt junior quarterback Matt McIntosh connected with senior wide receiver Da’Ron Brown for a 39-yard touchdown 3:58 into the game.

“It felt great,” McIntosh said. Offensive coordinator Bob “Cole had a great call, and the offensive line blocked really well, gave me a good pocket. Obviously, Da’Ron, he’s a great wide receiver, so you just kind of have to throw it up to him and let him go get it.”

McIntosh guided the offense in the first quarter, leading three scoring drives.

Next, redshirt sophomore Drew Hare led the offense in the second quarter and on the first drive of the second half, concluding his night with a 49-yard touchdown pass to junior Juwan Brescacin 1:33 into the third quarter that put the Huskies up 41-0.

“I was pretty comfortable just coming in,” Hare said. “We already had a nice lead. McIntosh did a great job. The offensive line was moving people really well. I had nothing but to be comfortable with those guys.”

Redshirt sophomore Anthony Maddie took snaps the rest of the game, playing mainly with the second-team offense.

“I’m going to have to go back and look at” the film, Carey said. “My gut right now is that all three played really good. These two [McIntosh and Hare] in the first half played really well, and then Maddie got in there and did some good things, too.”

McIntosh went 10-of-14 for 87 yards and one touchdown, Hare finished 8-of-13 for 100 yards and one touchdown and Maddie completed one of his four pass attempts for 24 yards.

Sophomore tailbacks Joel Bouagnon and Draco Smith provided the scoring in the ground game. Bouagnon rushed for four touchdowns, while Smith ran for one touchdown.

Senior Tyler Wedel connected on two of his three field goals attempts, drilling field goals from 32 and 26 yards but missing from 21 yards.

Defensively, the Huskies held Presbyterian to three points, caused three turnovers and forced seven three-and-outs.

“I think we just came out with a lot of energy, special teams and defensively,” said senior linebacker Michael Santacaterina, who led all Huskies with seven tackles. “I think as a team we were ready to go. We’ve had some slow starts in the past, and … defensively I know we just wanted to come out and have a fast start and keep the pedal down, and we did a good job doing that.”