Delaware Valley Knocks Off Montclair State

Montclair State University, College, Football

September 11, 2022

The Delaware Valley Aggies (2-0) defeated the Montclair State Red Hawks (1-1) 14-6 on Saturday afternoon at Sprague field.

After a scoreless slugfest early on, Montclair was pinned back to their own 1-yard line on a friendly bounce punt by Delaware Valley. Following that, Red Hawks running back Macki Mickens slammed it up the middle for a quick two yards to get off the goal line and in the process, fumbled the football.

The Aggies were able to topple over everybody and wound up with possession at the bottom of the pile. Their following drive lasted no more than a minute as they were in excellent field position as wide receiver Luan Advijaj got a short pass in the flat from quarterback Louie Barrios IV to go up 7-0.

Montclair’s following drive progressed slightly, earning a couple of first downs before quarterback Mason Murdock threw a late pass that was easily picked off by Cole Kitchen and set the Aggies up well again at midfield.

The Aggies however, replicated what Montclair did by gaining a few first downs of their own before Barrios threw a pass off his back foot into the end zone that was caught by Red Hawks defensive back, Kiamani Carrington. Carrington kneeled the ball down for a touchback and Montclair came out and went three and out. The entire second quarter was an exchange of punts from both teams as the score remained 7-0 going into the half.

Montclair opened up the third quarter with possession but Murdock was sacked twice and yet another punt was forced. After what has to be a record breaking six drives ending in a punt, no team crossed midfield into opponents' territory right up until the end of the third quarter. Barrios completed a 15-yard pass down the right sideline to wide receiver Tahmir Barksdale. Then, the Aggies followed that up with a 11-yard run by running back Jay White. This set them up at the Red Hawks 33-yard line going into the fourth quarter.

After a short series of quick completions to Advijaj in the slot and runs by Jay White, White finally banged it home into the end zone to extend the Aggies lead to 14-0. Down ten possessions with around 10 minutes left, Montclair understood it was go time. Penalties killed them all game, conceding 108 penalty yards collectively. The most killer of them all was on this drive Mickens was running efficiently and Murdock made sure they were in front of the chains. A short fourth and one ensued and with the clock ticking Montclair didn't hesitate to go for it.

However, right as the ball was snapped the flags came flying out as Montclair’s interior line jumped too early on the snap and a manageable fourth and one turned into a dicey fourth and six. Montclair didn't convert the fourth down and the Aggies took over and played the clock, continuously running the ball and taking 20 to 30 seconds in between plays.

By the time the Red Hawks got the ball back and Murdock threw his only touchdown pass of the day to wide receiver Clarence Wilkins, there were only three minutes left and Montclair had only one timeout to stop the clock. The Aggies relied on White to secure the two first downs they needed so they could knee on the ball and walk away victorious, 14-6.