Monmouth Continues Big South Dominance With 35-16 Win Over North Carolina A&T

GREENSBORO, NC – Winning any conference game on the road is difficult enough but when you travel to play a conference opponent you’ve never faced before in front of a near-capacity crowd of 28,000 die-hards on a homecoming weekend that’s billed “The Greatest Homecoming on Earth,” you’ve got your work cut out for you.

That was the challenge Monmouth University faced Saturday when they traveled to BB&T Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina to meet Big South newcomer North Carolina A&T, which had won seven straight home games and hadn’t lost a homecoming game since 2010.

The Hawks, however, were unflinching and overcame the daunting environment behind sophomore quarterback Tony Muskett’s four touchdowns to pin a hard-fought 35-16 loss on the Aggies.

“It was super important,” said Muskett of the win. “We knew it was going to be a great environment here in a basically sold out stadium on homecoming. There were times when things didn’t go our way, but we got together, had each other’s back and got the job done. That was really important for us – it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan agreed with Muskett's assesment.

“This was a great win in a very challenging and adverse environment,” said Callahan. “Homecoming here at A&T is something to see. The crowd was really into it, the band and all the things going on around the stadium here was really quite something.”

The win keeps Monmouth atop the Big South standings tied with tenth-ranked Kennesaw State (7-1, 4-0) with three conference games left to play, including its final game against the Owls that will more than likely determine the conference champion.

The Hawks (5-3, 4-0) have now won 14 straight Big South games with nine of them coming on the road – a Big South record.

In spite of having to deal with all the hoopla, Monmouth was also forced to play without Big South Preseason Player of the Year Juwon Farri, who leads the Big South in rushing with 689 yards and nine touchdowns, but came up lame in practice this week and was forced to sit out.

On top of that, free safety Anthony Budd – the Big South Preseason Defensive Player of the Year – was hurt covering a kick on the first series of the second half and never returned. And this, after a number of key starters, including Big South Defensive Player of the Year candidate, linebacker Da’Quan Grimes, had already been sidelined with an assortment of season-ending injuries.

“It speaks of our depth and it’s kind of a next man up mentality,” said Callahan. “We didn’t have Budd, we didn’t have Shoemaker (Nick), we didn’t have Delgado (Tyler) and we haven’t had Grimes and Scarlett (Kahari) for quite some time so the other guys had to step up and play.

“I’ve been very happy with what some of the younger guys have done. Ryan Moran continues to play very well and in the secondary freshman Jalen Dotson stepped in and did a very good job. On the defensive line, sophomore Sheku Tonkara, Justin O’Bannon and De’Andre Clifton all were guys that stepped up and contributed, just to name a few.”

Monmouth’s deepening depth on both sides of the ball has been a key factor this season in the Hawks ability to overcome injuries and sustain their high level of play.

The win wasn’t as easy as the score might indicate. The Hawks had to battle their way out of some sticky situations that could’ve gone either way, but to their credit they fought their way out of them and went on to take control of the game.

Early in the second quarter, the Hawks marched 75 yard in a time-consuming 5:44 minute drive to take a 21-7 lead and appeared to be ready to take command of the contest. On the drive, Monmouth converted two third-down plays for first downs and one fourth-down conversion to keep the drive alive.

On third-and-5 from their own 42-yard line Muskett connected with Dymere Miller for seven yards and a first down and later Muskett found wideout Terrance Greene Jr. for 18 yards on third-and-seven from the Aggies 48. Then on fourth-and-1 from the Aggies 21, Owen Wright picked up two yards and first down. Five plays later, freshman running back Jaden Shirden took it in from 4-yards out to give the Hawks a two touchdown lead.

Wright and Shirden combined to rush for 106 yards in Farri’s absence with the promising Shirden particularly effective rushing 53 yards on eight attempts for a 6.5 yard average.

The defense then forced a three-and-out. Clifton – a junior defensive end - sacked Aggies quarterback Jalen Fowler for a 10-yard loss on third-and-6 at the Monmouth 29-yard line setting up a fourth-and-19 at the 21 and an Aggies punt.

Monmouth took over at their own 23-yard line with 7:30 left in the half and looked to be on their way to putting the game out of reach early but here’s where things went south.

Muskett, who was sacked eight times in the game, was sacked on second down leaving the Hawks with a third-and-19 at their own 14-yard line when a miscommunication resulted in an errant snap that sailed into the end zone with Muskett in pursuit. Muskett corralled the ball and ran out of the end zone for a safety preventing a possible Aggies score.

Now 21-9, Monmouth kicked off from their own 20, because of the safety, and the Aggies returned it to their own 44. Seven plays and 56-yards later Fowler connected with Nick Dobson for a 4-yard touchdown pulling A&T to within 21-16.

The Hawks went three-and-out and following the Monmouth punt the Aggies took over at their own 26-yard line. With 16 seconds left in the half and no timeouts left they furiously advanced to the Monmouth 30-yard line before time ran out on the half or they might’ve scored again with the Hawks reeling.

Monmouth went into the locker room stunned but collected themselves during the break and came out in the second half determined not to let the game slip away from them.

“Going into halftime you saw a lot of talking on both sides of the ball, but coach Kal (head coach Kevin Callahan) came in and set us straight and told us just to play our game,” said Hawks strong safety Tyrese Wright, who led the team with nine tackles and led the defensive effort that shut the Aggies out in the second half.

“The game should not have been that close,” added Wright. “To be honest, coach fired us up. When coach yells, we’re going to listen. We then we came back out and executed. We can be exceptional - the skies the limit for us. We just got to playing and keep going.”

Callahan was pleased with the way his team coped with the adversity they encountered at the end of the first half.

“As upsetting as that was to see those things happen, I was really happy and proud of the way the guys responded coming out of the locker room at halftime,” said Callahan. “We knew we were a better football team than that. I thought we started fast and controlled the game in the first quarter then it started slipping away from us right before halftime.

“We just needed to refocus and I got to credit our seniors and our older experienced players. They calmed the team down getting them to focus on us and what we’re doing and not what was going on out on the field. We then shut them out in the second half, put two scores on the board, and I thought we really played very, very good second half. ”

The Aggies received the second-half kickoff and the Monmouth defense forced a quick three-and-out after Monmouth linebacker Eddie Hahn stopped running back Jah-Maine Martin short of a first down on a screen pass forcing a punt on fourth-and-3.

“We knew we were going to start on defense in the second half,” said Callahan. And we knew it was important we got a three-and-out to kind of retake the momentum and we did that on their first two drives of the second half. We then we go down and score and from that point on we played with a high level of confidence.”

Monmouth took over at their own 23 and were rolling but on third-and-5 Miller dropped a perfectly thrown ball by Muskett at the Aggies 40-yard line that would’ve gone for a sure 68-yard touchdown.

“I don’t think about it at all,” said Muskett of the drop. “Dymere’s a younger guy like me and he’s going to be tearing it up for three, four years after this.

“I’m always going to have faith in my guys no matter what and I’ll always go right back to them and I know they’ll make the play. I know they’re going to continue to play hard for me and I’m going to play hard for them and the outcome is always going to work in our favor in that case.”

The Hawks punted and the defense came through again forcing another three-and-out. Hahn, Erik Massey, Moran and Justin Terry all contributed big plays.

In all, the Monmouth defense held the Aggies to 3-for-12 on third down conversions and 1-for-4 on fourth down and shut them out in the second half. On the flip-side, the Hawks offense converted 8-of-17 third-downs and 3-of-4 on fourth down – exceptional conversion rates on both sides of the ball.

Following the A&T punt the Hawks took over at their own 13-yard line and proceeded to drive 87 yards in 15 plays to take a 28-16 lead and get a little breathing room. The time consuming drive that took 6:56 off the clock was highlighted by two crucial third and fourth-down conversion plays.

“That’s just an example of how our players refocused themselves on what they had to do to execute at the time rather than worrying about all the other stuff that was going on,” said Callahan.

Muskett hit Lonnie Moore IV for 14 yards and first down on a third-and-6 at the 17, then on fourth-and-2 at the 39 Muskett found Wright on a screen for 11 yards and a first down at the 50-yard line.

The ever flourishing Muskett was once again outstanding accounting for four touchdowns – two passing and two rushing. He was 19-of-28 for 246 yards with touchdown throws of 29 and 12 yards and two quarterback sneaks from the one, both in the second half.

The Hawks kept grinding it out and on third-and-7 from the Aggies 47 Shirden ran for 13 yards and a first down to the A&T 34-yard line. A 20-yard pass from Muskett to Moore IV moved the ball to the 14 and five plays later on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line Muskett kept it for the score. Nick Null kicked the extra point.

Strong safety Justim Terry intercepted Fowler handing the ball back to the Hawks but a Muskett 7-yard sack led to a three-and-out and a punt with 13:13 remaining in the game.

North Carolina A&T then drove to the Monmouth 25 but on fourth-and-10 the Hawks defense stiffened and forced an incomplete pass due to intense pressure from Hahn, Massey and Clifton.

Monmouth then took over at their own 25 and drove 75 yards in five plays with the key play being a 55-yard Muskett to Greene Jr. bomb that set them up at the Aggies 20-yard line. Three Wright running plays set up a third-and-goal at the one before Muskett finished it off with a sneak up the middle pushing the Hawks lead to 35-16 with 5:18 remaining in the game.

Greene Jr. finished with four receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.

On the Aggies ensuing possession, Hahn and Ben Joseph combined for a stop on third down then Moran and O’Bannon – a sophomore defensive end - teamed up for a fourth-down sack to essentially finish off the Aggies.

Monmouth forced a North Carolina A&T punt on its first possession of the game but the snap was wild and Hahn chased down the punter at the Hawks 37-yard line.

The Hawks then took advantage of great field position to score the first touchdown of the game.

Muskett was sacked on first down but on third-and-12 he scrambled for 16 yards and first down at the 23. Wright rushed for 11 yards for a first and Muskett then flared a pass in the right flats to Joey Aldarelli who raced down the right sideline for a 12-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

“Joey and I are on the same page one hundred percent of the time,” Muskett said of Aldarelli. “I have great chemistry with him, I always have and the ball just seems to find him and he finds the end zone. He’s a great asset to us and I expect more of the same from him.”

A Zamon Robinson 7-yard sack of Fowler on the Aggies ensuing possession led to a punt that the Hawks turned into points.

Driving 81 yards in eight plays to go up 14-0, Moore IV had a 27-yard reception plus a 10-yard catch on third down for a first down. He then finished off the drive with an acrobatic one-handed grab for 29-yard touchdown.

“We put a lot of emphasis on this game during the whole week,” said Moore IV. “We knew there was going to be a ridiculous environment and we were just prepared to come out here and play. We knew this was another step to winning the Big South so this game really meant a lot to us.

“I just ran a go route and the cornerback kind of held my left arm,” said Moore IV of his circus catch. “So I was only able to get my right arm to be able to secure the catch and I took a couple of steps and got in there. It was just one of those great plays.”

Moore IV also gave props to the Hawks defensive play in the second half. “That was really big for the whole team. Just having a defense that can come out there and get stops for the offense gives the offense a lot of momentum. And as an offense you just feel inspired to get a touchdown for the defense. Because when they go out there and play their tails off like they did today, we make it a big deal to score a touchdown.”

Moore IV ended with five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown, his second consecutive week he reached the century mark in yardage.

“If I see man-to-man coverage on Lonnie I’m going to take it,” said Muskett. “He’s one of guys where he’s just so elusive and slippery you got to put more than one guy on him. He made one of the best catches I’ve probably ever seen that one-hander that put us up 14-0 which was huge. I just put my faith in all my receivers like I always do and they keep making plays – that’s what we do.”

Wright is now tied for the team lead in tackles with 51 after finishing with a team-high nine tackles with one TFL. After recording double-digit tackles last week, Moran tied Wright for the team-high Saturday with nine tackles and a TFL, while Hahn added seven tackles with a TFL.

Clifton and Robinson had sacks and O’Bannon and Moran combined for a sack.