Now that’s football! The Montclair State football team opened their season with a big-time road win. The Red Hawks, who were ranked sixth out of seven teams in the NJAC in the preseason poll, defeated Gettysburg College, who also ranks sixth in their conference, 32-21.
Mike Palazzo earned his first win as a head coach for Montclair State and he did so behind the Red Hawks running game and run defense. Montclair outrushed the Bullets 167 to 67 on the ground and the defense forced three fumbles.
Still, the game remained close in the fourth quarter as the Bullets scored with 5:31 to go in the game cutting the lead to 11. Gettysburg would then have 1st-and-goal and look to cut it to a one-possession game but Nicholas Burgess and the Red Hawk defense stood strong like a stone wall and kept Gettysburg out of the endzone to finish off the road win.
Key Players
- Andrew Sanborn got the nod for his first career start and looked solid, going 19-for-29 with 180 yards through the air. Sanborn also rushed for 30 yards, finding paydirt twice for the Red Hawks.
- Nicholas Burgess showed why he is one of the best defensive players in the conference. The Red Hawks linebacker finished the day leading the team with 12 tackles and two sacks.
- Anthony Roige led the way for the Montclair wideouts, hauling in seven passes for 54 yards and a second quarter touchdown putting the Red Hawks up 14-3 at the time,
- Henry Lewis had 88 yards on six carries, none bigger than his 66-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, putting the Red Hawks up 26-13.
A Look Ahead
The Red Hawks will host Franklin & Marshall next Saturday for their home opener. The Diplomats are 1-0 after this week's game against TCNJ was postponed due to weather. F&M was ranked fourth in the preseason polls for the Centennial Conference.
