CAA Football Recap - Oct. 18
Rob Washburn
Monmouth 49, Stony Brook 21
Box Score
Derek Robertson threw three first-half touchdown passes and the Monmouth defense recorded five sacks and forced four turnovers as the Hawks remained unbeaten in CAA play with a 49-21 victory over Stony Brook.
Monmouth took a 21-7 lead in the second quarter as Robertson connected on scoring throws to Gavin Nelson (28 yards), Josh Derry (19 yards) and Tra Neal (15 yards). However, Stony Brook got a fourth-down stop and then put together a 95-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Roland Dempster run to close within 21-14 at the break. The Hawks’ defense took over in the second half, getting a 50-yard pick six from Ryan Russo in the third quarter and a fourth-quarter pickoff from Jaeden Jones that set up a 1-yard TD run by Rodney Nelson and upped the MU advantage to 42-21 with 11:59 left. Nelson, who finished with 141 yards on the ground, broke loose for a 73-yard TD run to seal the win. Jones and Spencer Kishbaugh had 11 tackles for the MU defense. SBU rushed for 210 yards with quarterback Chris Zellous picking up 107 yards and Dempster adding 92. Anthony Ferrelli made 13 tackles defensively.
Villanova 56, Hampton 14
Box Score
Villanova built a 49-0 halftime lead as quarterback Pat McQuaide threw a career-high five touchdown passes and ran for a sixth and the Wildcats cruised past Hampton, 56-14. It was VU’s fourth straight win and 19
th consecutive victory at home.
After running for a 1-yard TD on VU’s opening drive, McQuaide fired scoring passes to Chris Colby (65 yards) and Lucas Kopecky (13 yards) to make it 21-0 in the first quarter. The Wildcats defense, which held Hampton to 270 total yards, contributed with a 53-yard fumble return by Obinna Nwobodo early in the second period. McQuaide closed out the half with TD tosses to Antonio Johnson (10 yards) and Sean Brodnik (4 yards) as he finished his afternoon 10-for-13 for 166 yards in one half of action. Hampton got on the board in the second half on a 3-yard TD catch by Gracen Goldsmith and a 66-yard run from reserve quarterback Earl Woods III. Ugo Nwotite had four tackles, 2.5 TFL’s and a forced fumble for the VU defense. Woods III rushed for 102 yards on seven carries.
New Hampshire 24, Campbell 10
Box Score
Matt Vezza threw a touchdown pass and ran for a TD in the fourth quarter as New Hampshire rallied for a 24-10 victory at Campbell. The Wildcats’ defense held the Camels to seven first downs and 225 total yards.
UNH got field goals of 36, 50 and 37 yards from Nick Reed to take a 9-3 lead early in the second half. Campbell responded with a 75-yard drive that JJ Cowan finished with a 9-yard scoring run to give the Camels their first lead, 10-9, with 9:05 left in the third quarter. After having a field goal blocked, UNH finally put a TD drive together midway through the fourth quarter as Vezza hit Myles Thomason with a 4-yard toss after connecting with Caleb Burke on a 42-yard play. The Wildcats’ defense then forced Campbell to turn the ball over on downs at its own 6-yard line and Vezza locked up the win with a TD run on the next play. Vezza passed for 240 yards and ran for 60. Camels’ quarterback Mike Chandler II was 8-of-11 passing for 133 yards.
William & Mary 26, Elon 21
Box Score
Tyler Hughes passed for 190 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 30 yards and a score as William & Mary battled past Elon, 26-21, to improve to 4-0 at home.
Elon jumped out to a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter as quarterback Landen Clark fired scoring passes to Zimere Winston (24 yards) in the first quarter and Isaiah Fuhrmann (47 yards) in the second quarter. The Tribe responded with 23 unanswered points in less than 15 minutes. Hughes hit Deven Thompson with a 16-yard TD pass just before halftime and the two hooked up again for a 39-yard score on the opening drive of the second half to go ahead, 17-14. The Tribe added a safety on a snap through the end zone by Elon and then Hughes ran in from 6 yards out on the ensuing drive to extend the advantage to 26-14. The Phoenix responded with a 75-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Clark run to close within five, but a final drive was stopped at the W&M 45. Clark passed for 184 yards and rushed for 83, while Kahmari Brown had 13 tackles and 3.0 sacks for the Phoenix defense. Luke Banbury made 12 stops for W&M.
Rhode Island 58, UAlbany 17
Box Score
Devin Farrell completed 19-of-20 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns as Rhode Island moved to 4-0 in CAA play with a 58-17 triumph at UAlbany. Greg Gaines made six catches for 153 yards and 2 TD’s for the Rams and A.J. Pena had six tackles, 4.0 sacks and a forced fumble defensively.
URI was up 10-3 early in the second quarter when Farrell hooked up with Gaines on TD passes of 32 and 42 yards. He followed with scoring tosses of 4 and 5 yards to Connor Finer to make it 38-3 midway through the third quarter. Pena led a Rams’ defense that forced four turnovers and recorded seven sacks. For UAlbany, Jack Shields returned to action and threw for 192 yards. Griffin Woodell rushed for 62 yards and caught a 46-yard TD pass in the third quarter. Denzel Patrick made 11 tackles for the Great Danes.