CAA Football Recap - Nov. 8
Rob Washburn
photo by Nora Kelley
New Hampshire 34, Monmouth 13
Box Score
New Hampshire’s defense held Monmouth to a season-low 304 yards, recorded five sacks and forced two turnovers as the Wildcats knocked off 6
th-ranked Hawks, 34-13. UNH quarterback Matt Vezza threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns and added 67 yards and a TD on the ground.
Monmouth jumped out to a 7-0 first-quarter lead on a 13-yard TD grab by tight end Jack Neri, but the Wildcats responded with 13 straight points on a 13-yard Vezza scoring run and field goals of 31 and 53 yards by Nick Reed. The Hawks pulled even just before halftime as Frankie Weaver fired a 19-yard scoring strike to Josh Derry. UNH drove 75 yards on the first drive of the second half and capped it with a 22-yard TD run by Myles Thomason. Following a strip sack by UNH’s Jordan Mcallister, Denzel Gibson delivered a 27-yard TD run to make it 27-10 midway through the third quarter. UNH sealed the win on a 12-yard TD catch by Ryan Blagg. Thomason finished with 95 yards rushing, while Mcallister led the UNH defense with five tackles, 3.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. For Monmouth, Weaver passed for 233 yards and 2 TD’s, while Rodney Nelson ran for 88 yards. Jaeden Jones made a team-high 13 stops.
Stony Brook 38, North Carolina A&T 12
Box Score
Freshman quarterback Quinn Boyd was 37-of-48 passing for a career-high 380 yards and three touchdowns and added another score on the ground as Stony Brook topped North Carolina A&T, 38-12.
A&T took a 3-0 lead on its opening drive after a 45-yard Andrew Brown field goal, but Stony Brook responded with 31 straight points to take a commanding 31-6 lead at the half. Boyd hit Jayce Freeman with a 33-yard TD pass and then ran one in himself from five yards out. Up 17-3 in the second quarter, Freeman broke the game open with a 65-yard TD reception and Boyd followed with a 25-yard scoring strike to Dez Williams to up the lead to 31-3. A&T reached the end zone in the third quarter on a 16-yard pass from Kevin White to Antoine Bell before SBU capped the scoring with a 1-yard Roland Dempster TD run in the fourth quarter. Freeman finished with seven catches for 140 yards and 2 TD’s, while A.J. Roberts had eight tackles and a sack for the SBU defense. White threw for 180 yards and a TD for A&T. Defensively, Joshua Iseah made 15 tackles and Marquis Hood recorded three sacks.
Maine 35, Hampton 7
Box Score
Maine’s defense limited Hampton to 189 yards and quarterback Carter Peevy threw four touchdown passes as the Black Bears pushed their winning streak to six with a 35-7 triumph.
Maine sprinted out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Peevy to Ty’ee Stephens and a 1-yard scoring run from Rashawn Marshall that was set up by a 48-yard Scott Woods punt return. Hampton cut the deficit in half early in the second quarter as reserve quarterback Earl Woods II threw a 12-yard TD toss to Jah’Kei Chavis, but Marshall reached the end zone from 6 yards out to put Maine up 21-7 at the half. The Black Bears’ defense pitched a second-half shutout and Peevy closed his day with TD passes to Eli Mahan (5 yards) and Woods (10 yards). Christian Thomas tallied eight tackles and a sack for the Maine defense. For Hampton, Woods II was 9-of-10 passing for 86 yards, while Harold O’Neal III had 11 tackles and 2.0 TFL’s.
Villanova 28, Towson 10
Box Score
Ja’Briel Mace rushed for a school-record 291 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries as Villanova extended its winning streak to six by defeating Towson, 28-10. The 291 yards are the 2
nd-most by an FCS player this season.
Towson went on top 7-0 late in the first quarter as receiver John Dunmore reached the end zone on a 45-yard reverse. Mace tied the game with an 8-yard TD run just before halftime and then had a 39-yard burst on the opening drive of the third quarter to make it 14-7. The Tigers closed to within 14-10 late in the third quarter on a 34-yard Caden Williams field goal, but Mace put the game away with scoring runs of 82 and 22 yards in the final five minutes of the contest. Villanova’s defense held Towson to 287 total yards. Tigers’ quarterback Andrew Indorf threw for 156 yards, while Alfred Thomas made 12 tackles and a sack defensively.
Bryant 27, UAlbany 24
Box Score
Bryant scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes to battle past UAlbany, 27-24, for its first-ever CAA victory. A 26-yard field goal by Nicholas Stoyanovich with 5:43 to go proved to be the game-winner and Liam Lindo blocked a game-tying Great Danes’ field goal attempt with 1:24 on the clock.
UAlbany took a 10-0 advantage early in the second quarter on an 18-yard TD pass from Jack Shields to Steven Mahar, Jr. After Bryant closed within 10-7 on a 7-yard TD run by Elijah Elliott midway through the second quarter, the teams exchanged long scoring passes. Shields hit Carter Moses with a 33-yard strike but the Bulldogs answered 49 seconds later on a 68-yard pass from Jaeden Keefner to Zyheem Collick. In the third quarter, a 21-yard Stoyanovich field goal tied the contest, but the Great Danes went back ahead, 24-17, following a 3-yard TD run by Aidan Semo that was set up by a Balasama Kamara strip sack. The Bulldogs tied the game at 24-24 on a 6-yard pass from Ridge Docekal to Tristen Riley before the Stoyanovich game-winner. Keefner threw for 224 yards and Elliott added 70 yards on the ground for Bryant. For UAlbany, Shields passed for 235 yards and 2 TD’s and Chris Gales had 10 tackles and a forced fumble for the defense.
Rhode Island 34, Elon 20
Box Score
Devin Farrell completed 24-of-30 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing TD as Rhode Island took over sole possession of first place in the CAA with a 34-20 victory at Elon.
A 50-yard Luke Barnes field goal put the Phoenix on top early, but URI reeled off the next 24 points. Farrell’s 10-yard TD run late in the first quarter put the Rams ahead and Garth White added a 52-yard field goal. Farrell fired scoring passes to Greg Gaines (19 yards) and Aboraa Kwarteng (70 yards) that made it 24-3 before Elon reached the end zone just before halftime on a 9-yard pass from Landen Clark to Isaiah Fuhrmann. URI added a 43-yard field goal by White to open the second half, but Elon pulled within 27-17 on a 70-yard punt return for a TD by DJ James-Hamilton. However, URI sealed the win early in the fourth quarter on Alex McClelland’s 6-yard TD run. Kwarteng finished with four catches for 124 yards and Antwain Littleton added 101 yards on the ground. Rohan Davy had nine tackles and a sack for the URI defense. Clark threw for 104 yards and a TD before being sidelined due to injury. Jevean Brown had 10 tackles, 2.0 TFL’s and a forced fumble for the Elon defense.
William & Mary 30, Campbell 27 (ot)
Box Score
William & Mary erased an 11-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation and then got a 6-yard TD run by Tyler Hughes in overtime to earn a 30-27 win at Campbell.
W&M went ahead early on a 41-yard Keegan Shackford field goal, but Campbell put together a pair of long drives capped by TD runs of five yards from Mike Chandler II and one yard from JJ Cowan to take a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter. The teams traded field goals before the Tribe got a 7-yard scoring pass from Hughes to Tariq Sims to close within 17-13 at the half. Cowan reached the end zone again from three yards out in the third quarter and the Camels maintained a 24-13 lead late into the game. However, W&M got a 2-yard TD run from Rashad Raymond and converted a 2-point conversion with 1:51 to go. The Tribe’s Jake Worthen recovered the ensuing onside kick and Shackford drilled a game-tying 38-yard field goal with one second on the clock. Campbell got a 23-yard field goal by Alex Crabb in overtime, but W&M needed only two plays to reach the end zone on Hughes’ run. Hughes passed for 282 yards and ran for 120 to pace the W&M offense and Luke Banbury made 12 stops on defense. For Campbell, Cowan rushed for 107 yards and 2 TD’s and Logan Livermon paced the defense with 13 tackles and a sack.