CAA Football Recap - Oct. 1
Rob Washburn
Elon edged Richmond in a double-overtime thriller, while Delaware, William & Mary and Villanova also earned conference victories on Saturday. Rhode Island kept the Governor’s Cup by rolling over Brown and Monmouth cruised past Lehigh.
Elon 30, Richmond 27 (2ot)
Box Score
Jalen Hampton’s 11-yard touchdown run in the second overtime lifted #23 Elon (4-1, 2-0 CAA) to a dramatic 30-27 win over #17 Richmond (3-2, 1-1 CAA).
The teams battled to a 14-14 draw in the first half as Elon quarterback Matthew McKay connected on TD passes of 74 yards to Bryson Daughtry and four yards to Jackson Parham, while Richmond quarterback Reece Udinski hit Leroy Henley with an 8-yard TD pass and later scored on an 8-yard run. Defenses dominated in the second half with the only points coming on a 41-yard field goal by UR’s Jake Larson in the third quarter and a 42-yard field goal by Elon’s Skylar Davis with 37 seconds left in regulation.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime as McKay hit Johncarlos Miller with a 25-yard strike on the first play, and Udinski answered with a 19-yard pass to Jakob Herres. In the second extra session, Larson made a 47-yard field goal before Elon earned the win on Hampton’s run.
McKay finished 20-of-35 passing for 322 yards and 3 TD’s, with Daughtry making four grabs for 134 yards. Hampton added 93 rushing yards on 15 carries. Udinski was 42-of-58 through the air for 383 yards and 2 TD’s, with Herres making 12 receptions for 174 yards. Aaron Dykes ran for 102 yards on 19 attempts. Defensively, the Spiders got six tackles and 2.5 TFL’s from Tristan Wheeler and the Phoenix was led by Cole Coleman’s 13 stops.
Delaware 24, Towson 10
Box Score
Sixth-ranked Delaware (5-0, 3-0 CAA) used big plays on offense and a strong defensive effort to top Towson (2-3, 0-2 CAA), 24-10. The Blue Hens are off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2010.
The Tigers took a 3-0 lead midway through the second quarter on Keegan Vaughan’s 38-yard field goal, but the Blue Hens got a 65-yard touchdown run from Kyron Cumby and a 74-yard scoring pass from Nolan Henderson to Chandler Harvin to build a 14-3 halftime advantage. A 4-yard TD toss from Henderson to Khory Spruill on the opening drive of the second half put Delaware in control.
Henderson finished 25-of-41 passing for 368 yards and 2 TD’s, while Cumby added 100 yards on the ground on 15 carries. Linebacker Johnny Buchanan recorded 11 tackles for a Blue Hens’ defense that held the Tigers to 159 total yards. For Towson, Joachim Bangda ran for a team-best 53 yards on 12 carries. Robert Javier made seven tackles and returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown with 2:59 left in the game.
William & Mary 27, Stony Brook 10
Box Score
Malachi Imoh rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns as 18
th-ranked William & Mary (4-1, 1-1 CAA) rallied past Stony Brook (0-4, 0-3 CAA), 27-10.
The Seawolves went ahead 10-3 late in the first quarter on a 7-yard TD pass from Daron Bryden to Ross Tallarico, which was set up by a Reidgee Dimanche interception. The Tribe trimmed the deficit to 10-6 at halftime when Ethan Chang tied a CAA record by booting a 57-yard field goal. Imoh came up big in the second half, putting W&M on top with a 10-yard scoring run late in the third quarter and then adding TD gallops of 2 and 28 yards in the fourth quarter.
W&M quarterback Darius Wilson threw for 176 yards and ran for 48. Quinn Osborne made seven tackles for a Tribe defense that held SBU to 159 total yards and pitched a shutout over the final three quarters. For Stony Brook, Bryden passed for 107 yards and Tallarico ran for a career-high 76 yards. Carthell Flowers-Lloyd tallied 13 tackles and 4.0 TFL’s, while Dimanche had 12 stops and an interception for the SBU defense.
Villanova 45, Maine 20
Box Score
Wide receiver Jaaron Hayek made five receptions for a career-high 159 yards and four touchdowns as #14 Villanova (3-2, 1-1 CAA) picked up a 45-20 victory at Maine (0-4, 0-1 CAA).
The Wildcats piled up 466 yards of offense and scored on their first six possessions of the game. VU took an early 10-0 lead on Jalen Jackson’s 5-yard TD run, but the Black Bears answered later in the first quarter on a 9-yard scoring pass from Joe Fagnano to Montigo Moss. Hayek, who became just the third player in VU history to tally four or more TD receptions in a game, caught scoring passes of 4, 83 and 18 yards in the second quarter and added a 42-yard TD catch in the third period that put the Wildcats ahead 38-14. VU quarterback Connor Watkins finished 13-of-16 for 255 yards and 4 TD’s. Jalen Goodman’s 23-yard pick six capped the scoring for VU.
Maine was led offensively by quarterback Joe Fagnano, who was 24-of-38 for 192 yards and 2 TD’s. Xavier Mitchell made a team-best nine tackles for the Black Bears’ defense.
Monmouth 35, Lehigh 7
Box Score
Quarterback Tony Muskett completed 20-of-27 yards for 261 yards and three touchdowns and added 56 yards and a TD on the ground as Monmouth (3-2, 1-1 CAA) defeated Lehigh, 35-7, for its third straight victory.
The Hawks were in control throughout. Owen Wright gave MU a 7-0 first-quarter lead on his nation’s best 13
th TD of the season, and Muskett threw scoring passes to Dymere Miller (39 yards) and Assanti Kearney (52 yards) to go ahead 21-0 at halftime. The Hawks tacked on two more scores in the third quarter as Muskett ran in from 10 yards out before finding Darrion Carrington with a 3-yard pass. Miller finished with nine catches for 125 yards, while Jaden Shirden, the top rusher in FCS, added 108 yards on the ground.
Monmouth’s defense recorded six sacks, recovered two fumbles and limited Lehigh to 303 yards. Mike Reid had a team-high five stops and forced two fumbles.
Rhode Island 38, Brown 10
Box Score
Rhode Island (3-2, 1-1 CAA) claimed its fourth consecutive Governor’s Cup, dominating in-state rival Brown, 38-10.
The Rams were up 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game as Marques DeShields found the end zone on a 21-yard run and Jaylen Smith followed with a six-yard TD run. The teams traded field goals before Rhode Island blew the game open in the second quarter. DeShields got it started with his second TD run from 12 yards out and Kasim Hill connected on scoring passes of 28 and 26 yards to tight end Caleb Warren in the final minute of the half to make it 38-3.
Hill was 15-of-27 passing for 257 yards and 2 TD’s and DeShields added 109 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground. The Rams’ defense kept Brown to 261 total yards and forced five turnovers. Jake Fire had a team-best 10 tackles, 1.5 TFL’s and an interception.
Western Michigan 44, New Hampshire 7
Box Score
New Hampshire (3-2, 3-0 CAA) fell behind 28-0 in the opening 18 minutes of the game and suffered a 44-7 setback at Western Michigan.
The Wildcats scored their lone touchdown with 2:15 left in the first half as Max Brosmer hit Dylan Laube with a 26-yard touchdown pass, making it 28-7 at the break. UNH finished with 205 yards of total offense and committed four turnovers.
Brosmer was 22-of-34 passing for 161 yards. Laube ran for 73 yards and added six catches for 63 yards. Pop Bush contributed six tackles and a tackle for loss for the Wildcats defensively.