CAA Football Recap - Oct. 14
Rob Washburn
Delaware is the lone remaining unbeaten team in CAA Football after a Saturday that provided plenty of big plays offensively and several strong defensive performances.
Villanova 21, Elon 0
Box Score
Villanova (5-2, 3-1 CAA) used a powerful rushing attack and a suffocating defense to earn a 21-0 victory over Elon (3-4, 3-1 CAA). The Wildcats ran for 440 yards, while their defense held the Phoenix to 99 total yards and five first downs. Freshman Isaiah Ragland tallied a career-high 126 yards on the ground for VU and quarterback Connor Watkins added 125 yards on 13 carries as VU had two players with 125+ rushing yards for the first time since 1977. Brendan Bell paced the defense with seven tackles and Shane Hartzell picked up five stops and a sack.
Villanova jumped on top 14-0 in the first quarter on scoring runs of 1 and 50 yards from TD Ayo-Durojaiye. The Wildcats extended their margin on their opening possession of the second half, driving 81 yards capped by another Ayo-Durojaiye 1-yard TD run. Elon’s defense was led by Brandon Tyson, who made a game-high 14 tackles and 2.0 TFL’s.
Richmond 24, Rhode Island 17
Box Score
Richmond’s defense recorded six sacks and forced three turnovers as the Spiders (4-3, 3-1 CAA) battled past Rhode Island (4-3, 2-2 CAA), 24-17, on the road. Jeremiah Grant led the UR defense with six tackles and three sacks. Offensively, freshman quarterback Cam Coleman threw for 194 yards and 2 TD’s, both of which went to Nick DeGennaro, who made six catches for a career-high 132 yards.
A 12-yard TD catch by DeGennaro put the Spiders on top early, but URI answered with a 32-yard scoring pass on fourth down from Kasim Hill to John Erby. The Rams went up 10-7 before a 69-yard TD grab by DeGennaro made it 14-10 at the break. The Spiders pushed their lead to 24-10 with 4:47 to go on a 7-yard Kyle Wickersham run before the Rams answered with a 2-yard TD run from Hill to close within seven with 1:54 left. URI drove to midfield when the clock ran out. Hill finished 29-of-50 passing for 367 yards to lead the Rams’ offense. A.J. Pena had eight tackles, 2.0 TFL’s, a sack and a forced fumble defensively.
New Hampshire 38, UAlbany 31
Box Score
Max Brosmer threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns, including a 6-yard TD toss to Colby Ramshaw with 7:08 to play, as New Hampshire (3-3, 1-2 CAA) edged UAlbany (4-3, 2-1 CAA), 38-31. Along with Brosmer’s big day, Logan Tomlinson set career-highs with nine receptions for 144 yards and 2 TD’s. UAlbany got a strong performance from quarterback Reese Poffenbarger, who passed for 373 yards and four touchdowns. Julian Hicks made four receptions for 162 yards and 2 TD’s, while Brevin Easton had four grabs for 106 yards and 2 TD’s.
In a back-and-forth contest, UAlbany built a 17-14 halftime advantage following TD passes of 50 yards to Easton and 75 yards to Hicks before extending it to 24-14 early in the third quarter after a 38-yard Easton scoring catch. However, New Hampshire responded with 17 points in less than five minutes as Dylan Laube ran in from five yards out and Tomlinson had a 53-yard TD grab that put the Wildcats on top 31-24. A 32-yard strike to Hicks early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 31-31, before Brosmer’s game-winning toss to Ramshaw. UAlbany drove into UNH territory in the final minute, but an interception by Brendan Tighe sealed the victory. Josiah Silver recorded three sacks to lead the UNH defense, while Dylan Kelly made 11 tackles for the Great Danes.
Monmouth 61, Hampton 10
Box Score
Jaden Shirden rushed for 276 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as Monmouth (3-3, 2-1 CAA) rolled over Hampton (3-3, 1-2 CAA), 61-10. The Hawks ran for 352 yards and a school-record 7 TD’s, and also got a school-record 98-yard kickoff return for a TD by TJ Speight.
Hampton led 3-0 early before Monmouth reeled off 41 unanswered points. Shirden had TD runs of 9 and 63 yards in the first half and the Hawks closed the period with a 31-yard TD catch by Ashanti Caviness, Jr. Speight’s TD return on the opening kickoff of the second half made it 41-3, but the Pirates cut into the deficit on a 2-yard TD run by Chris Zellous. Shirden broke loose for TD runs of 25 and 72 yards in the third period to extend the lead. Darran Butts had a team-high 85 rushing yards for the Pirates. Thomas Joe-Kamara had seven tackles and 1.5 TFL’s for the MU defense.
Delaware 21, North Carolina A&T 6
Box Score
Kyron Cumby ran for 144 yards and 2 TD’s and Marcus Yarns added 126 yards on the ground as Delaware (5-1, 3-0 CAA) took over sole possession of first place in the CAA with a 21-6 victory over North Carolina A&T (1-5, 0-3 CAA). The Blue Hens’ defense limited the Aggies to 196 yards and forced three turnovers.
The Blue Hens scored on their opening drive of the game as Cumby reached the end zone from 25 yards out and Cumby’s 3-yard TD run midway through the second period made it 14-3. UD took control after forcing a turnover on A&T’s first drive in the third quarter and cashing it in on a 2-yard TD pass from Ryan O’Connor to Jourdan Townsend. A&T’s points came on field goals of 43 and 23 yards by Owen Daffer. Jackson Taylor tallied 15 tackles and 4.0 TFL’s for Delaware defensively. The Aggies got 83 rushing yards from Wesley Graves and seven tackles and a TFL from BJ Turner.
Maine 24, LIU 13
Box Score
Maine (2-5, 1-3 CAA) scored 17 second-half points and rallied for a 24-13 win over LIU. Derek Robertson completed 20-of-32 passes for 235 yards and fired TD passes to three different receivers. Joe Gillette had another big game with eight catches for 102 yards.
Montigo Moss caught a 13-yard TD in the first quarter, but Maine trailed 10-7 at the half. The Black Bears put together a 14-play, 85-yard drive to open the second half and went ahead 14-10 on a 2-yard TD catch by Jamie Lamson. LIU closed with 14-13, but Robertson connected on a 51-yard scoring strike to Trevin Ewing early in the fourth quarter and Cody Williams added a 30-yard field goal. Maine forced three turnovers, with Abdul Stewart and Buggs Brown picking off passes.
Fordham 26, Stony Brook 7
Box Score
Stony Brook (0-6, 0-4 CAA) held a 7-6 lead until the final play of the third quarter but fell 26-7 to Fordham. After surrendering a pair of first-quarter field goals, the Seawolves moved ahead on a 29-yard TD pass from Casey Case to Anthony Johnson. The Rams regained the lead on a 6-yard TD run on the final play of the third quarter and then took advantage of a pair of SBU turnovers to add two more scores.
Case was 21-of-34 passing for 243 yards and a TD, with Johnson making six receptions for 87 yards. Aidan Kaler had a team-high 12 tackles for the SBU defense.