CAA Football Recap - Nov. 4
Rob Washburn
There is a five-team tie atop the CAA Football standings with two weeks remaining after a wild Week 10. Elon knocked off #5 Delaware, while Villanova, Hampton and Towson also got wins on the road. UAlbany defeated William & Mary in a Top 25 battle and Monmouth rolled with a big offensive performance.
Elon 33, Delaware 27
Box Score
Quarterback Matthew Downing passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns as Elon (5-4, 5-1 CAA) knocked off 5
th-ranked Delaware (7-2, 5-1 CAA), ending the Blue Hens’ six-game winning streak. Chandler Brayboy made three receptions for 121 yards and a TD and Johncarlos Miller II added five catches for 101 yards and a TD for the Phoenix, while their defense came up with three turnovers. Freshman Jack Berkowitz added four field goals for Elon.
Delaware led 7-3 early on a 39-yard Joshua Youngblood scoring reception, but Downing connected on TD passes of 65 yards to Brayboy, 70 yards to Miller and 29 yards to Jordan Bonner to take a 27-13 advantage early in the third quarter. Field goals of 37 and 44 yards from Berkowitz put Elon ahead by 13 in the fourth quarter, but the Blue Hens pulled within 33-27 on Ryan O’Connor’s 4-yard scoring run with 3:27 left. Delaware forced a 3-and-out and drove to the Elon 16-yard line, but a fumble recovered by Elon’s Marco Patierno sealed the victory. O’Connor passed for 315 yards, with Youngblood making seven catches for 121 yards. Caleb Curtain had nine stops for the Elon defense and Jackson Taylor made 13 tackles and 2.0 TFL’s for the Blue Hens.
Villanova 45, New Hampshire 33
Box Score
Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, including a 69-yard scoring strike to Rayjoun Pringle with 9:53 to play as the Wildcats (7-2, 5-1) battled past New Hampshire (4-5, 2-4 CAA), 45-33. In a back-and-forth contest, VU took a 24-20 lead into halftime after a 6-yard TD run by Jalen Jackson, who finished with a season-high 145 yards and 2 TD’s on 19 carries. UNH went back on top, 27-24, as D.J. Linkins caught a 6-yard TD pass on the opening drive of the second half. However, Villanova responded with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns on an 18-yard catch by TD Ayo-Durojaiye and a 6-yard run by Watkins. Dylan Laube’s 2-yard scoring run pulled UNH within 38-33 with 10:43 remaining before Pringle’s big play.
Villanova’s defense forced four turnovers in the game, including three interceptions. Ty Trinh had a team-best 13 tackles and Brendan Bell added 12 stops, a forced fumble and an interception. Laube had a huge day for UNH offensively, running for 132 yards and 2 TD’s, making 10 catches for 75 yards and returning three kickoffs for 103 yards.
UAlbany 24, William & Mary 8
Box Score
UAlbany (7-3, 5-1 CAA) turned in a dominant defensive performance, recording six sacks, scoring on a pick six and pitching a shutout until the final four minutes as the 23
rd-ranked Great Danes defeated 24
th-ranked William & Mary (5-4, 3-3 CAA), 24-8. Dylan Kelly tallied 13 tackles, AJ Simon had 2.5 sacks and Aamir Hall returned an interception 45 yards for a score to lead the effort.
UAlbany needed just 48 seconds to jump on top as Brevin Easton caught a 37-yard TD pass from Reese Poffenbarger. Hall’s pick six late in the second quarter made it 17-0 at the half. The Great Danes added a 15-yard scoring run from Griffin Woodell in the fourth quarter before W&M got on the board on a 20-yard Darius Wilson scramble with 3:28 on the clock. Poffenbarger threw for 205 yards and a TD, while Woodell ran for 100 yards on 18 carries. For the Tribe, Wilson passed for 171 yards, with Hollis Mathis making five catches for 78 yards. Kevin Jarrell had a team-high nine tackles.
Towson 42, North Carolina A&T 32
Box Score
Devin Matthews ran for 98 yards and three touchdowns as Towson (4-5, 3-3 CAA) registered its fourth road win of the season, beating North Carolina A&T (1-8, 0-6 CAA), 42-32. Matthews found the end zone on runs of 2 and 1 yard in the first quarter and the Tigers never trailed after that. A&T pulled within 28-23 on a 10-yard scoring pass from Eli Brickhandler to Darren Bennett early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers got an 18-yard TD catch by Daniel Thompson IV and a 2-yard run from Matthews to go back up 42-26 with four minutes on the clock.
Towson quarterback Nathan Kent threw for 263 yards and 2 TD’s, with Lukkas Londono making six receptions for 126 yards. Brickhandler came off the bench to pass for 181 yards and a TD, while Kenji Christian rushed for 140 yards and 3 TD’s on 22 carries. Dorian Davis made 11 stops for the Tigers’ defense and Ty Williams had nine tackles for the Aggies.
Monmouth 56, Stony Brook 17
Box Score
Monmouth (4-5, 3-3 CAA) scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions to build a 35-3 halftime advantage and posted a 56-17 triumph over Stony Brook (0-9, 0-7 CAA). Hawks’ quarterback Marquez McCray was 22-of-27 passing for 323 yards and four touchdowns, with Dymere Miller (11 rec., 150 yds., 1 TD) and Assanti Kearney (5 rec., 124 yds., 1 TD) both going over the century mark. Jaden Shirden added 171 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground as the Hawks piled up 588 yards of offense.
Shirden had scoring runs of 17 and 81 yards to get things started for MU and McCray followed with TD passes of 8 and 14 yards in the final three minutes of the second quarter to go up big at the half. He capped his day with a 46-yard TD pass to Kearney. For Stony Brook, Roland Dempster rushed for a season-high 141 yards on 22 carries, including a 16-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Jake Brown made 10 stops for the Hawks’ defense, while Anthony Williams recorded two sacks for the Seawolves.
Hampton 42, Maine 35
Box Score
Hampton (5-4, 3-3 CAA) scored the final 21 points of the game and rallied past Maine (2-8, 1-6 CAA). Elijah Burris rushed for a career-high 173 yards and four touchdowns for the Pirates, including game-tying and game-winning 7-yard scoring runs in the final nine minutes. He also had an 80-yard TD burst.
Maine got another big game from quarterback Derek Robertson, who passed for 349 yards and five touchdowns. He had scoring passes of 49 yards to Jamie Lamson and 1 yard to Cooper Heisey to put the Black Bears ahead 28-14 and added a 9-yard TD toss to Rohan Jones to make it 35-21 midway through the third quarter. The Pirates started their comeback with a 40-yard TD catch by Romon Copeland before Burris tied it with 8:51 left. HU’s Mason King forced a fumble at the Maine 38 with 5:49 left and the Pirates took the lead on a Burris run with 1:48 to go. Lamson finished with eight catches for 180 yards. DeAndre Faulk recorded 11 tackles for the Hampton defense.
North Carolina 59, Campbell 7
Box Score
Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 185 yards and a touchdown and added another 51 yards on the ground, but Campbell (4-5) was beaten 59-7 at North Carolina. Trailing 7-0, Williams hit Chaney Fitzgerald with a 19-yard TD pass to tie the game late in the first quarter. However, the Tar Heels build a 28-7 advantage at halftime and pulled away in the second half.
Ezeriah Anderson made nine receptions for 102 yards and Fitzgerald had six catches for 43 yards. Linebacker C.J. Tillman had a big day defensively with 14 tackles and a sack.