CAA Football Recap - Nov. 16
Rob Washburn
Richmond 24, Hampton 21
Box Score
Richmond (9-2, 7-0 CAA) clinched at least a share of its second straight CAA title and earned the league’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs as the Spiders held off Hampton (5-6, 2-5 CAA), 24-21, for their ninth straight win. Zach Palmer-Smith rushed for 166 yards and 2 TD’s, becoming the first UR back to go over 1,000 yards in a season since 2015.
Palmer-Smith broke loose for a 54-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and finished the drive with a 4-yard TD run. After a Hampton turnover on the ensuing kickoff, Landon Ellis caught an 8-yard scoring pass to put the Spiders up by 14 early. The Pirates cut the deficit in half on a 3-yard Tymere Robinson run late in the first quarter, but UR tacked on a 47-yard Sean O’Haire field goal just before halftime. Hampton pulled within three on a 40-yard Brennan Ridley TD grab in the third quarter, but Palmer-Smith’s second TD from a yard out made it 24-14. Hampton battled back within three again on a 1-yard Malcolm Mays scoring run with 9:58 left, but the Spiders forced a turnover on downs with 42 seconds to go to seal the victory. UR quarterback Cam Coleman threw for 138 yards, while Mays passed for 107 yards and ran for 53. Carter Glassmyer had 15 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery for the Spiders defense and Terrence Lane II had eight stops for HU.
Monmouth 40, Villanova 33
Box Score
Derek Robertson was 22-of-23 passing for 358 yards and three touchdowns as Monmouth (5-6, 3-4 CAA) knocked off #8 Villanova (8-3, 5-2 CAA), 40-33. The Hawks finished with 502 yards of total offense against the CAA’s top defense.
Robertson threw first-half TD passes to Sone Ntoh (6 yards), Josh Derry (32 yards) and Maxwell James (19 yards) to take a 19-7 lead, but a 25-yard scoring run by David Avit pulled the Wildcats within five at the half. Monmouth got third-quarter TD runs from Rodney Nelson (26 yards) and Sone Ntoh (7 yards) to increase its advantage to 33-17, but Connor Watkins’ second TD run early in the fourth quarter made it a one-score game. Monmouth added a 1-yard TD run from Ntoh with 9:31 left, but Villanova answered with a 17-yard TD catch by Devin Smith on 4
th down to close within 40-33 with 6:03 to go. However, the Hawks were able to maintain possession the rest of the way to seal the win. TJ Speight made 7 catches for 120 yards for the Hawks. Watkins finished with 235 yards and a TD passing while also running for two scores.
Towson 31, North Carolina A&T 13
Box Score
Towson’s defense recorded six sacks, forced two turnovers and pitched a shutout for the first three quarters as the Tigers (6-5, 4-3 CAA) rolled past North Carolina A&T (1-10, 0-7 CAA).
Towson took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive as Sean Brown threw a 20-yard TD pass to Devin Matthews. A 7-yard scoring run by Matthews in the second quarter pushed the advantage to 17-0 at the half. The Tigers added 2-yard TD runs from Tyrell Greene, Jr. and Ike Daniels to go up 31-0 in the fourth quarter. A&T got on the board late as Justin Fomby hit Cortez Lane (16 yards) and Antoine Bell (6 yards) with scoring passes. Brown passed for 251 yards with Carter Runyon making 7 catches for 81 yards. Fomby finished with 176 yards and 2 TD’s through the air for the Aggies. John Gioia had six tackles and a sack for Towson defensively and Kade Moledor made 16 stops for A&T.
Rhode Island 20, UAlbany 17
Box Score
Rhode Island (9-2, 6-1 CAA) rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to top UAlbany (3-8, 1-6 CAA), 20-17. URI’s Westley Neal, Jr. blocked a game-tying 36-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game as the Rams tied the program record for regular-season wins.
UAlbany built a 17-point halftime advantage as John Opalko made a 38-yard field goal and freshman quarterback Van Weber threw TD passes to Alex Jreige (6 yards) and Seven McGee (25 yards). The Rams got on the board on their opening drive of the second half on a 42-yard TD run from Malik Grant and Grant scored again from 1 yard out later in the period. URI took its first lead of the game on Grant’s third TD of the day (7 yards) with 9:36 to go. The Great Danes twice drove into URI territory late in the game, but Andre DePina Gray picked off a pass at the 3-yard line with 2:54 left before Neal’s blocked field goal on the final play. Grant rushed for 110 yards and 3 TD’s for URI and Marquis Buchanan had 6 catches for 132 yards. Weber, making his first start, passed for 354 yards and 2 TD’s, with Levi Wentz making 9 receptions for 138 yards. Dontae Lunan had a big day for the UA defense with 15 tackles, 1.5 TFL’s and two interceptions. AJ Pena had seven tackles and 2.0 sacks for the Rams.
UNH 31, Stony Brook 30
Box Score
UNH (7-4, 5-2 CAA) overcame a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit and battled past Stony Brook (8-3, 5-2 CAA), 31-30.
Stony Brook held a 13-10 halftime lead as Jayce Freeman had a 30-yard TD catch for the Seawolves and Logan Tomlinson had a 5-yard TD grab for the Wildcats. SBU tallied the first 17 points of the second half as Tyler Knoop threw scoring passes to Cal Redman (14 yards) and Cole Bunicci (13 yards) and Enda Kirby booted his third field goal. Trailing by 20 in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats got a 24-yard TD run from quarterback Seth Morgan and a 2-yard run from Denzell Gibson to close within 30-24 with 9:37 left. SBU’s second fumble of the fourth quarter gave UNH the ball back, and the Wildcats cashed in as Morgan connected on a 15-yard TD pass to Joey Corcoran with 6:15 left. UNH was able to force a SBU punt and then control the ball for the final 4:59. Morgan passed for 263 yards and 2 TD’s, while Knoop threw for 194 yards and 3 TD’s. Ryan Toscano tallied 17 tackles and a sack for UNH and Rodney Faulk made a pair of sacks and forced a fumble for SBU.
Delaware 41, Campbell 22
Box Score
Quarterback Nick Minicucci accounted for 308 yards of offense and six touchdowns to lead Delaware (9-1, 6-1 CAA) past Campbell (3-8, 1-6 CAA), 41-22. Marcus Yarns ran for 134 yards as the Hens piled up 529 total yards.
Delaware grabbed a 12-0 first-quarter lead on a 6-yard Minicucci run and a 33-yard TD pass to Phil Lutz. Campbell battled back quickly as VJ Wilkins caught scoring passes of 75 and 66 yards from Mike Chandler II to close within 20-13 early in the second quarter. The Camels got as close as 27-22 on a 3-yard TD run by Mark Biggins late in the third period, but Minicucci answered with scoring strikes to Jake Thaw (17 yards) and JoJo Bermudez (38 yards) in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Chandler finished with 267 yards passing with Wilkins making 5 receptions for 172 yards.
William & Mary 22, Bryant 12
Box Score
Bronson Yoder rushed for 146 yards and William & Mary’s defense came up with two goal-line stops as the Tribe (7-4, 4-3 CAA) topped Bryant (2-9, 0-7 CAA), 22-12.
W&M went up 8-0 on its opening drive as Darius Wilson connected with Matthew Akuchie on a 10-yard TD pass. A 90-yard punt return for a TD by Carson Jenkins in the second quarter extended the Tribe lead to 15, but Bryant pulled within six at half after a 16-yard TD catch by Landon Ruggieri and a 35-yard Bryce Soli field goal. A 26-yard Soli field goal brought the Bulldogs within 15-12, but a 62-yard scoring run by Malachi Imoh with 11:34 remaining put W&M up by 10. Bryant twice drove to the W&M 1-yard line, but the Tribe’s Sascha Garcia blocked a 17-yard field goal and Ty Gordon picked off a pass in the end zone. Imoh finished with 98 yards on the ground, while Marcus Barnes had seven tackles, a forced fumble and 4 PBU’s for the Tribe defense. For Bryant, Jarrett Guest passed for 263 yards and a TD with Ruggieri making 9 catches for 112 yards. Colin Elliot had 7 tackles, a TFL and an interception.
Elon 31, Maine 25
Box Score
Rushawn Baker rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns as Elon (5-6, 4-3 CAA) extended its winning streak by beating Maine (5-6, 3-4 CAA), 31-25.
Baker had scoring runs of 6 and 3 yards to put the Phoenix ahead 14-3 midway through the second quarter, but a 3-yard TD run by Jaharie Martin brought the Black Bears within 14-10 at halftime. Baker (6 yards) and Martin (7 yards) traded third-quarter TD runs before Elon got a 70-yard TD strike from Matthew Downing to Chandler Brayboy that made it 28-18 heading into the fourth quarter. The Phoenix added a 40-yard field goal by Luke Barnes and kept Maine off the board until an 11-yard TD grab by Montigo Moss with two seconds on the clock. Downing passed for 299 yards, with Brayboy making 3 catches for 138 yards. For Maine, Carter Peevy passed for 271 yards, with Moss making 5 catches for 89 yards. Christian Thomas had 9 tackles, 2.0 TFL’s and a sack for Maine and Khalil Baker made seven stops for Elon.