CAA Football Recap - Oct. 3-4
Rob Washburn
Villanova 37, New Hampshire 7
Box Score
Villanova rushed for 238 yards and five touchdowns and rolled to a 37-7 road win at New Hampshire. The VU defense also had a big day, limiting UNH to 207 yards.
VU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, getting an interception from Anthony Hawkins and cashing it in with a 34-yard TD run from David Avit on its first play from scrimmage. UNH responded with a 75-yard drive capped by a 35-yard scoring run from quarterback Matt Vezza to pull even. Villanova took over from there as the Wildcats got touchdown runs of 31 and 2 yards on end arounds from Ja’briel Mace in the second quarter and Mace finished an 80-yard drive with a 1-yard score early in the fourth quarter that made it 31-7. Avit led VU with 102 yards on 14 carries, while quarterback Pat McQuaide passed for 219 yards, with nine completions to Luke Colella. Ugo Nwotite recorded a pair of sacks for the VU defense. For UNH, Vezza threw for 118 yards and ran for 48.
Maine 34, Bryant 14
Box Score
Maine sprinted out to a 34-0 halftime lead and earned a 34-14 road victory at Bryant. The Black Bears got a big game from quarterback Carter Peevy, who was 23-of-36 passing for a career-high 338 yards and three touchdowns.
Peevy hit a streaking Scott Woods on a 66-yard scoring pass on Maine’s opening drive, and later in the quarter, a 40-yard punt return by Woods set up a 15-yard TD run by Trevin Ewing to make it 17-0. The Black Bears maintained the momentum in the second quarter as Peevy tossed TD strikes to Nick Laughlin (64 yards) and Woods (14 yards) and Samuel Tremblay booted his second field goal to make it 34-0 at the break. Bryant got on the board twice in the fourth quarter as quarterback Jaden Keefner had TD runs of 12 and 6 yards. Woods finished with 5 catches for 103 yards, while Christian Thomas had six tackles for a Maine defense that allowed only 253 yards. Keefner ran for a team-high 83 yards and threw for 76 for the Bulldogs and Michael Otty recorded 4.0 TFL’s and a sack defensively.
Stony Brook 47, UAlbany 12
Box Score
Stony Brook exploded for 37 second-half points and claimed a 47-12 triumph over UAlbany in the Battle for the Golden Apple. Seawolves’ quarterback Chris Zellous accounted for 272 yards of offense and four touchdowns and the SBU defense held the Great Danes to 198 yards.
SBU led 10-6 at the half courtesy of an 8-yard TD run from Roland Dempster and a 46-yard Michael Mannino field goal. Zellous took over in the third quarter, running for two TD’s (28 and 1 yards) and hitting Dez Williams with a 17-yard scoring strike that made it 31-6. Stony Brook put the game away early in the fourth quarter as AJ Roberts forced a fumble on a sack, which was recovered by Dyshier Clary. Zellous ran in on the next play. Dempster ran for 105 yards while Clary led the defense with five tackles, 3.0 TFL’s and a sack. UAlbany got field goals of 34 and 33 yards from James Bozek in the first half and a 47-yard TD pass from Aidan Semo to Jasiah Barron.
Elon 17, Towson 3
Box Score
Elon controlled the ball for nearly 36 minutes and got a dominant effort from its defense to earn a 17-3 road win at Towson. It was the sixth straight victory for the Phoenix in CAA play dating back to last season.
After taking a 3-0 first quarter lead on a 34-yard Luke Barnes field goal, Elon put together a 15-play, 87-yard drive in the second period capped by a 2-yard TJ Thomas TD run to go up 10-0 at the half. Towson got on the board with 13:01 to go on a 30-yard Caden Williams field goal. However, Elon’s Jared Kirksey picked off a pass near midfield and the Phoenix followed with a 47-yard pass from Landen Clark to Jimmyl Williams. Two plays later, Dan Frederick reached the end zone from 2 yards out to make it 17-3 with 6:57 remaining. Towson drove inside the Elon 10-yard line on its final two possessions, but was turned away. For Elon, Clark passed for 181 yards and ran for 81, while Tony Hart made a team-high eight tackles. Towson quarterback Andrew Indorf threw for 257 yards with John Dunmore making eight receptions for 104 yards. CJ McLendon recorded a game-high 11 tackles for the Tigers.
William & Mary 38, North Carolina A&T 34
Box Score
William & Mary rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to defeat North Carolina A&T, 38-34. Rashad Raymond rushed for 124 yards for the Tribe, including a game-winning 2-yard TD run with 11:15 to play.
A&T took a 17-7 advantage early in the second quarter on a pair of TD runs (2 and 1 yard) from Wesley Graves and a 32-yard Andrew Brown field goal. W&M pulled within three on a 29-yard Sean McElwain touchdown catch, but Aggies’ quarterback Kevin White reached the end zone on a draw from 10 yards out to make it 24-14 at the half. The Tribe started the second half quickly as Tyler Hughes hit Armon Wright with a 75-yard TD pass, but A&T answered with a 16-yard scoring catch from Jayvonne Dillard and a Brown field goal to go ahead 34-21. The Tribe took over in the final 20 minutes, getting a 66-yard TD run from Hughes and a 49-yard Keegan Shackford field goal before Raymond closed a 78-yard drive with his 2-yard run. The Aggies drove to the W&M 3-yard line, but Luke Banbury sacked White on fourth down. White passed for 225 yards and Graves ran for 93 for A&T, while Hughes accounted for 245 yards of offense for W&M. Banbury had 17 tackles, 3.5 TFL’s and 2.0 sacks.
Monmouth 49, Delaware State 38
Box Score
Derek Robertson threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns and Rodney Nelson added a career-high 203 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground as Monmouth topped Delaware State, 49-38. The Hawks finished with 636 yards of total offense.
Monmouth took a 14-0 advantage in the opening quarter on a 5-yard Nelson TD run and a 36-yard strike from Robertson to TJ Speight. The Hornets pulled even, but Roberton fired scoring passes to Gavin Nelson (23 yards) and Tra Neal (9 yards) to take a 28-21 lead into halftime. With the score tied at 35, Monmouth used a trick play to go ahead for good as Neal found tight end Jack Neri with a 33-yard TD pass. Neal added a 25-yard TD catch with 8:40 left for the final points. Speight had 7 catches for 145 yards. Jaeden Jones tallied a team-high 12 tackles.
Hampton 41, Norfolk State 34
Box Score
Quarterback Braden Davis accounted for 266 yards of offense and two touchdowns, including a 21-yard scoring run with 8:52 remaining, as Hampton downed Norfolk State, 41-34, in the Battle of the Bay.
The Pirates fell behind 14-3 before Davis hit Donovan Shepherd with a 7-yard TD pass late in the first quarter. Trailing by 11, Hampton closed the second quarter with 17 unanswered points on TD runs of 30 yards by Gracen Goldsmith and 14 yards by MarShawn Ferguson, Jr. and Brett Starling’s second field goal to take a 27-21 advantage into halftime. The Pirates never gave up the lead in the second half, getting a 4-yard scoring run from Jah’Kei Chavis in the third quarter before Davis provided the game-winner in the fourth. Davis passed for 202 yards with Goldsmith providing 75 yards on the ground. Andre Jackson, Jr. made a team-best 12 tackles.
NC State 56, Campbell 10
Box Score
Campbell cashed in a turnover to draw even with ACC member NC State early, but dropped a 56-10 decision to the Wolfpack.
Down 7-0, DaVonyae Pettis forced an NCSU fumble on a punt return that was recovered by Javian Drake on the Wolfpack 14-yard line. Two plays later, Kamden Sixkiller hit Mike Chandler II with a 13-yard touchdown pass to tie the contest. NC State took over from there, building a 49-7 halftime advantage. The Camels tacked on a 46-yard field goal from Alex Crabb with 4:09 to play. Sixkiller finished 12-of-22 passing for 87 yards. Tyrek Brown and Jojo Pace made six tackles apiece for Campbell.
Brown 28, Rhode Island 21
Box Score
Rhode Island was unable to overcome four turnovers and dropped a 28-21 decision to Brown, ending a six-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup.
Brown took advantage of a URI interception to go up 7-0, but the Rams responded quickly and pulled even on a 6-yard scoring pass from Devin Farrell to Marquis Buchanan. Down 14-7 in the second quarter, URI’s Omari Walker caught a 30-yard TD toss to tie the game at 14-14. Trailing 21-14 in the third period, a game-tying URI drive ended on a fumble into the end zone and Brown turned it into more points. The Rams staged a late rally, getting a 2-yard TD grab by Matt Smith with 4:11 to go, but an interception at midfield with 37 seconds left sealed the victory for the Bears. Farrell finished 30-of-44 for 353 yards and 3 TD’s, while Rohan Davy paced the defense with 11 tackles and 2.0 TFL’s.