CAA Football Recap - Nov. 15
Rob Washburn
Rhode Island 45, Maine 13
Box Score
Antwain Littleton rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns as Rhode Island clinched at least a share of the CAA Football title with a 45-13 victory at Maine, snapping the Black Bears’ six-game winning streak.
URI jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on Littleton’s 2-yard TD run and a 2-yard pass from Devin Farrell to Dontay Bishop that was set up by a bad snap on a Maine punt. The Black Bears cut the deficit in half on a 40-yard TD catch by Scott Woods early in the second quarter, but the Rams answered quickly as Brendan Barrow ran in from 12 yards out following a 65-yard Littleton burst. A 63-yard Marquis Buchanan TD grab put URI up 28-7 at the half. The teams traded third-quarter TD’s with Barrow reaching the end zone on a 3-yard run for URI and Maine answering with a 4-yard Carter Peevy run. However, Littleton sealed the win by breaking loose on a 52-yard TD gallop. Farrell finished with 221 passing yards and Buchanan had six catches for 138 yards. Moses Meus made nine stops for a URI defense that held Maine to 45 rushing yards. For Maine, Peevy passed for 278 yards with Woods making five catches for 114 yards. Christian Thomas recorded a team-best 19 tackles.
Villanova 30, Stony Brook 27 (ot)
Box Score
Antonio Johnson caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Pat McQuaide in overtime to lift Villanova over Stony Brook, 30-27. McQuaide finished with 280 yards and four TD’s through the air as the Wildcats won their seventh straight game.
Both teams opened the game with big plays as Villanova got things started with a 37-yard Braden Reed TD catch before Stony Brook responded with a 64-yard scoring toss from Quinn Boyd to Jayce Freeman. A 39-yard Jack Barnum field goal put VU up 10-7 at the half. The Seawolves took their first lead, 14-10, midway through the third period on a 2-yard Roland Dempster TD run, but the Wildcats went back on top on Luke Colella’s 10-yard scoring grab on the first play of the fourth quarter. The back-and-forth action continued with Dempster battling into the end zone from a yard out before a 21-yard catch from Colella gave VU a 24-21 lead with 2:49 on the clock. SBU drove down the field and forced overtime with a 23-yard Michael Mannino field goal. In overtime, Mannino drilled a 44-yard field goal before VU got the game-winner from Johnson. For the Wildcats, Isaiah Ragland ran for 97 yards and Shane Hartzell tallied 10 tackles and 2.5 TFL’s defensively. Boyd passed for 278 yards for SBU with Freeman making six catches for 175 yards. Dyshier Clary contributed seven tackles, 4.5 TFL’s and 2.0 sacks.
Monmouth 63, North Carolina A&T 19
Box Score
Redshirt freshman quarterback Frankie Weaver passed for a career-high 428 yards and six touchdowns and Rodney Nelson added 163 yards and 3 TD’s on the ground as Monmouth defeated North Carolina A&T, 63-19. The Hawks finished with 696 yards of total offense.
Monmouth scored touchdowns on all three of its first-quarter drives, reaching the end zone on a 6-yard Nelson run and receptions by Josh Derry (11 yards) and TJ Speight (62 yards) to go up 21-3. The Hawks kept rolling in the second quarter as Weaver fired TD passes to Jack Neri (26 yards) and Maxwell James (71 yards) and Nelson added a 2-yard run to build a 42-13 halftime advantage. The Aggies put together a 74-yard drive capped by a 3-yard TD run by quarterback Kevin White. Monmouth tacked on 21 more points in the third period on TD catches by Speight (53 yards) and Derry (29 yards) and a 26-yard Nelson run. A&T kicker Andrew Brown had a spectacular day, making field goals of 31, 55, 53 and 53 yards. Speight finished with 162 receiving yards, while Ryan Russo and Jaeden Jones made seven tackles for MU. For A&T, White passed for 183 yards, with Jayvonne Dillard making six catches for 103 yards. Tre Mittman had 11 stops.
New Hampshire 42, Bryant 14
Box Score
Matt Vezza threw for 328 yards and five touchdowns as New Hampshire increased its winning streak to four with a 42-14 triumph at Bryant. Caleb Burke made nine receptions for 134 yards and a TD for the Wildcats.
UNH scored touchdowns on its first four drives to open up a commanding 28-7 lead at the half. Vezza hit Casey McKinney (35 yards) and Burke (72 yards) with long scoring passes and also fired TD throws of 5 and 19 yards to tight end Peyton Strickland. Bryant put together a 75-yard scoring drive in the second quarter, with Elijah Elliott finishing it with a 3-yard run. The Wildcats maintained control in the second half, tacking on a 5-yard TD grab by Chase Wilson in the third quarter and a 45-yard scoring burst by Denzel Gibson in the fourth. Elliott, who rushed for 60 yards, added a 1-yard TD run for the Bulldogs. Justice Akinmoladun had five tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble for a UNH defense that held Bryant to 234 yards. Bulldogs’ quarterback Ridge Docekal threw for 136 yards and Lonnie Rice made eight stops.
William & Mary 55, Hampton 14
Box Score
Tyler Hughes passed for 207 yards and five touchdowns as William & Mary overcame an early 14-point deficit and picked up a 55-14 win at Hampton. Rashad Raymond added 114 yards and a TD on the ground for the Tribe.
Hampton got off to a fast start as Gracen Goldsmith scored on a 3-yard run to cap a 75-yard opening drive. Following a Will Hicks interception, Goldsmith reached the end zone again from 1-yard away to put the Pirates up 14-0. However, W&M answered back quickly, tying the game on a 50-yard gallop from Raymond and a blocked punt by Stephon Hicks that he returned two yards to knot the game at 14-14. Hughes took over from there, throwing TD passes to Deven Thompson (54 yards), Tariq Sims (20 yards) and Trey McDonald (7 yards) to go ahead 38-14 at the half. Hughes stayed hot in the third quarter with TD tosses to Haven Mullins (3 yards) and Thompson (19 yards). Luke Banbury made eight tackles for a W&M defense that held the Pirates to 253 yards. Goldsmith finished with 86 rushing yards for the Pirates and Michael Matthews-Canty made eight tackles.
Towson 36, UAlbany 19
Box Score
Towson scored 24 unanswered points in the first half and went on to top UAlbany, 36-19, for its fifth road win. Andrew Indorf passed for 196 yards and a touchdown for the Tigers.
UAlbany took a 6-0 lead on the game’s opening play as Jack Shields connected on a 50-yard TD pass to Lasalle Rose, Jr. Towson quickly responded, putting together a pair of long scoring drives capped by TD runs from Kemarrion Battles (12 yards) and Kasheim Phillips (2 yards) to go up 14-6 in the first quarter. The Tigers continued the momentum in the second quarter, getting a 31-yard Caden Williams field goal and a 16-yard TD grab from John Dunmore to make it 24-6. The Great Danes battled back, getting a 3-yard TD run from Aidan Semo just before halftime, and a 6-yard scoring run from Jojo Uga to pull within 26-19 entering the fourth quarter. Towson was able to pull away in the final period as Caden Williams booted a 47-yard field goal and reserve quarterback Winston Watkins powered into the end zone from six yards out with 1:56 on the clock. Ja’Mez Drummer had four tackles, 2.0 sacks and an interception for the Tigers’ defense that held UA to 249 yards. For UA, Shields passed for 154 yards and Chris Gales had 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble defensively.
Elon 31, Campbell 24
Box Score
Landen Clark had a game-tying 19-yard TD run with 2:50 remaining and followed with a game-winning 96-yard TD pass to Isaiah Fuhrmann with 1:07 to go as Elon rallied past Campbell, 31-24. Clark finished with 287 yards of offense and 4 TD’s.
Elon built a 17-3 halftime advantage as Clark threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Dylan Magazu and ran in from 21 yards out. Campbell responded with 21 unanswered points, starting with a 90-yard punt return for a TD by Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox. In the fourth quarter, a 3-yard TD run by Naieem Kearney tied the contest and a 2-yard run by Kamden Sixkiller put Campbell up 24-17 with 8:06 left. That set the stage for Clark’s heroics as his 19-yard scramble evened the game. After Elon’s Asher Cunningham forced a fumble on the EU 5-yard line, Clark found Fuhrmann down the sideline for the winning score. Fuhrmann finished with 116 receiving yards and Cunningham added 11 tackles. For Campbell, Sixkiller threw for 268 yards with Randall King making nine receptions for 103 yards. KJ Scott had five tackles and 1.5 sacks.