CAA Football Recap - Sept. 20
Rob Washburn
Monmouth 51, Villanova 33
Box Score
Monmouth’s Derek Robertson passed for 397 yards and four touchdowns and Rodney Nelson added 186 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground as the Hawks defeated Villanova, 51-33, in a Top 25 matchup. Monmouth finished the game with 637 yards of offense.
Robertson threw long scoring passes to Josh Derry (75 yards) and Makhi Green (72 yards) in the first quarter and added a 40-yarder to Tra Neal early in the second to make it 24-7. Villanova battled back behind running back David Avit, who registered a 2-yard TD run late in the second quarter and a 19-yard TD run on the opening drive of third period to cut the deficit to 31-21. However, the Hawks answered with a 10-yard scoring run by Nelson and a 16-yard TD grab by Derry on back-to-back possessions in the third period to regain control. Derry finished with eight catches for 177 yards and 2 TD’s. For VU, Avit rushed for 135 yards and 3 TD’s. Jaeden Jones made a team-high nine tackles and forced a fumble for the Hawks’ defense.
Campbell 50, Bryant 48 (2ot)
Box Score
Campbell quarterback Kamden Sixkiller passed for 334 yards and five touchdowns, including a 7-yarder to Dawson Adams-Grenier in the second overtime, and the Camels’ defense broke up a 2-point conversion pass to secure a wild 50-48 win over Bryant.
Campbell went up 21-7 in the second quarter on a 59-yard end around by Barry Tate and a 9-yard Randall King TD grab, but Bryant closed within 21-14 at the half following a 102-yard kickoff return by Keylijah Williams. The Bulldogs took a 28-21 lead on a 49-yard Dylan Kedzior TD run and a 15-yard pick six by Liam Lindo, but King answered with scoring grabs of 77 and 11 yards to put Campbell up 35-28 with 1:15 left in regulation. Bryant battled back and forced overtime when Brennan Myer connected with Aldrich Doe on a 35-yard TD catch with six seconds on the clock. In the first overtime, Myer ran in from 18 yards out and King made his fourth TD catch of the night on a 3-yard halfback pass from Mike Chandler. King had eight catches for 142 yards and 4 TD’s for Campbell, while Myer passed for 215 yards for Bryant.
Rhode Island 28, LIU 7
Box Score
Quarterback Devin Farrell threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground as Rhode Island remained unbeaten with a 28-7 triumph over LIU. It was the Rams’ 11
th straight win at Meade Stadium.
Farrell fired TD passes to Aboraa Kwarteng (5 yards) and Marquis Buchanan (35 yards) to go up 14-0 early in the second quarter. Ahead by seven early in third quarter, Buchanan returned a punt to the LIU 4 and Farrell cashed it in from 2 yards out to make it 21-7. The Rams put the game away with a 16-play, 86-yard drive in the fourth quarter capped by a 1-yard Antwain Littleton scoring run. Littleton finished with 119 yards on the ground and Buchanan had seven catches for 103 yards. URI’s defense, which tallied three sacks and got two interceptions from Justin Carcel, had Rohan Davy and Mitchell Garner make seven stops apiece.
William & Mary 34, Charleston Southern 7
Box Score
William & Mary broke open a tie game with 27 straight points over the final 30 minutes and rolled past Charleston Southern, 34-7. Tribe quarterback Tyler Hughes threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns, with two going to tight end Jackson Blee.
After taking a 7-0 advantage on a 9-yard Alfred Honesty run, W&M took a 14-7 lead into the half when Rashad Raymond scored from 2 yards out on the final play of the second quarter. It was all Tribe in the second half as Hughes tossed TD passes of 7 and 63 yards to Blee in the third quarter and closed out the night with a 15-yarder to Joseph Johnson. Blee finished with three catches for 77 yards. Luke Banbury made 12 stops for a W&M defense that held CSU to 249 yards.
UAlbany 13, Cornell 10
Box Score
Jojo Uga broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run with 6:09 to play and UAlbany’s defense made it stand up as the Great Danes edged Cornell, 13-10, for their first win.
UAlbany got field goals of 32 and 37 yards from James Bozek to go up 6-0 at the half. Cornell pulled within three late in the third quarter before Uga’s big run. The Big Red rallied within 13-10 on a TD with 3:38 to go, but Jayden Estes picked off a pass with 1:23 remaining to seal the victory. Uga ran for 126 yards on 18 carries. Cam Stodghill had 13 tackles and Ron Holmes made 12 for a UA defense that allowed just 260 yards.
Youngstown State 31, Towson 28
Box Score
Youngstown State rallied from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit and kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play of the game to stun Towson, 31-28.
After falling behind 7-0, Towson took a 14-7 halftime edge following a 2-yard TD run from Al Wooten II and a 33-yard scoring pass from receiver John Dunmore to Kemarrion Battles in the second quarter. Dunmore added a 19-yard TD reception in the third quarter and the Tigers went up 28-17 with 12:09 to go after Wooten scored from a yard out after a 54-yard Jaceon Doss catch. However, the Penguins scored a touchdown and added a 2-point conversion with 6:21 left and then kicked a pair of field goals in the final 1:37. Andrew Indorf passed for 238 yards for Towson with Doss making three grabs for 120 yards. Ja’Mez Drummer had seven tackles and 1.5 TFL’s.
Dartmouth 27, New Hampshire 20
Box Score
UNH quarterback Matt Vezza accounted for 306 yards of offense and two touchdowns, but a Dartmouth score with 2:53 remaining lifted the Big Green over the Wildcats, 27-20, in the Granite Bowl.
A first-quarter interception by UNH’s Matthew Sopp set up a 1-yard TD run by Vezza and a 32-yard Nick Reed field goal put the Wildcats up 10-0. The contest remained tight the rest of the way, with UNH moving on top, 20-19, when Vezza connected on a 38-yard strike to Chase Wilson with 7:43 to play. After Dartmouth retook the lead, UNH drove to the Dartmouth 23 before its drive ended. Wilson finished with six catches for 120 yards, while Duncan Moreland led the defense with eight tackles.
Howard 34, Hampton 7
Box Score
Howard limited Hampton to 219 total yards and kept the Pirates scoreless until the game’s final seven minutes as the Bison claimed a 34-7 victory in the Battle of the Real HU.
Hampton fell behind 20-0 at the half and surrendered two more TD’s in the third period. The Pirates threw an interception and turned the ball over in the red zone. Reserve quarterback Earl Woods III got Hampton on the board when he broke loose for a 53-yard TD run with 6:57 remaining. Michael Matthews-Canty made11 stops for the Hampton defense.
North Carolina Central 62, North Carolina A&T 20
Box Score
North Carolina A&T fell behind by 24 in the first half and could never recover, losing 62-20 to North Carolina Central in the Aggie-Eagle Classic.
The Eagles got two rushing TD’s and took advantage of a pair of safeties to lead 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. A&T battled back in the second quarter as Kevin White threw a 9-yard TD pass to Jamison Warren and then reached the end zone on a 2-yard run to make it 31-14 at the half. However, the Eagles, who finished with 765 total yards, put the game away by tallying 21 unanswered points in the third quarter. White, seeing his first action of the year, passed for 232 yards. Jonanthan Kimbrough-Campbell made 15 tackles and forced a fumble for A&T and Tim Alderman returned a fumble 21 yards for a TD.
Georgia Southern 45, Maine 17
Box Score
Maine trailed FBS member Georgia Southern by just three at the half, but dropped a 45-17 decision to the Eagles.
The Black Bears reached the end zone on their opening drive as quarterback Carter Peevy scored on a 27-yard run. Georgia Southern responded with 17 straight points, but a 76-yard pick six by Devin Vaught brought Maine within 17-14 at the break. A 33-yard Samuel Tremblay field goal allowed Maine to cut the GSU lead to 24-17 with 5:59 to go in the third quarter, but the Eagles added three touchdowns down the stretch. Peevy threw for 88 yards and ran for 30. Christian Thomas led the defense with 10 stops.
Lindenwood 30, Stony Brook 27
Box Score
Stony Brook nearly erased a 24-halftime deficit but suffered a 30-27 setback at Lindenwood.
The Seawolves were behind 27-3 at halftime, but Jayce Freeman caught a 65-yard TD pass from Chris Zellous and Roland Dempster found the end zone from 5 yards out in the third quarter to pull within 27-19. After Lindenwood tacked on a field goal, Freeman had a 10-yard TD grab to trim the margin to three with 4:23 on the clock. However, Lindenwood was able to run out the clock on the ensuing drive. Zellous passed for 317 yards and 2 TD’s, with Freeman making nine receptions for 178 yards. Anthony Ferrelli recorded 14 tackles.
ETSU 26, Elon 16
Box Score
Landen Clark threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns and added a team-high 47 yards rushing, but Elon fell 26-16 at ETSU.
A DJ James-Hamilton interception set up a 42-yard Luke Barnes field goal to give Elon an early 3-0 lead. Clark hit tight end Dylan Magazu with a 10-yard TD pass, tying the contest at 10-10 late in the second quarter. The Buccaneers went up 26-10 midway through the fourth quarter, but Clark capped a quick 70-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring toss to Isaiah Fuhurmann with 6:06 to play to cut the gap to 10. However, ETSU was able to run out the clock from there. James-Hamilton made a team-high 13 tackles.