LORETTO, Pa. - A total team effort propelled the Monmouth University Hawks (3-5, 3-2 NEC) to a 47-17 win on the road over St. Francis (Pa.) (1-6, 1-3 NEC) on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Field.
Monmouth won their third game of the season with a complete team effort, as quarterback Brett Burke (Wall, N.J./Wall) threw for a career-best three touchdowns, wideout Adam San Miguel (North Bergen, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) had two scores and his first 100 yard receiving game of the season and David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) kept his consecutive games with a score streak alive. The Hawk defenders allowed 17 points in the game while forcing a trio of St. Francis turnovers.
Bobby Giles (Burlington, N.J./Burlington) took the first play from scrimmage 17 yards around the left side into Red Flash territory. The Hawks went to the air against the league's worst ranked-rushing defense forced a Daniels punt, that was downed on the SFPA seven yard line. The Red Flash went to work, earning first downs on passes along with a draw play on third down to move the ball to midfield. A Chris Reed (Stewartstown, Pa./York Catholic) sack on second down was followed up by a tipped George Little pass on third down and the Red Flash were forced to punt for the first time all game.
Monmouth moved the ball down to the Red Flash 14 on a 20 yard Sinisi run, with the sophomore taking the ball down to the one. On play later Sinisi earned his 17th touchdown of the season, a one yard run which extended his consecutive scoring streak to 20 games. A botched extra point attempt gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead with 6:34 to play in the first frame. On third and long Monmouth senior Derek Bischoff (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) intercepted Little's pass and returned the ball 28 yards to the Red Flash five yard line. It was Bischoff's second interception of the year. On second and three, Sinisi lined as the quarterback in the shotgun formation where he passed the ball over the middle to tight end John Nalbone (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) for a touchdown, to put MU up 13-0 with 4:46 to play in the opening quarter. The touchdown completion was the first attempted pass of Sinisi's career.
A Calvin Williams run off the right side gave SFPA a first down at the Monmouth 40, but the Hawk defenders forced a fourth and five at the Hawks 35. Little hit Antione Rivera over the middle for a 15 yard gain, setting up first and 10 on the MU 20. One play later Little threw and ill-advised pass that was picked off by Joe Cella (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) and returned 80 yards for a TD but a crackback block drew a flag and brought the ball back to the Red Flash 34 yard line. MU wideout Steve Dowens (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South) caught a pass over the middle to convert a fourth-and-eight, giving Monmouth a fresh set of downs from the SFPA 18 yardline. The Hawk drive eventually stalled but Fred Weingart (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) hit a 34 yard field goal to put MU up 16-0 just 47 seconds into the second quarter.
The Red Flash took over in Monmouth territory after a Omar Winston kickoff return was brought out to the Hawk 48. The Hawk defenders forced a fourth and two but Williams picked up three yards on a dive to move the chains in front of the homecoming crowd. On third and five Little moved out of the pocket and ran down to the MU 15. The Hawks forced another fourth down where Saint Francis elected to send senior place kicker Adam Sciulli on the field for a 31 yard attempt. Scuilli's kick sailed just to the right of the goalpost and the Hawks held on to their 16 point lead.
Facing a third and six, Burke hit San Miguel for a first down pass then hooked up with Nalbone for another first down two plays later moving the ball out to midfield. On third and four Sinisi took off to the right for 39 yards, taking the ball all the way down to the Red Flash five yard line. One play later Marion Easley (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) rumbled in from five yards out for his first career touchdown to put Monmouth up 23-0 with 6:22 left in the half.
Burke and company got the ball back after a Red Flash punt, with just over four minutes to move the ball from their own 25. Two Giles' runs converted a pair of third downs, setting MU up with a first and 10 on their own 48. With 1:55 to play, Burke hit Nalbone over the middle for another Hawk first down, which he followed up with a nine yard pass to Troy Yudin (Stevenson Ranch, Calif./William Hart) to get down to St. Francis' 27. One play later Burke turned the ball over on a bad pitch to Giles, where Red Flash linebacker Vaitolu Tali pounced on the ball. The Hawk defense held once again and MU went into the locker room ahead 23-0.
Monmouth's defense picked up where it left off in the first half, sacking Little on second and third down, forcing a punt. Monmouth moved the ball down to the SFPA 30 yard line but Burke came up a hair short on a quarterback sneak giving The Red Flash the ball back.
On first down Little hit a wide open Winston over the middle of the field bringing the ball out to the 50. On second and long Little hit Winston again, this time with the freshman getting down to the Hawk 23. St. Francis was unable to convert a third and goal from the 14, and Sciulli came on to boot a 27 yard field goal, cutting the Hawk lead to 20. Monmouth was forced to punt for the second consecutive drive but Daniels pinned the Red Flash down to their 17 with a booming kick. The MU defense forced a SFPA punt after the Hawks sacked Little for the fourth time on the day.
On first down Burke hit San Miguel for a 47 yard touchdown completion, the fifth-year senior's third of the year. The score put the Hawks up 30-3. Red Flash answered right back, with Little hitting Rivera on a 62 yard TD pass to make the score 30-10 with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter. The start of the fourth quarter saw Monmouth move the ball almost to midfield before Burke hit San Miguel on the right side for a 58 yard touchdown pass. Red Flash defensive back Joshua Bentley got a hand on the ball but San Miguel was able to haul in the pass for his second score to give Monmouth a 37-10 lead with 13 minutes to play in the game.
St. Francis was able to drive down to the MU 19, but on fourth down cornerback Ayo Falae (Newark, N.J./Barringer) caused Little to throw a bad pass that was intercepted by MU defensive end Kevin Walsh (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape), who took the ball down to the SFPA 45 yard line. After a pair of runs and a Yudin completion, Monmouth earned a first down on the Red Flash 23. One play later Burke threw his third touchdown pass of the game, hitting Dowens in the corner of the endzone to put Monmouth up 44-10 with 9:04 to play. Little hit Rivera for a 19 yard touchdown with just over five minutes to play, cutting the Hawk lead to 44-17. Monmouth put in second string quarterback Ryan Folsom (Somerdale, N.J./Triton Regional), who got the Hawks to the 15 yard line where Weingart came in to kick his second field goal of the day.
Burke finished 17-for-30 with 224 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes. Sinisi had a 24 carries for 187 yards, his fifth 100-yard game of the season. The sophomore now ranks second in the MU record books for 100 yard games with seven. The 187 yards gained against the Red Flash now gives Sinisi an even 1,000 on the season, making him the second Hawk ever to total 1,000 rushing yards in a year (Chris Reed). San Miguel finished with seven catches for 134 yards and a pair of scores. San Miguel passed former Hawk Will Holder for second on MU's all-time career receiving list. Monmouth finished with 463 yards of total offense on the day.
MU junior Larry Hudson (Somers Point, N.J./Mainland Regional) led the Hawks with a career-high seven tackles, three of them solo. Jon Stolarz (Andover, N.J./Hopatcong) had six tackles in his first game back from injury while Reed finished with six takedowns of his own. Monmouth's defense sacked Little a total of four times on the day.
Williams finished with 87 yards on 24 rushes, while Little completed 12-of-33 passes for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Rivera had five grabs for 106 yards on the day.
The Hawks, now 3-5 overall and 3-2 in conference play, will face NEC leaders Albany on Saturday at home. The Hawks and Great Danes will kickoff at 1 p.m. at Kessler Field.
