With the 15th season of Monmouth football kicking off this August, www.GoMUHawks.com will revisit the 15 greatest football victories of the past 14 years, with one game released each week until the Hawks open the season against Maine on Sept. 1, 2007.
MU FOOTBALL 8th GREATEST VICTORY: OCT. 27, 2001
EDWARDS MAKE GAME-SAVING TACKLE AS HAWKS TOP TOWSON 24-17
Hawks earn historic first win over a Patriot League team
TOWSON, Md. ? The Monmouth University football team got off to the best start in school history at the time with a 24-17 win over Towson at Minnegan Stadium on October 27, 2001. The win was the Hawks first ever triumph over a Patriot League conference school and marked just the second time a Northeast Conference school ever defeated a team from the Patriot League.
Monmouth senior defensive back Aaron Edwards made the two biggest plays of the day for the Hawks as he scored the first touchdown of the game on a 92-yard interception return for a score in the second quarter and made a game-saving tackle with four seconds left to seal the win. Edwards logged nine tackles, his biggest of the day came as Towson lined up at the MU nine-yard line and Tiger quarterback Val Troiani hit Noah Read with a pass at the three with four seconds left, and Edwards was the lone man between him and the end zone. He hogtied Read and brought him down at the one and a half yard line to preserve the win.
“Statistically, this was no one of our best games but we forced four turnovers, two that went for touchdowns,” said Head Coach Kevin Callahan. “We also made big plays when they were needed.”
Amidst blustering weather conditions, the game was scoreless after one quarter of play. Monmouth jumped on top of the Tigers in the second quarter as Edwards intercepted a Troiani pass and raced 92 yards for a touchdown to give the Blue and White a 7-0 lead with 10:46 left in the first half.
The Hawks scored a defensive touchdown on their second consecutive possession as freshman Dan Blazosky picked up a Jay Amer fumble after MU defensive tackle Sean Kerr stripped the ball and scampered 11 yards to the end zone to boost the Monmouth lead to 14-0 46 seconds after Edwards score.
Ryan Peterson drilled a 39-yard field goal with five and a half minutes left in the first half to put MU up 17-0, but the Tigers got on the board as Davon Telp intercepted a pass and raced 95 yards to cut the Monmouth lead to 17-7, which it remained at halftime.
Towson got a field goal of the their own as Ed Kulic hit a 39-yarder to cut the Hawks' lead to a single score at 17-10 with 9:15 left in the third quarter, the only scoring for either team in the period. Monmouth's Matt Merklinger scored the game's first offensive touchdown as he took a handoff from MU quarterback Bill Rankin and raced 37 yards for a score to put the Hawks up 24-10 with 3:44 remaining in the game.
Troiani led the Tigers down the field and found Jason Galloway for a seven-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-17 with 1:22 left in the contest. Towson stopped Monmouth and got the ball back, going 60 yards in six plays before Edwards brought down Read to end the game inside the Monmouth five-yard line.
In the game, Towson outgained Monmouth 384-119, but the Hawks forced four Tiger turnovers. The Hawks failed to complete a pass in the game, going 0-10 throwing the ball. Merklinger supplied the offensive punch, rushing 29 times for 116 yards. Defensively, Mike DiBella logged 11 tackles, including two for loss. Blazosky had three tackles and two fumble recoveries, and Michael Pitts forced and recovered a fumble.
For their efforts, Edwards and Blazosky were named NEC Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. Monmouth improved to 6-1 with the win.
