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 3rd GREATEST VICTORY: Oct. 2, 1993
HAWKS DEFEAT ST. PETER'S 44-42 FOR FIRST WIN IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Monmouth rallies in second half to win on last minute field goal
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University football team came back from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to topple Saint Peter's 44-42 for the first win in program history on October 2, 1993 at Kessler Field.
The win marked the first victory in program history for the Hawks, and was considered an upset at the time since Saint Peter's was an established football program.
Monmouth's rally was capped by kicker Randy Brewster's 23-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in the game to lift MU to the win. Quarterback Doug Rossback led the Monmouth attack, which totaled a season-high 616 yards, with a school-record 418 passing yards, a school-record five touchdown passes, a rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion reception. The Peacocks and Hawks combined for an incredible 945 yards and 86 points in the game.
“This was one of the more exciting games in our program's history,” said head coach Kevin Callahan. “Coming from behind to win this game was an impressive feat for a team comprised mostly of freshman.”
“We were mostly a bunch of freshman, so it was really exciting to have such a back-and-forth game,” recalled former Hawk defensive end Tim Canavan. “They had a big o-line, including two huge offensive tackles, it was a little intimidating but we came to play and knew we could win.
Saint Peter's took an early first quarter lead after Donny Rosso rumbled five yards for the game's first score, but the extra point was missed, giving the Peacocks a 6-0 lead at the 8:46 mark. Two minutes later, the visitor's got on the board again, as quarterback Anthony Guma found wideout Ronnie James for a 25-yard touchdown strike, and the duo hooked up again on the two-point conversion, to give Saint Peter's a 14-0 lead.
The Hawks then scored 18 unanswered points to go into halftime up 18-14. The first score came when Rossback hooked up with wide receiver Bill Kelliher on a 53-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left in the first quarter. Rossback was at it again on the next drive when we connected with Ron Polakowski on an eight-yard score to cut the lead to 14-12. The first half ended with Rossback hitting Will Holder on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left in the first half to give MU an 18-14 advantage.
Saint Peter's came out of the halftime locker room and scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to go out in front 35-18. Guma threw a touchdown, then ran for a score and Rosso scampered in from 10 yards out to give the Peacocks a 17-point lead entering the final quarter.
We were up at halftime then they came out and scored three straight touchdowns,” said Canavan. “Defensively we grouped together and decided that were weren't going to give up. The offense came out and put us in a position to win the game with the last minute field goal.”
The Hawks mounted their comeback in the fourth quarter, and it began with Rossback hitting Rick Finer for a 48-yard touchdown pass and with the extra point, MU trailed 35-25 with 12:18 left in the game. Four minutes later, Rossback ran for a six-yard score and running back Jim Varick converted a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 35-33. After holding the Peacocks, Rossback threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game when we hit Brian Lockley for a five-yard score and Varick completed a halfback option pass to Rossback for the two-point conversion to give MU a 41-35 lead with 5:54 left in the game.
Saint Peter's then came back to take a one-point lead when Guma and James hooked up again and they took a 42-41 lead with three minutes left in the game before Brewster supplied Monmouth's heroics.
Rossback went 28-for-53 in the game passing for 418 yards and five touchdowns in the game. Holder caught eight passes for 136 yards and Marcus Winters caught eight passes for 90 yards. Ralph O'Neil led the ground game with 75 yards on 16 carries.
