WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University football team fell to Robert Morris 20-17 in their Northeast Conference opener at Kessler Field in an up and down, back and forth contest in front of 2,800+ onlookers. RMU's Michael Walser drilled a 36-yard field goal with 47 seconds left in the game to give the Colonials the 20-17 win as Monmouth was unable to cross midfield on their final possession.
Robert Morris improves to 1-1 and 1-0 in NEC play while the Hawks fall to 0-2 and 0-1 in the league. MU hasn't started the year 0-2 since 2002 when they began the campaign 0-4.
“We started fast out of the gate with a two touchdown lead, but let them come back with their passing game,” said head coach Kevin Callahan. “Any time you lose it's tough, but a team hasn't won the NEC title by going undefeated in a long time.”
The game was one of runs, in which Monmouth opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter before RMU scored 17 unanswered points.
David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) capped off Monmouth's first home drive of the year on a one-yard scoring run to extend the nation's longest consecutive games-with-a-touchdown streak to 14. The drive encompassed 12 plays and chewed up 70 yards in just over five minutes.
On the next Monmouth drive, after the Hawks held RMU on their ensuing drive, Sinisi ripped off a 32-yard run, bouncing off tacklers and dragging another to the 34-yard line. He finished what he started and scored his second rushing touchdown of the day to give the Hawks a 14-0 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter. The efficient drive took six plays and went 63 yards in just under three minutes.
On Monmouth's next drive, quarterback Brett Burke (Wall, N.J./Wall) scrambled around and bought some time to find Sinisi on a 42-yard bail out pass as he got behind the Colonial defense, but Monmouth's drive stalled.
Punter Jack Daniels (Franklin Lakes, N.J. /Don Bosco Prep) boomed a 44-yard punt which was downed at the four yard line, pinning RMU deep with 8:14 left in the first half. Robert Morris got the yardage back on a 50-yard playaction pass from quarterback Erik Cwalinksi to Mario Hines, and on the following play Julian Ellison hauled in a 43-yard touchdown to cut the MU lead to 14-7 with 6:48 left in the first half. The three-play, 96-yard drive took less than a minute and a half.
Sinisi enjoyed a game's worth of stats in the first half, running 13 times for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Burke completed 9-of-18 passes for 96 yards, with five those passes going to Adam San Miguel (North Bergen, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) for 26 yards. In the first half, San Miguel became MU's all-time leader in pass receptions, surpassing former Hawk and current Dallas Cowboy Miles Austin with his 151st career catch.
MU ran for 149 first half yards as Bobby Giles (Burlington, N.J./Burlington) contributed with five carries for 24 yards. Sinisi also caught three passes for 57 yards.
The Colonials took the second half kickoff and moved the ball deep into MU territory before being forced to burn two timeouts during the drive. The big play of the drive was when Cwalinksi handed off and the back fumbled, but the quarterback scooped up the loose ball and ran it down to the 20-yard line. Robert Morris capitalized when running back Jeff Link ran around right end from three yards out to tie the game at 14-14 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
After Monmouth's drive stalled, RMU was back on the offensive as Cwalinkski converted a third and 14 by hitting receiver Alvin Hill down to the 10-yard line at the four and a half minute mark of the third quarter. Walser completed the RMU drive by drilling a 23-yard field goal attempt to give the visitors a 17-14 lead with 3:27 left.
Cwalinski dropped back to pass on a third and four early in the fourth quarter but his pass was picked off by Derek Bischoff (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) at the MU 30-yard line. The pick was Bishchoff's first since he effectively ended the Colgate win a year ago with an interception.
Monmouth went up top right away as Burke hit freshman Troy Yudin (Stevenson, Calif./William Hart) for 27 yards down the left sideline for a first down. The Hawks drive stalled, but Fred Weingart (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) connected on a 42-yard field goal to knot the game at 17-17 with ten minutes left. Weingart's field goal ended RMU's 17-point unanswered scoring streak.
On the ensuing RMU drive, middle linebacker Tom Larkin (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) sacked Cwalinski at midfield to halt the drive. Monmouth went backwards on their offensive drive as a penalty and sack had MU punter Daniels kicking out of his end zone. Hines returned it to the MU 33-yard line and the Colonials
Sinisi ended up with 120 yards on 18 carries and added 72 yards on six catches for a career-high 192 total yards. Burke completed 16-of-30 passes for 158 yards and also ran 13 times for 36 yards. San Miguel caught seven passes for 38 yards and Steve Dowens (Red Bank , N.J./Middletown South) added two catches for 21 yards.
Myles Russ ran 24 times for 86 yards for Robert Morris and Raphael Johnson added 51 yards on eight carries. Cwalinski completed 8-of-15 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, as Hines caught 2 passes for 58 yards and Ellison added 2 grabs for 51 yards.
T.J. Cerezo (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley) had nine tackles, including a sack, and Matt Sterner (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) added eight stops. In all, eight different Hawks had at least four tackles on defense, and four different Colonials tied for the team lead with six tackles.
Monmouth has a bye next week and returns to action on Saturday, September 22 at 6:00 p.m. when they travel to Long Island to take on Stony Brook.
