WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University football team defeated Northeast Conference rival Central Connecticut State 30-20 on Homecoming at Kessler Field on Saturday afternoon. In the game, Monmouth running back David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) scored four rushing touchdowns and tied former Wagner running back Rick Sarille for the NEC all-time scoring record with 300 career points. The Hawks, winner of five straight, are now 5-3 and 4-0 in NEC play, while CCSU falls to 5-3 and 2-2 in the league.
“This was a very good win for us today,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “This time of year it gets tougher and tougher each week to win, and we were looking at four one-game seasons the rest of the way coming in to today's game.”
Sinisi finished with 194 rushing yards on 29 carries to go along with his four scores. Bobby Giles (Burlington, N.J./Burlington) added 76 rushing yards on eight carries while quarterback Brett Burke (Wall, N.J./Wall) was 8-of-17 throwing the football for 93 yards on a very windy afternoon.
The Blue Devils took the game's initial lead when running back James Mallory scored on a four-yard touchdown, but Joe Izzo missed the extra point, to make the score 6-0 CCSU with 6:57 remaining in the first quarter. Central's initial drive went 13 plays and 73 yards, taking 6:10 off the clock. The Hawks, and more specifically Sinisi, responded with four unanswered scoring drives in a row, all capped off by Sinisi rushing touchdowns. His first score of the afternoon game MU a 7-6 lead with 3:32 left in the first quarter. The senior's second score, which came from 17 yards out, gave the Hawks a 14-6 lead with less than a minute left in the opening quarter.
The second quarter began the same way the first one ended with the Cedar Grove, N.J. native scoring from three yards out to push the lead to 21-6, which was the score at halftime. The Hawks then scored the second half's first touchdown when Sinisi rumbled in from 30 yards out.
Mallory scored his second touchdown of the afternoon to cut the lead to 27-13 with 3:02 left in the third quarter, but MU responded with a Eric McCutcheon (Edison, N.J./J.P. Stevens) 24-yard field goal, the sophomore's first of his career. The scoring concluded when Mallory scored his third and final touchdown to make the final 30-20 score with 7:01 left in the fourth quarter.
The Hawks outgained CCSU 380-316, including 287-254 on the ground. John Nalbone (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) hauled in three passes for 58 yards while Chris Kiley (Point Pleasant, N.J./Pt. Boro) caught three passes for 13 yards.
Mallory ended the game with 134 rushign yards while quarterback Aubrey Norris added 49 yards on the ground. Josh Vargas added 24 yards on three carries, while quarterback Hunter Wanket added 21 yards. Norris went 6-of-18 for 61 yards passing to lead the Central passing game. Jermaine Roberts caught four passes for 31 yards to lead CCSU.
Joe Valenti (Bayonne, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) paced the MU defense with seven tackles, including a half a tackle for loss. Joe Arneth (Jackson, N.J./Jackson) added six tackles, including five solo stops while Chris Mastrangelo (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) contributed six stops. David Kennedy (Fort Lee, N.J./Paterson Catholic) added a sack and four tackles and Kenny Amsel (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) added two tackles, his team-leading third interception of the season and two pass break-ups.
“Overall, this was a great effort on both sides of the ball,” added Callahan. “Each side of the ball made some big plays to help the other side out and this was a complete team effort.”
Monmouth returns to action next Saturday when they travel to take on fellow NEC unbeaten Albany at 1:00 p.m. at University Field.
