WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University football team dropped a 26-7 decision to Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Kessler Field. The Hawks move to 0?3 on the season with the loss, while the Chanticleers from the Big South Conference are now 1-2.
Coastal signal caller Zach MacDowall led the Chants on their opening drive, with the key play being a 34-yard completion on a roll out to wide receiver Trent Usher deep into MU territory. The Hawks defense stiffened and CCU kicker Justin Durham converted a 28-yard field goal to give the visitors the initial 3-0 lead with 8:05 left in the first quarter. The kick capped a 9-play, 72-yard drive that took 2:52 off the clock.
On the ensuing Monmouth possession after the field goal, MU quarterback Brett Burke (Wall, N.J./Wall) attempted a fade pass to Rodney Salomon that was picked off by Marrio Norman, giving the Chants the ball at their own 35-yard line. After a 42-yard pass and catch from MacDowall to receiver Jamar Anderson brought CCU down to the 2-yard line, running back Vince Starr completed the drive by burrowing into the end zone to give the Chants a 10-0 lead with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter. Coastal took their 10-0 lead into the second quarter where on the second play of the quarter, Monmouth's Fred Weingert (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) had his 43-yard field goal blocked by Norman.
The Chants then moved deep into MU territory after a scramble by MacDowall and a completion to Usher, aided by a pair of Monmouth personal fouls. The Hawks defense came up with a turnover as Jose Gumbs (Queens, N.Y./Hebron Academy) recovered a MacDowall fumble deep in MU territory, but the Hawks gave the ball right back when Bobby Giles (Burlington Township), N.J./Burlington) fumbled around his own 20-yard line, setting the Chants up in good field position.
MacDowall then responded by firing an 18-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brandon Whitley to give CCU a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter. After a three-and-out Monmouth possession, the Blue and White defense forced the Chants to punt. On the play, Monmouth's Brian Brikowski broke through the line and blocked Ben Erdman's attempt, but the Hawks were unable to move the ball.
With less than a minute left in the first half, MU defensive end David Kennedy (Fort Lee, N.J./Paterson Catholic) sacked MacDowall to force a third-and-12, and defensive back Ken Amsel (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley) broke up the pass on the next play. Durham then converted a 38-yard field goal to put CCU up 20-0 with 13 seconds remaining in the first half.
On the second half's first possession, Coastal running back Eric O'Neal fumbled and linebacker T.J. Cerezo recovered for Monmouth at the Chants 39-yard line. The Hawks were unable to get anything going on offense as they went for it on a fourth-and-seven, but Burke's pass was incomplete and MU turned the ball over on downs. Coastal answered when Jamie Fordham scored a five-yard touchdown on their ensuing drive, but the extra point was missed, putting the Chants up 26-0 with 7:53 left in third quarter.
On Monmouth's next possession, after a solid Michel Avent (Upper Marlboro, Md. /Eleanor Roosevelt) kick return, MU again turned the ball over when Burke's pass was picked off by safety Keon Cunningham, halting the Monmouth march.
The Hawks got the crowd back on their feet when Amsel picked off a MacDowall pass with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter and returned it to the Chant's 20-yard line. From there, quarterback Andrew Mandeville (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) engineered a short scoring drive that ended when Giles powered his way into the end zone from three yards out to cut the lead to 26-7 with 5:22 left in the game.
After forcing a CCU punt, Mandeville again engineered another deep drive with the big play coming as he hit Chris Kiley (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) on a 30-yard completion down to the one-yard line, but MU was unable to score and the game ended with a 26-7 Coastal win.
The Chants outgained MU 416-267 in the game, including outgaining the Hawks 233-125 in passing yards. MacDowall went 17-for-26 passing for 233 yards and one touchdown and added 39 rushing yards. Usher caught five passes for 80 yards while Whitley hauled in four passes for 39 yards and a score. Eric O'Neal led the ground attach for CCU, which churned out 183 rushing yards, with 13 carries for 53 yards. Arthur Sitton carried 10 times for 51 yards and Fordham ran it six times for 39 yards for the Chants.
Burke went 14-for-26 passing for 84 yards and a pair of interceptions and added 10 rushing yards. Mandeville went 4-for-5 passing for 41 yards and ran four times for 27 yards. David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) ran 21 times for 79 yards while Giles ran seven times for 21 yards and a score. Nick Romeo (Wayne, N.J. / Wayne Hills) hauled in a career-high four catches for a career-best 34 yards. John Nalbone (Lawrence, N.J./Lawrenceville) caught three passes, as did Troy Yudin (Stevenson Ranch, Calif. /William Hart), while Kiley caught a pair of passes for 39 yards.
MU was led defensively by Gumbs, who mad six tackles, including one for loss, and added a fumble recovery and a pass break-up. A trio of Hawks, Amsel, Ayo Falae (Newark, N.J./Barringer) and Shaquan Virgil (Florence, N.J./Florence), each had 5.5 tackles, with Amsel adding a pick and Virgil contributing a forced fumble.
D.J. Rice led the CCU defense with eight tackles, including one for loss. Dominique Davenport had seven tackles and a pass break-up for the Chanticleers.
This now marks the fifth time in school history that the Hawks have begun the year 0-3. It is also the second time that the Hawks have lost back-to-back games at Kessler Field in 15 years, when MU fell to Dayton and Towson during the first two weeks of the 1998 season.
Monmouth returns to action next Saturday, September 20 when they travel to Bryant for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
