WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University football team fell to the University of Maine 21-17 on a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon at Kessler Field. The Hawks fall to 0-2 on the season while the Black Bears improve to 1-1.
On a fourth-and-21 from the Monmouth 23-yard line with 2:49 left in the fourth quarter, Maine quarterback Adam Farkes lofted a pass towards the end zone that was deflected by a MU player and caught by tight end Derek Buttles for what proved to be the deciding score, putting Maine up 21-17. The Hawks were unable to mount an offensive effort on the ensuing possession and Maine ran out the clock for the win.
“It was unfortunate that we couldn't finish the game off, we were right where we needed to be and we couldn't close it out,” said head coach Kevin Callahan.
After the teams traded punts to begin the affair, the Hawks scored the game's first points when Fred Weingart (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) connected on a 27-yard field goal to cap off a 13-play, 66-yard drive that took 6:04 off the clock, giving MU a 3-0 lead. After nearly a full quarter of scoreless play, the Hawks added to their lead when David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) broke loose for a 33-yard touchdown run down the right sideline to finish off a 10-play, 66-yard drive and give Monmouth a 10-0 lead with 1:04 to go before halftime.
Maine got their offense going on the ensuing possession when Farkes led the Black Bears down the field in a two-minute drill, culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass to Landis Williams to cut the MU lead to 10-7 at the half.
The Black Bears scored first after intermission when Farkes fired his second touchdown pass of the game, this one a 27-yarder to Jeremy Kelley in the right corner of the end zone to put the guests up 14-10 with 5:37 left in the third quarter. The Hawks answered with a touchdown of their own, this one a Sinisi one-yarder to cap off a 12-play, 75-yard march that took 6:25 off the clock, giving MU a 17-14 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.
The team's traded possessions after MU took the lead, which set up Maine's final touchdown. The Black Bears outgained the Hawks 332-277 in total yardage, including 207-95 advantage through the air. Farkes ended up the day going 17-of-27 for 207 yards and three scores for Maine. Fluellen carried the ball 26 times for 102 yards, while Williams had six catches for 61 yards and Buttles made two grabs for 55 yards.
Sinisi ran 29 times for a season-high 182 yards and two scores to go along with two catches for 30 yards. On second and 10 in the fourth quarter Sinisi took a handoff for six yards to move ahead of Chris Reed for the most rushing yards in school history with 2,258. Sinisi, who is technically a redshirt junior, has rushed for three straight 100-yard games dating back to the season finale in 2007. Brett Burke (Wall, N.J./Wall) completed 10-of-26 passes for 95 yards while John Nalbone (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) caught three passes for 30 yards. Nick Romeo (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) had three catches for 26 yards and also contributed 35 yards on punt returns.
Kevin Walsh (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) led the Monmouth University defense with nine tackles, while Jose Gumbs (Queens, N.Y./Hebron Academy) had eight solo stops, including one for loss. Jon Stolarz (Andover, N.J./Hopatcong) contributed six tackles for Monmouth, who had 10 players contribute at least one-half tackle for loss in the game.
Monmouth returns to action next week when they host Coastal Carolina at 1:00 p.m. at Kessler Field.
