FAIRFIELD, Conn.- The Monmouth offense compiled a season-high 513 yards as redshirt freshman Kyle Frazier (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) passed for a career-high 322 yards and four touchdowns as Monmouth cruised past Sacred Heart 42-20.
Frazier became the first Monmouth signal caller to throw for over 300 yards since Brian Boland threw for 348 in a 2005 loss at Lehigh. The Hawks are now 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in Northeast Conference play, Sacred Heart fell to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in the NEC.
Fifth year senior Ron Lauch (Wall, N.J./Wall), who had a career-high three-catches for 114 yards became the first Hawk to earn 100 yards receiving since Adam San Miguel had a 134 yards against Saint Francis in 2007. David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) ran for 135 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns while catching another for a 50 yard score.
Leading 21-6 coming out of halftime, Monmouth's defense forced a three and out and the offense took just under four minutes to score their fourth TD of the game. The drive started with a heavy dose of Sinisi, with freshman Matt Plautz (Harmony, Pa./Seneca) and Mike D'Urso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) picking up third downs through the air. Frazier threw his third touchdown of the game, a beautifully placed pass over the shoulder of tight end Mike Roeder (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) for a 23 yard scoring strike.
On Monmouth's next possession, Sinisi took a direct snap and went untouched 48 yards for his third touchdown of the game, pushing the Blue & White's lead to 35-6 with 8:39 to play in the third quarter.
The Hawks offensive prowess continued, as MU scored their sixth touchdown on a seven yard Ryan Folsom (Somerdale, N.J./Triton Regional) reception, the first TD catch of his career.
Sacred Heart scored their first touchdown of the game at the 9:42 mark, with Dale Fink hitting Gary Coles on the quarterback's 49th pass attempt of the day. With Monmouth's defensive backups in, Fink connected with Steve Tedesco for a 25 yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the game.
Fink moved the Pioneers down the field quickly on SHU's first possession, completing three straight first down passes to set up a first down on the MU 14 yardline. The Hawk defense held, forcing three consecutive incompletes but Sacred Heart's Jason Plescow converted a 25 yard field goal to give the home squad a 3-0 lead.
It took two plays for Monmouth to take a 7-3 lead, as Frazier rolled out on second down and hit a wide open Ron Lauch who raced 58 yards for the Hawk touchdown. The connection was a career-long pass for Frazier as well as a career-long reception for Lauch.
Monmouth converted two third downs through the air on its third possession of the game before Frazier launched a 36 yard pass on far sideline that was caught by Folsom on the SHU 11. Two plays later Folsom caught a ball on a crossing route and battled down to the one with Sinisi finishing off the drive to give MU a 13-3 lead with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
Sinisi scored his second touchdown of the game, this time through the air, when the fifth year senior took a screen pass and went virtually untouched for 50 yards and MU's third score of the game. With the pass, Frazier eclipsed his career high in passing, with almost eight minutes to play in the half.
Sacred Heart converted a 23 yard field goal with 2:49 to play in the half then had a shot at another but Monmouth's defense tackled Coles in bounds on the five yard line and time expired.
Frazier completed passes to 10 different receivers, including five to Folsom who had 86 yards, both career-bests. Sophomore Alex Laipple (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) hauled in a career-best three passes, while Roeder's touchdown was the first of his career.
Safety Kendall Haley (Olney, Md./Good Counsel) led the Hawks with a career-high 11 tackles, while linebacker Joe Valenti (Bayonne, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) finished with 10. Junior Dave Ogden (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) was credited with 1.5 sacks on the day and two tackles.
Fink threw for 373 yards on 36-of-54 passing with two touchdowns, while Tedesco finished with 168 yards on 11 catches. Sacred Heart managed just 81 yards rushing with Coles leading the way with 49 of them.
Monmouth returns home to host two-time defending NEC Champion Albany next Saturday at 1 p.m.
