CONWAY, S.C.- Monmouth University's football team fell to 0-2 on the season after suffering a 24-17 setback at Coastal Carolina on Saturday night.
Back by two scores, MU corner Mike Avent (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) came up with his first career interception with 5:31 to go, giving the Hawks a fresh set of downs on the Coastal 41. Kyle Frazier (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) hit back David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) on a screen pass that went for 22 yards, then connected with Ron Lauch (Wall, N.J./Wall) on a fade, bringing the Hawks one score closer.
Monmouth's ninth penalty of the contest gave the Chants the ball six yards shy of midfield on the ensuing kickoff. The Hawks forced a third and long but a 12 yard play on a draw converted Coastal's 10th third down of the evening. From there, CCU was able to run the clock and secure the seven point victory.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Monmouth's moved the opening kickoff past midfield but had to punt after a failed third and two conversion. The Chant's proceeded to march down the field on the Hawk defense but not without converting a few third downs. On third and 10 from the MU 45, Monmouth's Brian Brikowski (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Twp./Akron) intercepted a Zack MacDowell pass and returned it 53 yards down to the Coastal five yardline. It was the first time a Monmouth defender intercepted an opposing quarterback since a 2008 win over Sacred Heart (eight quarters).
It took four plays for the Hawks to take the lead, with SInisi barreling in on the left hash for a one-yard touchdown with 3:02 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing Chanticleer possession, David Kennedy (Fort Lee, N.J./Patterson Catholic) dropped MacDowell for a five yard loss on second down but a 16 yard MacDowell to D Duran completion gave the home squad a fresh set of downs. Three plays later MacDowell found a wide open Chris Presley on the right sideline for a 50 yard touchdown pass and the game was tied 7-7 with 11:40 to play in the half.
Monmouth took over with great field position thanks to an illegal block call against the Chants, but two offensive penalties, one procedure and one holding call, stopped MU's third drive in its tracks.
MacDowell needed just over a two minutes to get the Chants efficiently down the field. The junior went five-of-seven on the drive while rushing for an additional 14 yards while driving his squad to the MU five. Monmouth's defense held on three straight drives, where Coastal Carolina tight end Jeff Durham nailed a 24 yard field goal with 15.5 seconds remaining for the Chants first lead of the game.
It would only take the Chanticleers eight plays of the second half to tally their second TD of the game. On a third and seven, Duran hauled in a MacDowell pass over the middle and sprinted for a 47 yard gain, getting caught from behind at the MU three yard line. Two plays later tailback Eric O'Neal powered into the endzone putting Coastal up 17-7 with just under 12 minutes to play.
Monmouth answered on their opening possession of the quarter, mainly on the legs of Sinisi who ran the ball six times for 38 yards. Facing a fourth and one from the Coastal eight, Callahan called on Eric McCutcheon to convert a 24 yard field goal, cutting the lead to 17-10.
Coastal responded with a 13 play drive that ended with a four-yard O'Neal touchdown run that put his team ahead 24-10 with 13:40 to play.
Sinisi, who failed to tally 100 yards rushing for the second time in his career against Coastal, finished with game highs of 21 rushes and 84 yards to go along with a touchdown. Lauch led the receiving corps with two catches for 28 yards and a touchdown, while Salomon also grabbed two passes for 17 yards. Sinisi added a 22-yard reception in the contest.
The quarterbacks were efficient again, with Mandeville going 5-for-6 with 27 yards and Frazier going a perfect 3-for-3 with 50 yards and his first collegiate touchdown pass.
Jose Gumbs (Queens, N.Y./Hebron) recorded 11 tackles for the second consecutive contest, including seven solo stops. Brikowski logged a career-high 11 tackles (two for a loss) to go along with his interception, while Joe Cella (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) and Joe Valenti (Bayonne, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) each had seven tackles.
MacDowell went 14-of-19 for 203 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. O'Neal finished with 64 yards on 17 carries with two scores, while Tommy Frazier had 74 yards on 14 carries.
The Chants outgained Monmouth in total yards 410-174 in the game, sporting a very balanced 207 yards rushing and 203 yards on the ground. The Hawks ran for 97 yards as a squad, passing for 77 in the game on nine total attempts. MU committed nine penalties for 76 yards, compared to four for 40 yards for CCU. Coastal also converted 11-of-16 third downs, compared to 2-for-9 for the Hawks, and held a 34:05-25:55 advantage in time of possession.
