WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Fifth year senior quarterback
Kyle Frazier
(Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) threw for 195 yards and ran for two touchdowns,
but the Monmouth University football team fell to Bryant, 27-24, on Homecoming
Saturday afternoon on Kessler Field. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 3-4 (2-2
NEC), while the Bulldogs move to 2-6 (2-4 NEC).
Kwabena Asante (Silver
Spring, Md./James Hubert Blake [WVU]) ran for a team-high 89 yards and a
touchdown, while Tristan Roberts (Ansonia, Conn./Ansonia) had six receptions
for a team-high 76 yards.
Mike Westerhaus led the
Bulldogs with 321 yards passing and two touchdowns, both to Jordan Harris, who
finished with five catches and 107 yards. Jordan Brown ran for a game-high 152
yards and two touchdowns.
"That was a tough game for us to lose today," said MU head coach Kevin Callahan.
"We were one-game behind the leader of the NEC and we knew we had to keep
winning week to week to keep in that position and give ourselves some type of opportunity
once all the games are done. We started a little slow, we weren't playing the
way we had been in previous weeks in the outset. I thought we picked it up a
little bit in the second half and put ourselves in a position to win the game.
We just didn't finish it out and that's something we need to do a better job
of. Anytime you play a team in the conference you are going to play very good
teams, regardless of what their record says, every team has good players and
are coached well. We knew Bryant would be a formidable opponent."
After deferring the opening
kickoff to the Hawks and forcing a punt, the Bulldogs marched 67 yards on eight
plays covering 4:19 to open the scoring. Brown scampered 17 yards to put the
Bulldogs on top, 7-0, at the 9:03 mark. The Hawks got three points back later
in the first quarter when Eric Spillane (Howell, N.J./Colts Neck) capped a
nine-play, 57-yard drive with a 29-yard field goal at the 2:42 mark.
After a full 16 scoreless
minutes, Westerhaus found Harris in the end zone for the second Bryant score of
the day. The 19-yard connection capped a 12-play, 84-yard drive, which was
aided by an personal foul penalty on the Hawks following a sack that would've
forced a 3rd-and-long.
The Hawks opened the scoring
in the second half, with Frazier punching it in from four yards out on an
option keeper. The run capped a four-play, 50-yard drive covering just 1:27 to
cut the deficit to 14-10. But the Bulldogs responded on a broken play at the
8:47 mark, when Harris caught his second touchdown pass of the day, this time
from 47 yards out to push the Bulldogs' lead back to 11 points. Westerhaus
released the pass under pressure and appeared to have airmailed his intended
receiver. But Harris continued his route and caught it in stride behind the
Hawks' secondary.
The Hawks' offense kept its
momentum, however, as Asante scored on a nine-yard run to cap a 10-play,
65-yard drive at the 4:52 mark of the third quarter to again cut the deficit to
four points, 21-17.
Monmouth's defense managed to
keep the Bulldogs off the board early in the fourth quarter in spite of a long
drive off the ensuing kickoff. Bryant drove all the way down to the Hawks' five
yard line, where the drive stalled and kicker Dom Kozlowski missed wide right
on a 22-yard field goal attempt.
After both teams saw
possessions end in a punt, the Hawks' offense seamlessly marched 92 yards on
eight plays to take its first lead of the game, 24-21. Asante took a screen
pass 29 yards into Bulldogs' territory to enable the drive and Frazier ran it
in for his second rushing touchdown of the game from nine yards out at the 8:23
mark.
The Hawks forced a 4th-and-1
from the Bryant 40 yard line and appeared to have a Brown run sniffed out with
under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But Brown broke a tackle
and scampered 45 yards down the Hawks' sideline to the Monmouth 15 yard line. But
again, the Monmouth defense kept Bryant out of the end zone and Kozlowski
missed wide left from 36 yards to preserve the 24-21 Monmouth lead.
On the Hawks' second play on
the ensuing drive, Frazier's pass was tipped by Jeff Covitz and intercepted by
Connor McNamara at the Monmouth 20 yard line. Brown scored from four yards out
to give Bryant the 27-24 lead, but Kozlowski's troubles continued, as he missed
the point after try.
Frazier was again intercepted
on the next Hawks possession, but Brandon Dagnesses fumbled prior to the end
zone and the ball hit the pylon, giving the ball back to the Hawks at their own
20 yard line. Frazier scrambled and fell on his own power to the turf due to an
injury on second down. Craig Peterson (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) replaced
Frazier, and following an incompletion, converted a fourth-down desperation
heave downfield to Roberts for 30 yards into Bryant territory.
Peterson completed a
seven-yard pass to Roberts on first down and the Hawks called timeout. Out of
the timeout, Frazier returned under center and threw three incomplete passes,
and the Hawks turned the ball over on downs to effectively end the game.
The Hawks return to action
next Saturday, when they travel to Northeast Conference foe Duquesne. Kickoff
is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field.
Nest Notes:
- Monmouth is now 8-12 on homecoming games
- The Hawks are now 4-1 against Bryant
- A season-high 4,185 fans came out to watch Monmouth
- MU's defense forced eight tackles for a loss, including four sacks
- Junior defensive end Pat O'Hara (Souderton, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) had a
career-high two sacks to go along with a pass break up
-Monmouth's defense failed to force a turnover for the second straight game
- The Hawks are now 0-4 when losing the turnover battle
