CHARLESTON, SC- Charleston Southern (4-1, 1-0 Big South) pounded out 275 yards on the ground to edge Monmouth (2-4, 0-1 Big South) 37-7 in both teams Big South opener on Saturday.
"It was a disappointing way to start Big South Conference play," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan. "To Charleston Southern's credit I thought they outplayed us in just about every phase of the game. We are going to have to do a lot better than we did today if we hope to have success in the Big South."
In a first half that was mired by heavy rain and winds, Charleston Southern running back Mike Holloway scored a pair of touchdowns to help his team to a 17-0 lead going into the break. Holloway would score once more in the second half as part of his three-touchdown, 78 yard rushing day. Darius Hammond also had 64 yards rushing while quarterback Austin Brown had 38 yards rushing and 124 through the air.
The Monmouth defense was paced by Mike Basile (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) who recorded a game-high 13 tackles, including one for a loss.
Charleston Southern scored on its opening drive after forcing a Monmouth three-and-out, going 63 yards on seven plays, six of which were runs. CSU's Holloway went uncontested on an option play to the left for five yards to put his squad up 7-0 with 9:12 to play in the first quarter.
Monmouth got its best field position of the half after senior Joe Johnson (Manchester, NJ/Manchester) stripped CSU's Mike Holloway and recovered the ball at the CSU 49. Chaney ripped off a big run on first down but the Hawks took a 14 yard loss on a bad snap and then couldn't convert on fourth down and the Bucs still led 7-0.
Hammond set up the second Buccaneer score, returning a Monmouth punt 43 yards down to the MU 20 yard line. One play later Holloway put CSU up 13-0 on an option right, with the junior just catching the corner of the pylon for his second TD of the game.
The Buccaneers drove down to the Monmouth five late in the first half but the Hawks defense held, forcing CSU to settle for a 22 yard field goal and a 16-0 lead going into halftime.
Holloway scored his third TD of the day on a fourth and one from the MU five; taking an inside handoff to pay dirt to extend CSU's lead to 23-0 with 10:55 left in the third quarter.
Hammond added a touchdown from four yards out to put the score at 30-0 with 4:24 left in the third quarter. Reserve quarterback Daniel Croghan scored the Buc's final TD of the game on a two-yard keeper that put CSU ahead 37-0.
The Hawks scored their first points in seven-plus quarters against CSU when Williams tallied his second career rushing TD late in the fourth quarter.
Monmouth was held to 115 yards of total offense, the second fewest in school history. CSU finished with 398 yards of total offense, while neither team was efficient on third down. The Hawks were 1-of-13 on third down while CSU didn't fare much better, going 2-of-11.
Williams finished 9-of-19 passing for 46 yards. Lavon Chaney (Edgewater, MD/South River) had 12 carries for 56 yards, including a 17 yard run in the third quarter. Sophomore Michael Jolly (Springfield, VA/Robert E. Lee) averaged 7.4 yards per rush, carrying the rock five times for 37 yards.
Monmouth will host No. 15 Liberty next weekend at Monmouth Stadium. That game is slated for a 1 p.m. kick.
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