KENNESAW, GA- Kennesaw State used 341 rushing yards to control the clock and defeat Monmouth University 23-13 on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
The Owls improved to 6-2 (2-1 Big South) while Monmouth dropped to 3-6 (1-3 Big South) with the loss.
Monmouth came out of the gate scoring on its opening possession but the Owls went on to score 23 unanswered points to take control of the game. The Owls were deadly efficient on third down, converting 12 of 15 while owning a 35:51-24:09 advantage in time of possession.
"Today was a day we didn't execute as well as we needed to," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan. "Going into the game we knew there were things we needed to do in all three phases of the game and we weren't able to consistently do those things. To the credit of Kennesaw State, I thought they did a very good job of staying with their game plans. Once we were able to get them stopped, we weren't able to convert on the other end and turn those possessions into scores. In a game like this you get limited opportunities and you need to make every one of those count and unfortunately we didn't today. For the third straight week our players gave great effort, we just need to turn that into positive results."
The Owls finished with 455 yards of total offense with a pair of 100-yard rushers, including Chaston Bennett (124) and Trey White (102). Monmouth junior running back Zach Welch (Middletown, MD/Middletown) had his finest day as a Hawk, running the ball 16 times for 112 yards.
The Hawks took the opening kickoff down the field on six plays, going up 7-0 on a 12 yard shovel pass from Williams to Ambush with 12:34 left in the first frame. Welch carried the load on the drive, carrying the ball five times for 47 yards, including a 31 yard burst on the first play from scrimmage.
Monmouth's defense yielded some yardage on the first Owl drive but Basile snatched a Trey White pass in the endzone to end the threat. Monmouth would move out to midfield but Williams would be intercepted by Kyron Minter on third down giving KSU its second drive.
The Hawks forced the first punt on the game on the ensuing drive but missed a 33 yard field goal attempt wide left to keep the score 7-0 Hawks.
Kennesaw State used a 17 play drive to go 80 yards and tie the game up 7-7 on a two yard Jae Bowen TD run. The Owls used 8:50 off the clock and converted six third downs to wear down the Monmouth defense.
The Owls defense would force a three-and-out on the next MU possession then drove 61 yards on seven plays to take a 13-7 with 1:47 left in the second quarter. KSU was again able to get into scoring position after forcing a Monmouth punt, closing out the half with a 37 yard Justin Thompson field goal to take a 16-7 lead.
White led the Owls to their third touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter, plowing into the endzone from three yards out with 10:09 left in the frame.
Monmouth's defense held on a fourth down attempt by KSU late in the game and Monmouth capitalized with a 14 yard pass from Williams to Ugo Ezemma (Nanuet, NY/St. Joe's Montvale).
The ensuing two point conversion was not good, and the Hawks trailed 23-13 with 1:03 remaining.
MU recovered the onsides kick but were unable to score as Monmouth was left searching for its first Big South road win.
Williams finished 14 of 25 for 134 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 34 yards while Michael Jolly (Springfield, VA/Robert E. Lee) had four runs for 55 yards including a 48 yard dash. Ezemma led the all receivers with 52 yards on three catches while Reggie White Jr. (Randallstown, MD/Milford Mill Academy) had four catches for 35 yards.
The Hawks will have a bye week next week, then return home on senior day to host Presbyterian.
