WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Cody Williams (Springfield, MA/Central) threw for two touchdowns and the Monmouth defense sacked Prebyterian quarterback Ben Cheek five times as the Hawks' football team defeated the Blue Hose, 21-16, on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Monmouth Stadium. With the win, the Hawks improve to 4-6 (2-3 Big South), while Presbyterian is now 1-9 (0-5 Big South). 

"I was very happy with the effort of our team, which has been our trademark all season long," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan. "They play extremely hard regardless of the situation, and I thought they did that again today. Additionally, I liked the effort that they gave in tough spots and tough situations, like when Presbyterian came back and closed the game to within five points at the end. I was very happy the way our guys responded to that situation, and we turned it up a notch to pull out the win. We had several key defensive plays on the day. What you saw today was a complete team effort and a team win. We're happy to get our second conference win, and our goal next week is to go out and finish at .500 in the Big South."

The Hawks racked up 208 yards on the ground, led by Zach Welch's (Middletown, MD/Middletown) 81 yards on 10 carries. Lavon Chaney (Edgewater, MD/South River) added 57 rushing yards and 21 yards through the air on three receptions. Williams ran for 38 yards, while Darren Ambush (Dickerson, MD/Urbana) ran twice for 31 yards and a touchdown. 

Williams completed 15 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Reggie White, Jr. (Randallstown, MD/Milford Mill Academy) caught four passes for 44 yards and a touchdown, while Ambush made a pair of receptions for 28 yards. Hakeem Valles (Sicklerville, NJ/Peddie School) and Pat Gray (Westfield, NJ/Hargrave Military Academy [Westfield]) also caught two passes each, while Ugo Ezemma (Nanuet, NY/St. Joe's Montvale) made a five-yard touchdown reception. 

Mike Basile (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) led the Hawks' defense with 12 tackles and needs six more next weekend to pass Aaron Edwards for Monmouth's single-season record (117). Andrew Jurczynski (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) had two of the Hawks' five sacks, while Diego Zubieta (Newtown Square, PA/Penncrest) added 1.5 sacks. Dimitrius Smith (Millstone, NJ/Jackson Memorial [Milford Academy]), Tre Nelson (Palmerton, PA/Palmerton) and Andrew Foster (Manasquan, NJ/The Hun School [Michigan State]) also each accounted for a half sack apiece. Tymere Berry (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) also made his first-career interception.

A Donelle Williams interception set up the Presbyterian offense in the red zone less than three minutes into the first quarter. The Blue Hose offense went three-and-out and settled for a 34-yard field goal from Brett Norton. 

Defense was the story in the early going, with Monmouth not allowing a Presbyterian reception until under the four-minute mark of the second quarter. The Hawks' offense broke through with a 13-play, 86-yard drive capped by Williams' five-yard connection with Ezemma at the 4:06 mark to give Monmouth a 7-3 lead. The Hawks prolonged the drive with a 26-yard pass from Williams to White, Jr., on 4th-and-8 from the 33 yard line, setting up the touchdown. 

Presbyterian responded on its next drive, moving 65 yards on 10 plays, punching it over the goal line on a quarterback sneak by Cheek on 4th and goal from the one-yard line. 

Presbyterian started the second half with the ball, but Berry made his first-career interception to give the Hawks the ball in Blue Hose territory early in the third quarter. The Hawks then moved 40 yards on eight plays, including a fourth-down conversion on a five-yard reception by Gray. Ambush ran it in from 13 yards out on a double reverse to give Monmouth a 14-10 lead with 9:15 left in the third quarter. 

After forcing a punt on the next Presbyterian drive, the Hawks led another scoring drive. Welch rumbled 23 yards into Blue Hose territory before White found Ambush for 22 yards into the red zone. Two plays later, Williams lofted a pass to White, Jr., in the corner of the end zone. Pass interference was called and White, Jr., was initially ruled to be out of bounds. Upon review, the call was overturned, giving the Hawks six points. Matt White (Gibsonia, PA/Mars Area) added the PAT to make it 21-10 with 1:04 left in the third quarter.    

Presbyterian cut the Hawks' lead to 21-16 with 5:04 left in the fourth quarter on Cheek's 18-yard touchdown pass to DaShawn Davis. The connection came following a muffed punt that gave the ball back to the Blue Hose at the Monmouth 28. Six plays later, Cheek found Davis for the score. 

The Blue Hose got the ball back with 1:54 left to play but the Monmouth defense got the stop it needed. Following a four-yard rush on first down, Malcolm Powers (Baltimore, MD/Gilman School) pressured Cheek and Teddie Martinez (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's School) batted the pass down on second down. Jurczynski sacked Cheek on third down, while Nelson and Brown took down the Presbyterian quarterback on fourth down to force a turnover on downs. Two kneel downs later, time expired and the Hawks secured the win. 

The Hawks close out the regular season next Saturday, when they travel to Gardner-Webb. Kickoff from Spangler Stadium is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. 

DL Andrew Jurczynski on Presbyterian's final drive

"It was big. I got the sack but we had been playing good defense all day. To finish off strong like that was amazing to get this win."

Coach Callahan on the defensive effort of the Hawks

"Anytime you win a game with your defense like that I think it says a lot about the character and effort of those guys."

S Mike Basile on the defensive scheme on the final Presbyterian drive

"Coach put us in a good position to make plays. He gave us the coverages and we just had to go out there and execute. We had to get off the field to win this game."

QB Cody Williams on halftime adjustments for the offense

"We didn't want to hurt ourselves offensively. We got off to a slow start, so we knew coming out in the second half we needed to get it together and put out plays in a positive direction."

WR Reggie White on the touchdown catch, that was originally ruled incomplete before being overturned

"I knew I got my foot down. I was just focused on making the catch. I didn't even realize the referee threw the flag until after the catch."

Coach Callahan on what a win against Gardner-Webb would mean

"I think it would be a big step for our program if we could go out and get a win next week. To get to a .500 record would not only show that we've improved, but also that we're closing the gap on some of the other teams. We knew we had some work to do coming into the Big South. We're showing that we can play with everyone in this league, and even beat some teams in this league. I'm happy with the progress we are making in that regard, and we have to make sure we close it out with a win next week."