WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Trey White ran for three of Kennesaw State's six rushing touchdowns as the Owls defeated the Monmouth University football team, 49-17, Saturday afternoon in the final home game before the newly-constructed Monmouth Stadium debuts. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 4-5 (0-4 Big South), while the Owls improve to 6-2 (2-1 Big South).

Lavon Chaney (Edgewater, MD/South River) led the Hawks' offense with 68 yards rushing and a touchdown. Kenji Bahar (Baltimore, MD/Calvert Hall) made his first start under center, completing 14-of-28 passes for 188 yards and his first-career touchdown pass. Reggie White, Jr., (Randallstown, MD/Milford Mill Academy) was on the receiving end of the 35-yard Bahar TD pass, finishing with three grabs for 67 yards. Brendan Wharton (Ijamsville, MD/Urbana) led the Hawks' defense with 14 tackles, while Teddie Martinez (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's School) added 11 stops.

Chaston Bennett ran for a team-high 129 of KSU's 482 rushing yards, crossing the goal line twice. The Owls accumulated just 31 yards through the air, but finished with 513 yards of total offense. KSU also scored a defensive touchdown, as Desmond Johnson returned a fumble forced by Izzy Sam 30 yards for the score.

NOTES AND QUOTES:

"We felt going into the game that we had to be a team that complemented each other on both sides of the ball, meaning the defense would have to complement the offense and the offense would have to do the same," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan. "We had a lot of difficulty stopping the run, and in the instances where we did get them into third downs we just weren't able to get off the field. Early on we moved the ball pretty well on offense, but once they were able to extend their drives and convert the third downs, it made each possession for us that much more critical. Every possession becomes critical so you have to make sure you maximize them. A lot of credit goes to Kennesaw. They were very efficient in running their option attack and were able to mix in a grind-it-out mentality with a few explosive plays that got them out of trouble."

-          Lavon Chaney passed Chris Reed for third all-time in rushing yards, currently sitting on 2,246 career yards on the ground.

-          Chaney also scored his 22^nd career rushing touchdown, moving to within one touchdown of Ralph O'Neil (23) for fifth all-time at Monmouth.

-          Reggie White, Jr.'s three receptions bring his season total to 49, tying teammate Darren Ambush and former Hawks Miles Austin and Adam San Miguel for ninth all-time in a single season at Monmouth.   

-          Darren Ambush also made three receptions to move to within three catches of Will Holder (114) for fifth all-time in a career at Monmouth.

-          Over the past two games, Brandon Wharton has secured 35 tackles, including 21 last Saturday at Liberty.

NUMBERS CRUNCH:

-          Monmouth is now 0-2 all-time against Kennesaw State

-          Kennesaw was 7 of 13 on third down and 4 of 4 on fourth down

-          It was the first career start for redshirt freshman QB Kenji Bahar

-          The Monmouth defense held Kennesaw to just 4-of-13 passing for 31 yards

-          Ambush had 139 total yards, including 93 on kickoff returns

-          Matt White punted three times for an average of 41 yards, all three were downed inside the 20

-          Darnell Leslie finished with eight tackles, his third straight game with at least eight tackles

UP NEXT:
Monmouth will hit the road to face Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 2 PM.