FINAL SCORE OT
Gardner-Webb 34 (5-6, 3-2 Big South)
Monmouth 33 (4-7, 0-5 Big South)
BOILING SPRINGS, NC – The Monmouth football team's two-point conversion attempt in overtime came up short as Gardner-Webb came away with a 34-33 victory over the visiting Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Spangler Stadium.
The Hawks faced an early 10-0 deficit before eventually tying the game at 20 on seven-yard rushing touchdown by Kenji Bahar early in the fourth quarter. The Hawks took the lead with 4:32 to play in regulation when Lavon Chaney scored on the ground from six yards out, but Gardner-Webb marched 61 yards for a touchdown to send the game to overtime.
The Runnin' Bulldogs scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime and kicked the extra point to make it 34-27, before Chaney's second TD of the day pulled the Hawks within a point. Monmouth elected to attempt the two-point conversion to win the game, but Bahar's pass intended for Darren Ambush came up short and Gardner-Webb completed the one-point victory.
NOTES & QUOTES
“I'm very happy, very proud with the way the players battled today. At times I thought they played extremely hard, they put us in a position to win but unfortunately we weren't able to come away with the victory. The outcome can't take away from the tremendous effort the team gave today.”
- Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan
“This senior class is one that helped us begin our transition to the Big South. They've played a lot of really good football and certainly left their mark on the program. There are a lot of things that they have accomplished along the way and they should be proud of those accomplishments.”
- Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan
- Monmouth was 9-for-14 on third downs in the game and 2-for-3 on fourth downs.
- Monmouth outgained Gardner-Webb, 441-401, but turned the ball over twice.
- Monmouth leads the all-time series with Gardner-Webb, 2-1.
- Monmouth played its second overtime game of the season (1-1).
NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Reggie White Jr.'s 30-yard second-quarter TD reception was his seventh touchdown of the season. White made 10 catches for 149 yards on the day. White's 69 catches this season rank second on Monmouth's single-season receptions list and he became the ninth player in Monmouth history to surpass 100 catches for his career (8th all-time with 104 receptions).
- Five of White Jr.'s seven TD catches have been longer than 20 yards.
- Darren Ambush totaled 83 kickoff return yards, including a 39-yard return in the first quarter. The 39-yard run back was his third kickoff return of more than 30 yards this season.
- Ambush made six catches for 26 yards. The senior wideout finished his career with 121 career receptions, which is tied with Tyler George (2009-12) for fourth all-time.
- Kenji Bahar threw for a career-high 241 yards, it was the second time he has reached the 200-yard mark in his career. Bahar scored his second career rushing touchdown, which helped Monmouth tie the game at 20-20 in fourth quarter.
- Lavon Chaney's 67-yard run was the longest rush of his career. Chaney ran for 150 yards, which was four yards shy of his season high of 154 yards at Presbyterian.
- Chaney moved into second in Monmouth history in all-purpose yards with 3,576. He passed Chris Reed (1994-95, 97-98) on the list. Chaney scored two rushing touchdowns and ended his career with 25, good for fifth in the MU record books.
- Zach Welch scored his seventh rushing touchdown of the season.
- Safety Mike Basile led Monmouth with 15 total tackles, including six solo stops.
- Senior Darnell Leslie made a career-high 14 tackles, seven solo, including 1.5 for loss. Leslie combined on a sack and ends his career with 15 career sacks, which is tied for sixth in Monmouth history with Tim Canavan (1993-94).
- Kahlil Lewis' second-quarter touchdown run was Gardner Webb's first touchdown against the Hawks in five straight quarters, dating back to the fourth quarter of the 2015 meeting.
UP NEXT
Monmouth closes its 2016 season with an overall record of 4-7.
