WORCESTER, MA- Monmouth University wrapped up its non-conference season with a 5-1 record after outscoring Holy Cross (2-4, 1-1 PL) 48-37 on Saturday afternoon at Fitton Field.

Monmouth redshirt sophomore quarterback Kenji Bahar (Baltimore, MD/Calvert Hall) threw for a career-high 324 yards and three scores on 23-of-31 passing. Senior safety Mike Basile (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) also tallied a career-high 19 tackles, 17 of which were solo stops, setting the new Big South record. Reggie White Jr. (Randallstown, MD/Milford Mill Academy) had a season-high 137 yards on nine receptions with a pair of touchdowns.

Despite yielding a pair of Hail Mary touchdowns, Monmouth led for most of the game, opening up a 41-23 lead in the third quarter after fifth-year senior Kamau Dumas (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) returned a Crusader punt for 89 yards and a score. Holy Cross, led by senior quarterback Peter Pujals' school record 509 yards passing and four touchdowns racked up 630 yards of offense in the shootout.

Holy Cross took the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field before Monmouth's defense stopped them on three straight throws inside the redzone – forcing the Crusaders to settle for a 33 yard field goal.

A 22 yard pass play from Bahar to Reggie White Jr. on third down gave the Hawks a first down in Crusader territory but the Holy Cross defense stopped a third and one and a fourth and two attempt to come away unscathed.

Monmouth took the lead on a one-yard Zokouri run, after the Hawks regained the ball on a forced fumble and sack by Mike Basile. The scoring drive covered 51 yards on seven plays, two of which went for a combined 40 yards.

Monmouth went up 14-3 on a well-designed screen from Bahar to White Jr. that went 13 yards and put the Hawks up by 11. Bahar engineered the drive that went 69 yards on nine plays including an acrobatic one-handed catch by Vinny Grasso (Toms River, NJ/Donovan Catholic) for 22 yards.

Holy Cross cut the lead to 14-10 after Pujals kept it himself for a four yard touchdown run. The Crusaders moved down the field quickly, covering 73 yards in just 3:28. Monmouth answered with a scoring drive of its own, needing just 1:02 to go 78 yards. Bahar hit Jake Powell (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) for a four yard touchdown, putting the Hawks up 21-10. Pujals wasn't done yet, heaving a 49 yard Hail Mary that was caught by Tenio Ayeni in the endzone to cut the lead to 21-17 as time expired.

On the third play of the second half Bahar unleashed a 61 yard pass to Lonnie Moore IV (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul VI), setting the Hawks up at the HC four. Two plays later Bahar hit White Jr. in the endzone on a fade route and the Hawks led 28-17. The Monmouth lead ballooned to 41-17 on Dumas' 89 yard punt return after freshman Eric Zokouri (Silver Spring, MD/Montgomery Blair) scored his second 1-yard touchdown of the day.

Holy Cross scored twice on fourth-quarter Pujals' passes to close the gap to 41-30 before Dumas took back an interception 39 yards for a TD with 4:54 remaining. Monmouth ran three times in an attempt to run the clock out with 51 seconds remaining but Holy Cross called timeout and scored on a Hail Mary seven plays later to finish the scoring.

QUOTES & NOTES
"I'm very happy we accomplished what we came up here to do. I think 5-1 coming out of the non-conference is a great place for us to be right now. We can go into the bye week where we can rest up and fine tune the things we can get better at." Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan

"Kenji had a really good day. I felt really early on in the game he was working himself into a groove. HE was able to find guys down the field and capitalize on some explosive plays. You have to give him credit for putting the ball on the mark." Callahan on Kenji Bahar

"Mike is possessed when he is out on the football field. He was all over the place on defense and special teams, he just had an outstanding afternoon." Callahan on Mike Basile

• Bahar eclipsed his previous career-high of 243 yards passing- set against Lafayette this year
• Mike Basile recorded his 19^th game with double digit tackles, finishing with a career-high
• Freshman Hasan Mahammad-Chambers saw his first action of the year, finishing with two tackles
• Dumas' punt return was the longest recorded in Monmouth history, surpassing Kevin Faulkner's 2002 return against Robert Morris of 86 yards
• Monmouth yielded two Hail Mary attempts, once at the end of the first half and once at the end of the second half

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Dumas now has 174 punt return yards, the sixth most in school history
• Basile had 17 solo tackles in the game, eclipsing former Chanticleer Quinn Backus for the Big South record of 244
• Basile also had a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in the contest
• Bahar's 324 yards passing is his first 300+ yard game and tied for eighth most in Monmouth history
• Monmouth is now 4-0 on the season against the Patriot League and have won six straight contests against the PL
• Redshirt sophomore Tymere Berry finished with a career-high four pass breakups in the game
• Sophomore Matt Mosquera was a perfect six for six on PATs
• Holy Cross led in time of possession 32:06 to 27:54
• Monmouth, who came in +4 in turnovers, won the TO battle again 2-0
• Manny Maragoto had a sack of -16 yards, giving him 13 career sacks and tying him with Brian Sweeney for 10^th all-time

UP NEXT
Monmouth has a bye before returning home against Liberty on October 21.