WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Outscoring Presbyterian 28-7 in the second half, the #24 Monmouth University football team remained undefeated in the Big South and at the new Kessler Stadium, defeating the Blue Hose on Saturday afternoon, 42-21. The Hawks moved to 8-1 overall, 3-0 in the conference, and 4-0 at home for the 2017 season. The Monmouth backfield and offensive line once again led the way, as the Hawks totaled 237 yards and four touchdowns on 38 rushes (6.2 average). Freshman running back Pete Guerriero (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) racked up 153 rushing yards on 21 carries, adding a five-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Senior Vinny Grasso scored the first punt return touchdown of his career in the third quarter, as he broke off a 70-yarder. Senior Mike Basile (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) totaled 10 tackles on the afternoon, building his program record to 404 career stops. The Hawks welcome Big South opponent Gardner-Webb for the final home game of 2017 next Saturday, and will end the season on November 18 at Kennesaw State.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"We are very happy with the victory, our goal today was to come out of this week 1-0 and move to 8-1 overall. We weren't hitting on all cylinders early in the first half, you have to credit Presbyterian for that, they made some things difficult for us. To the credit of our team, we came out of the second half flying and scored a bunch of different ways."   -
Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan
 
"That was my first punt return of the year, coach just threw me in there. I just have to find the seam, making people miss. We did a good job blocking, I made the first guy miss and it was off to the races from there." Redshirt senior Vinny Grasso on his 70 yard punt return
 
"Vinny returned punts last year for us, punt return is something we work a lot on and guys work hard trying to get on blocks. That was a big play in the game and a huge momentum swing for us." Coach Callahan on Grasso's punt return
 
-Presbyterian got on the board first, as QB Will Brock found WR DaShawn Davis in the back of the enzone for the 7-0 lead.
-Monmouth quickly answered, driving 80 yards down the field to tie the game at 7. Junior running back Devell Jones scored his 10^th touchdown of the season on a two-yard run.
-On the opening drive of the second quarter, the Blue Hose once again took a touchdown lead, with Brock finding TE Riley Hilton for an 11-yard connection. The drive took 75 yards in just six plays to make it 14-7.
-Monmouth nearly tied it up midway through the second quarter, but QB Kenji Bahar's pass intended for White Jr. was intercepted at the one-yard line. The Hawks defense forced a three-and-out, and grabbed great field position at the Presbyterian 48 after the punt.
-Senior running back Michael Jolly sprinted through the right side for a 26-yard touchdown run to make it 14-14 with 2:57 left in the first half.
-Despite Presbyterian intercepting a Bahar pass late in the second quarter, Basile blocked the 55-yard field goal attempt with time expiring. The teams went into the locker room with the game knotted at 14.
-Monmouth rattled off a 10-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half with a touchdown. After Guerriero rushed for 39 total yards, Bahar evaded a Presbyterian defender and rushed left for a seven-yard touchdown.
-Grasso fielded a Blue Hose punt at the Monmouth 30-yard line, juked multiple defenders and was off to the races, scoring on the 70-yard punt return in the third quarter. It was his first career punt-return touchdown and Monmouth's second of the season (Dumas, 89-yarder against Holy Cross).
-Junior DB Tymere Berry grabbed his second interception of the season on the next drive, taking it back 36 yards to the Presbyterian 20-yard line. On the very first play, Bahar found junior TE Shawn Clark on a 20-yard touchdown for a 35-14 Monmouth lead.
-Presbyterian quickly answered, as Brock found Davis for a 59-yard touchdown to make it 35-21 with 4:09 to play in the third quarter.
-A total of 29 rushing yards from Guerriero, including a five-yard touchdown, put the Hawks up 42-21 with 9:33 remaining in the contest. That would end up as the final score.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-The Hawks are 4-0 in West Long Branch this season, outscoring opponents 175-99 and averaging 44 points per game.
-Monmouth gained over 400 yards of total offense for the sixth time in nine games this season.
-The Blue & White broke the game open with 14 points in a span of 1:09 in the third quarter (70-yd Grasso punt return, Berry interception, Bahar to Clark 20-yd touchdown).
-Guerriero scored the seventh touchdown of his freshman campaign. He leads the team with 768 rushing yards in 2017.
-Jolly notched his fifth run of 25+ yards this season.
-Monmouth is a 8-1 for the fourth time in school history (2003, 2004, 2006)
-Freshman wide receiver Joey Aldarelli recorded his first career catch at the end of the third quarter.
-Clark's touchdown catch was the first of his career.
-The Hawks were 5-11 on third down.
-Bahar scored the fourth rushing touchdown of his career.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will host Gardner-Webb for their last home contest of the season next Saturday. Last season, the Runnin' Bulldogs edged Monmouth, 34-33, as the Hawks' two-point conversion failed in overtime. Monmouth will travel to Kennesaw State the following Saturday for the regular season finale.