Football August 19, 2017

FOOTBALL WRAPS FIRST SCRIMMAGE OF CAMP

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- With workers putting the finishing touches on Kessler Stadium in the background, Monmouth University's football team hit the field for 90+ plays in the first scrimmage of 2017 training camp.

"I was happy with today," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan. "I think you saw the ability of both the offense and defense to make plays. The offense showed their ability to hit some explosive plays and get some chunk yardage. I thought [QB] Kenji [Bahar] was accurate throwing the ball and was able to put the ball on receivers. The defense came up with some key stops in third and fourth down situations down in the red zone and the goal line. Any time you can do that, I think it's good for your football team. The next step is to become consistent on a daily basis. I think we've shown the ability to perform at a high level, now we just need to do it every day."

As usual with preseason scrimmages, both sides of the ball made big plays but the offense started out of the gate with a long pass from Kenji Bahar (Baltimore, MD/Calvert Hall) to Lonnie Moore (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul IV). Bahar completed back to back balls to the redshirt freshman slot wideout to get the offense moving.

The defense was stout in the redzone, forcing a number of field goal attempts and forcing a turnover after a long Peter Guerierro (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) reception. The Monmouth back bounced s swing pass outside– only to be tripped up on the four yardline by a sprinting Kamau Dumas (Morristown, NJ/Morristown). Two plays later Kyle Gregory (Germantown, MD/Quince Orchard) blitzed unabated and stripped the quarterback to end the scoring threat.

Notes & Quotes

Quarterback Max Smyth hooked up with TE Ben Hartwick for a touchdown
Junior tight end Quentin Parham scored a TD on a nice catch and run, giving the tight ends a pair of scores on the day
Gregory also tallied an interception in the scrimmage
The defense had a second goal line stand, stopping the offense on the four after a 19 yard Devell Jones carry

Kevin Callahan on the wide receivers that can complement Reggie White Jr.:
"Any time you can have multiple weapons on your offense, the more difficult you are to defend. We've seen that we have some younger guys emerging that are playmakers. When you get the ball in their hands, they can do really good things with it. It gives us a lot more options from an offensive standpoint."

Callahan on the linebacker position:
"For the inside spot, we're really working five guys. Evan Powell, Diego Zubieta, Tre Nelson, and a freshman DaJaun Cooper are getting the bulk of the reps. On the outside, Agbai Iroha has gotten a majority of the first team reps, but we've also used Christian Runza and Jonathan Brice as well. There are some things that are still undecided with the linebackers overall, but it's a good group to work with and they've all shown the ability to make plays. We're just looking for that consistency."

Callahan on the continued running back position battle:
"We're happy with the work that everyone is putting into the position. Pete Guerriero ran with the ones for the better part of today and he's doing some really good things. He's still in the process of putting it all together and learning after a year away from football. We have some veteran players in Michael Jolly and Devell Jones, who have shown really good things in spots. We are happy with that group and we're very confident that someone from that group will be able to carry the load for us."

Nest Notes

Freshman Joey Aldarelli had a solid day, making a number of big catches
Fifth year senior Ryan Schoer was one of three Hawks to register a sack on the day
Matt White handled punting duties for the Hawks while sophomore Matt Mosquera was charged with the majority of the place kicking duties
Freshman Justin Terry broke up a would-be touchdown pass
Monmouth returns all five starters on the offensive line from last year, led by all-conference center Alex Thompson
Freshman running back Justin Brown also broke a 60 yard catch and run for a score