HAMPTON, VA- Freshman tailback Eric Zokouri (Silver Spring, MD/Montgomery Blair) raced 25 yards on the first play in overtime to give Monmouth (3-1) a 30-23 lead over Hampton and the defense didn't allow a yard to secure a 30-23 win over Hampton (2-2) Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium.
 
Hampton jumped out to a 13-0 lead on a 28 yard fourth-down Delmon Williams touchdown run. The Pirates took the opening drive 78 yards, needing just six plays for a Williams to Ronald Bell 51-yard touchdown strike.
 
The Hawks got on the board after Diego Zubieta (Newton Sq., PA/Penncrest) recovered a Williams fumble on the Hampton 14 yardline. Three plays later Devell Jones (Iselin, NJ/Lincoln) piled in from two yards out for his sixth touchdown of the year to cut the lead to 13-7.
 
Hampton converted a 37 yard field goal attempt with 6:47 left in the first half, propelled by a 39 yard reception by Wesley Wolfolk. Monmouth answered with a Bahar to Jake Powell (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) touchdown pass with just under a minute left in the half.
Zokouri gave the Hawks their first lead of the game (23-16) with his 1 yard over the top touchdown run with seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
Holding on to a seven point leader, senior Kamau Dumas (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) recorded his second interception of the game on a third down pass. Hampton got a fourth quarter stop and drove 60 yards in 41 seconds needing just four plays and a pass interference call to tie the game on a 34 yard Williams to Bell touchdown strike.
 
Notes & Quotes
"We didn't make it easy but I was very happy with the way our players hung in there, played tough and rallied when we needed to. I have to credit Hampton, I thought they came up with a good gameplan on both sides of the ball, they did some things on offense that had us on our heels early. I thought we settled in and played better defense after their first few drives. They were a team that we knew wasn't going to go away and a team that we knew we had to put away. Fortunately we were able to do that at the end of the day." – Coach Kevin Callahan
 
"A very good but also very clutch performance on his part. He's a guy that we've been watching what he does here since training camp. Unfortunately we had a few backs banged up and he answered the call, he was the next man up and did a great job." Coach Callahan on Eric Zokouri
 
"It was a grind out there, it was very hot, conditions that we hadn't played in yet this year. We came out with the win- that's the most important part but there is a lot of stuff we need to clean up. Overtime it was 0-0, after the offense scored on the first play, we took it upon ourselves to step up and keep them out of the endzone." – Kamau Dumas
 

• Monmouth freshman cornerback Justin Terry and junior running back Michael Jolly made their first career starts in the contest
• The win is Monmouth's first road win since Howard last season
• Dumas became the first Hawk to record two interceptions in a game since Teddie Martinez had two against Liberty in 2016
• After Hampton scored on its first two possessions, Monmouth's defense allowed just three points on the next 11 possessions before Bell's fourth quarter touchdown reception
• Zokouri who had not carried the ball in the first three Monmouth contests, recorded 77 yards on nine carries with a pair of touchdowns
• Mike Basile led the Hawks with eight tackles and will need five to set the MU record

 
Numbers Crunch

• Monmouth's first first down came on its third drive, a 16 yard pass from Bahar to White Jr.
• Hampton led in total offense 131-10 after the first quarter
• Manny Maragoto recorded his 10.5 career sack in the fourth quarter
• Terry finished with five tackles
• Junior defensive tackle Gerron Pendarvis had a career-high six tackles
• Reggie White Jr. recorded seven receptions in the contest
• Bell finished with 140 yards and two touchdowns on 13 receptions
• Hampton held a 33:37-26:23 advantage in time of possession
• Hampton edge MU 316-275 in yards

 
UP NEXT
Monmouth continues its four-game road stand at Bucknell next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 PM.