BRONX, NY – Monmouth University Football (1-1) got its first win of the season on Saturday night, outlasting Fordham University (0-2) 26-23 at Jack Coffey Field.
 
Monmouth running back Juwon Farri had 156 yards and a touchdown while the defense racked up three sacks, two forced fumbles and a two-point conversion interception return.
 
The Hawks broke open the tie in the second quarter when QB Tony Muskett connected with tight end Gene Scott for 35-yard touchdown reception with 12:28 left on the clock.
 
The Rams cut the lead to 7-3 on 27-yard field goal from Nick Leinenweber with 8:36 left in the second. Fordham then went ahead on an eight-yard touchdown pass from DeMorat to Dequece Carter in the corner of the endzone.
 
Muskett went to work, driving the Hawks all the way down the field. Juwon Farri retook the lead for the Hawks with 1:01 left before halftime on a three-yard run that put the visitors ahead 14-10 going into the break.
 
The Hawks forced their second turnover of the game when Justin Terry jarred the ball loose on a hit on Demorat and Eddie Morales recovered. Eight plays later Muskett raced into the corner of the endzone from five yards out for his second rushing touchdown in as many weeks.

Fordham answered with a TD pass but Terry came up big again on the two-point attempt, intercepting the ball in the endzone and returning it 100 yards for a score. Nick Null converted his first field goal for the Blue & White and the Hawks led 26-16 with 13:26 left in the game.
 
The Rams closed to within three points with 5:01 to play after driving the length of the field after Muskett threw an interception on first and goal from the one. On third and 13, DeMorat hit a wide open Dequece Carter for 39 yards and a touchdown to cut the Hawk lead to 26-23.

Fordham got the ball back with 26 seconds to play and the Rams' last second hail mary attempt fell incomplete in the end zone.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"We didn't do everything correct, and we didn't do everything well, but we did enough good things to win the game and most of all, we played extremely hard. As the game got into the second and fourth quarter, it took some really gutsy playing by our guys to pull out the victory. The guys on the defensive side coming up with the key stops at the end of the game and the way Juwon Farri ran the ball, he was as tough as you can be and it was an outstanding performance for him."
- Head Coach Kevin Callahan

"I'm happy we came out with the win and I just know as a team we have a lot of work to do. I wasn't happy about the process leading up to it, but a win is a win and we will go back to the drawing board this week."
- Running Back Juwon Farri

"It really felt good to come out here and get the win and we just looked past what happened last week and came into this game like we were 0-0. Having this first win under our belts takes a load off of us because we know what we are capable of doing. There were some parts of the game where we were sloppy, but that's what we have to get corrected on the practice field this week."
- Defensive Back Justin Terry
 

• Muskett threw 16 straight completions to open the game and didn't throw an incomplete pass until just under two minutes in the first half.
• With his final kickoff return of the game, Lonnie Moore became Monmouth's all-time leader in kickoff return yards and now has 1,372 yards on 61 returns

• Dominick Spano first sack as a Hawk to force a third and long on the last play of the first quarter
• Justin O'Bannon forced a second quarter fumble on a sack that was recovered by Eddie Hahn
• Scott eclipsed his previous career-high of two receptions for 32 yards with his six catch 85-yard performance against Fordham
• Terrance Greene Jr has now caught a reception in 20 consecutive games and 25 out of 30 career contests
• Muskett's 30 completions set a career high for the sophomore, eclipsing the 29 he threw at Sam Houston last season

 
NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Monmouth outgained the Rams 270-242 in the first half
• Farri finished with 156 yards, his 10^th career 100-yard game
• Monmouth had 468 total yards, including 200 on the ground
• Fordham had 469 yards of offense, including 352 through the air
• Justin Terry had 10 total tackles, including eight solo stops
• Fordham was flagged for nine penalties for 93 yards while the Hawks committed five for 30
• MU was 6-of-13 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth down

 
UP NEXT
Monmouth will travel for its third consecutive road night game next week at Charleston Southern. Kickoff for the Big South Conference opener is set for 6 PM.