Holy Cross Crusaders (2-1, 0-0 Patriot League) at
#19/21 Monmouth Hawks (2-1, 1-0 Big South)
Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021; 1:05 p.m.
Kessler Stadium, West Long Branch, N.J.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPN+
Matt Harmon (Play by Play); Eddy Occhipinti (Color Analyst)
DIRECTIONS TO KESSLER STADIUM
Directions to Monmouth University and Kessler Stadium can be found here:
TICKET INFO:
For tickets call 732-263-5735 or visit MonmouthHawks.com for online sales
Day of game tickets can be purchased at the Austin Family Box Office 

A LOOK AT THE GAME

• Today's game matches a pair of two-time defending conference champions who were selected as favorites to win their league titles again this Fall. Both Monmouth and Holy Cross bring a 2-1 record into today's game and are coming off of road victories.
• Today's game promotion is Frontline Heroes' Day where frontline workers receive free admission to today's game with a valid ID.
• Monmouth, which moved up to 19th in the most recent AFCA Coaches' Poll, opened up Big South play last weekend against CSU, dominating the Bucs 41-14. The win capped a three-game road series to open the season and gave the Hawks their fourth consecutive win over Charleston Southern.
• Holy Cross comes into today's game after defeating Yale on a last second field goal to get its second win of the season. The Crusaders opened up the 2021 campaign with a dominating win over FBS foe UConn, taming the Huskies by 10 points on the road.   
• The game will air on ESPN+ with Matt Harmon, (pxp) and Eddy Occhipinti (analyst) on the call.

 
TODAY'S PROMOTIONS
Frontline Heroes Day: Frontline workers receive free admission to today's game with a valid ID.


THE COACHING MATCHUP
Kevin Callahan, the 2019 and 2020 Big South Coach of the Year, is in his 29th season at Monmouth as the Hawks' head coach. Callahan owns a 168-126 career coaching record, all with Monmouth. Coming into the season, Callahan's 168 victories ranks him 6th among active coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision. He is one of two FCS coaches with 150+ wins all at one institution and his 29 years as a head coach is the seventh most among active coaches. The only coach in Monmouth history, he has led the Blue & White to six conference championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2020-21 and its first at-large playoff berth in 2017. Callahan has earned conference coach of the year accolades in 1998, 2003, 2006, 2019 and 2020 and was named as an Eddie Robinson Award finalist in 2017 (10^th), 2019 (4^th) and 2020-21. Prior to arriving in West Long Branch, Callahan served as defensive coordinator at Colgate for eight seasons and at Wagner for three years. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Albany (1977-79) and Syracuse (1980) before becoming a Seahawk assistant in 1981.
 
Bob Chesney is in the fourth season at the helm of the Crusaders, leading Holy Cross to back to back Patriot League titles in 2019 and last Spring. Last season, under his guidance the Crusaders finished ranked 25th in the nation. A two-time Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year, Chesney previously spent five seasons at Assumption College (44-16, 2013-2017) and three years at Salve Regina University (23-9, 2010-2012). He took over an Assumption program that had posted two winning seasons in the 17 years prior to his arrival and led the Greyhounds to five-straight winning records and NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his last three years. Chesney earned his bachelor's degree from Dickinson College where he was a defensive back, earning Second Team All-Centennial Conference honors in both 1998 and 1999.
INSIDE THE MU-HOLY CROSS SERIES
Fifth Overall Meeting
Overall Record: MU 3-1
    West Long Branch: Tied 1-1
    Holy Cross: MU 2-0
First Meeting: Sept. 21, 2013
Last Meeting: Nov. 30, 2019
Longest MU Win Streak: 2 gms
Longest HC Win Streak: 1 game
Largest MU W Margin: 17 points
Largest HC W Margin: 8 points
Smallest MU W Margin: 7 points
Smallest HC W Margin: 8 points
Shutouts: ---
Overtime Games: ---
 
INSIDE THE MONMOUTH-HOLY CROSS SERIES

• Today is the fifth meeting between the Crusaders and the Hawks, with Monmouth leading the series 3-1, including a 1-0 postseason mark
• Monmouth is 2-0 on the road and 1-1 at home against the Crusaders. Holy Cross' win came in 2015 in West Long Branch. In that game the Hawks recovered an onside kick and drove down to the Crusader 22 to attempt to tie it up but threw an interception on third down to end the comeback push.
• In 2013, Monmouth won the first meeting 21-14 in Worcester, having to hold off a late Crusader comeback from  Peter Pujals, who saw his first collegiate action against Monmouth. MU's defense knocked out the first two HC signal callers setting up Pujals who almost erased a 21-0 deficit.
• Most recently the two teams met in the first round of the 2019 FCS Playoffs  with Monmouth dominating the 44-27 contest. It was the first playoff win for the Hawks and the first time Monmouth hosted a NCAA Playoff game. MU led 37-13 heading into the final quarter, Pete Guerriero finished with 220 yards rushing and three touchdowns while the defense recorded three interceptions, two of which were caught by linebacker Evan Powell.

 
MONMOUTH AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• Monmouth owns a 17-10 record against the Patriot League, winning 11 consecutive games against the conference.
• Two weeks ago the Hawks defeated Fordham in the Bronx for their first win of the season, edging the Rams 26-23. Fordham's 2015 victory over the Hawks is the last time Monmouth lost to a Patriot League team.
• Monmouth has won three straight against Lehigh with the Hawks owning a winning a record against Georgetown (2-0), Bucknell (2-0), Holy Cross (3-1) and Fordham (2-1).
• Colgate (3-1) and Lehigh (5-3) own winning records against Monmouth.
• In 2017 the Hawks faced four of the seven Patriot League teams, going 4-0.

 
JUWON FARRI FINDS PAYDIRT THREE TIMES AGAINST CSU
Farri scored three touchdowns in the first half last weekend to put Monmouth ahead 21-0 in its Big South opener, the first time he's scored three times in a half in his career. Farri finished with 78 all-purpose yards and the three touchdowns in three quarters of work against the Bucs. The Big South Offensive Player of the Year scored on runs of two, five and one yard to push his season totals to four touchdowns.  Farri's 324 rushing yards is third in the NCAA, 45 yards away fromo the top spot.
 
EDDIE MORALES CONTINUES TORRID START TO 2021
Monmouth redshirt junior defensive back Eddie Morales III had another standout game for the Hawks, finishing with eight tackles, an interception and a pair of pass breakups. The junior had four solo stops including one for a loss but it was his 77-yard interception return that stopped a Charleston Southern drive when the Buc's deficit was still 14 points. On first and 10 from the Monmouth 29 Morales cut off a Jack Chambers pass and raced to the CSU endzone where he was ruled out at the one-yard line. One play later Farri scored to put the Hawks up 21-0 early in the second quarter. Morales has 16 tackles, three for a loss and is tied for first on the Hawks with four passes defended.
 
MONMOUTH'S DYNAMIC DUO ON OFFENSE
The wide receiver duo of Lonnie Moore IV (156) and Terrance Greene Jr (120) are the lone active Big South players with 100 career receptions. Moore is the 13th Big South player with 150+ career catches, and ranks 12th all-time with 156. He became the 15th player with more than 2,000 receiving yards in Week 2 against Fordham, and ranks 12th in the league record book with 2,065.
 
COACH CALLAHAN FOURTH IN BIG SOUTH HISTORY
Head Coach Kevin Callahan is fourth all-time in Big South history with 48 wins during his time in the conference, and needs two to become the fourth with 50 victories. He is looking to become the third-fastest Big South coach to 50 wins.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Monmouth defeated Charleston Southern, 41-14, this past Saturday in the earliest Big South game in league history. The previous earliest conference game was Sept. 24, 2016, which was also a Monmouth-Charleston Southern match-up. The win gave the Hawks thier fifth consecutive season starting out 1-0 in league play.

Social Media Links:
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Monmouth's YouTube page (YouTube.com/monmouthhawks)