BETHLEHEM, PA- Monmouth University's (3-2, 1-0 CAA) football team won its third straight game in dominating fashion over Lehigh University (1-4, 1-0 Patriot) on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Stadium.
 
Quarterback Tony Muskett threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-27 passing while Jaden Shirden recorded his fourth consecutive game of 100+ rushing yards. The Monmouth defense had a pair of fumble recoveries and recorded six sacks while allowing just seven points.
 
Monmouth went up 7-0 on its second offensive drive the game, with Owen Wright scoring from a yard out with 5:55 left in the first quarter. Muskett was 3-of-4 passing on the drive, which covered 77 yards. Muskett found Dymere Miller for the third time in the second quarter, resulting in a 39-yard touchdown strike and a 13-0 lead. Monmouth's lead ballooned to 21-0 after Muskett found Assanti Kearney open in the middle of the field for a 52-yard touchdown then found Miller for the two-point conversion with 3:08 remaining in the first half.
 
Monmouth's defense picked up where they left off in the first half, forcing a fumble and recovering it at midfield.  Five plays later Muskett called his own number and scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown and the Hawks led 28-0 with 10:56 left in the quarter. Darrion Carrington's first career touchdown reception as a Hawk came with 6:48 remaining in the third giving MU a 35-0 lead. The graduate student finished with a season-high four receptions in the win.
 
Lehigh finally broke in the scoring column on a one-yard Guage Garcia run with 45 seconds left in the third quarter. Monmouth committed a pair of turnovers in the fourth quarter but the Hawk defense got stops on both ensuing possessions.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"We talked this week about taking the next step as a team and that there is a lot that we can do better as a team after four games. We came out here and for the first half I thought we did exactly that. I wasn't happy with the penalties that really extended their drives and put us behind the sticks or negated big plays. There are some things to clean up but it's a good win to get." Head Coach Callahan on the win
 
"Tony had some big plays, the receivers did a great job of catching the ball. Assanti had a big play, Dymere had some big plays catching the ball and moving it down the field. We knew they would be tough to run the ball on but it gave Tony the opportunity to exploit them on the back end."
Callahan on the offense taking the opportunities presented to them
 
"The goal was to keep them out of the endzone. We slipped up one time but we want to play hard every week and look for the opportunity to get the ball. That is the goal." Defensive back Mike Reid
 
"Going into the game our coaches put us in the right position to make plays and that is what we are here to do, make plays. The most important thing was to go 1-0 today, we weren't a winning team going into the game at 2-2 so this game was important to us to get to a winning record at 3-2."
Junior wideout Dymere Miller
 

• The Hawks defense forced the first turnover of the game after Davis Smith stripped the ball on a 53-yard Garcia run and linebacker Remi Johnson pounced on the ball
• It was the second time in three weeks that Remi Johnson recovered a fumble
• Jaden Shirden broke off a 47-yard run in the second quarter, his fifth run of the season of 40+ yards
• Mike Reid forced a fumble for the second time in three weeks with Ryan Moran recovering on the third play of the second half
• Miller finished with nine catches for a career-high 125 yards, his second career 100-yard receiving game
• Wright came into the game leading the nation in scoring, added one more for a total of 13 TD
• Monmouth is now 4-5 all-time against Lehigh but has won four consecutive games 

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Kearney's 52-yard reception was the longest of his career and his third touchdown in the last two weeks
• Lehigh's offense had just two drives where they converted more than one first down
• Jaden Shirden finished with 19 rushes for 100 yards, his fourth consecutive game going over 100-yards rushing
• Lehigh was 6-of-16 on third down and 0-for-3 on fourth down
• Monmouth held a 32:05-27:55 time of possession advantage
• The Hawks averaged 7.10 yards per play
• Monmouth had 490 yards of offense, Lehigh finished with 303

 
UP NEXT
Monmouth returns home to face UAlbany at 1 PM on Saturday. For tickets visit MonmouthHawks.com/Tickets