EASTON, PA-  Monmouth University's (1-3) football team fell to Lafayette (3-1), 28-20 in a rain soaked contest at Fisher Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Hawks recorded a fourth down stop down eight with 1:39 left in the game but couldn't get the ball in the endzone to avoid its first loss to Lafayette in four contests. Quarterback Marquez McCray completed 65.6% of his passes for 234 yards and tossed two touchdowns to Dymere Miller. Miller hauled in 10 catches for 121 yards with the pair of touchdowns.
 
Monmouth struck first on 47-yard Michael Calton Jr. field goal with 8:05 left in the first, the longest field goal of the freshman's young career. The Leopards took the lead on an 13-play drive that went 75 yards and ended in a nine-yard Dean DeNoble touchdown pass. The Leopards took a 14-3 lead after a 55-yard drive that ended in a one-yard Dean DeNoble run. Calton would kick his second field goal of the game (36 yarder) with time expiring in the first half, cutting into the lead 14-6 at the break.
 
Down 21-6 and time winding down in the third quarter McCray hit Miller for a 20-yard touchdown and Jack Neri completed the two-point conversion and Lafayette's lead was cut to 21-14. The Leopards responded with another long drive, converting a trio of third downs en route to DeNoble's second touchdown pass of the afternoon and a 28-14 lead with 12:41 left. McCray and Miller connected once again with 2:01 left in the fourth to cut the lead to eight but the Hawks were unable to get the ensuing onsides kick.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan
"We came up against a team that was very efficient on both sides of the ball. On the defensive side, we had instances where I thought we did a pretty good job against them and then we gave up big plays. On offense, we couldn't run the ball very well. We have to run it better than that. We were unable to sustain anything. And to Lafayette's credit, they were methodical on both sides of the ball."
 

• Millers two touchdown receptions ties his career-high set against Towson last season
• Luke Shabel recorded a career-long 68-yard punt that was downed inside the Lafayette five
• Freshman running back Rodney Nelson recorded his first career rushes in the contest
• Safety Justin Bennin made his first career start in the contest
• Defensive back Israel Clark-White saw his first action for the Hawks

 
NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Time of possession in the first half was weighted in favor of the Leopards, 18:26 to 11:34.
• Monmouth was flagged for 10 penalties for 60 yards in the setback
• Lafayette had seven sacks in the contest
• Remi Johnson and TJ Kamara led the Hawks with eight tackles each

 
UP NEXT
Monmouth hosts Lehigh at 1 PM on Saturday, September 30 at 1 PM for Homecoming. Tickets are on sale now at MonmouthHawks.com/tickets