Final Score
New Hampshire 33 (6-4, 4-2 CAA)
Monmouth 20 (4-6, 2-4 CAA)

DURHAM, N.H. — The Monmouth University football team dropped a 33-20 decision to New Hampshire  in a CAA matchup at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the result, Monmouth moved to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in CAA play, while New Hampshire kept its FCS playoff pursuit alive at 6-4 and 4-2 in the league.

After a scoreless opening quarter, New Hampshire broke the ice with an efficient 9-play, 57-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Seth Morgan to Colby Ramshaw. Monmouth responded early in the second quarter as Derek Robertson's push pass went to T.J. Speight for a 36-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. 

Following a quick response from New Hampshire with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Logan Tomlinson, Monmouth answered again as Sone Ntoh broke free for a 19-yard touchdown run on fourth and short, leveling the score at 14. New Hampshire regained control before halftime, adding two field goals by Nick Mazzie from 42 and 35 yards out, giving the Wildcats a 20-14 edge heading into the break.

New Hampshire extended its lead in the third quarter with another Mazzie field goal and an 11-yard rushing touchdown by Denzell Gibson, widening the gap to 30-14. Monmouth continued to battle, though, putting together an 11-play, 70-yard drive capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Robertson to Tra Neal, narrowing the score to 30-20 after a failed two-point conversion.

Monmouth's defense, led by linebacker Ryan Moran with 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, kept the game in reach, but New Hampshire took advantage of three Monmouth fumbles to secure the win.

Notes and Quotes
"I think you have to give New Hampshire a lot of credit for the way they played. I thought they had the upper hand for most of the day. They took advantage of the opportunities that they had and they made us pay for them. At the end of the day, we didn't create enough opportunities for ourselves and had some mistakes where we gave up the ball in good field position and probably made their job a little easier."
Head Coach Kevin Callahan

The Hawks moved to 2-3 away from home this season.
Monmouth is now 0-3 all-time against New Hampshire.
Jaeden Jones made his first-career start at safety.
Kyle Jackson made his collegiate debut.

Numbers Crunch
Monmouth's defense forced four UNH field goals and a turnover on downs.
Ryan Moran led Monmouth with 12 tackles, a season high, including seven solo stops and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Miles Mitchell now has 2.5 sacks this season and 4.5 for his career.
Joel Parker recorded his first sack of the season.
Brendan Bigos and Korede Sogbesan combined on another sack. It was the first sack of Bigos's career.
Kyle Jackson forced a fumble and Donovan Fey recovered a New Hampshire muffed punt.
TJ Speight paced Monmouth with 60 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Tra Neal scored his sixth touchdown of the season, tied for the team lead with Speight.
Sone Ntoh reached the end zone for the 10th consecutive game. He has scored in 19 of his 21 career games. Ntoh finished the game with 54 yards on five carries.
Ntoh has scored 21 touchdowns this season and 35 in his career. He is one touchdown shy of equaling David Sinisi's single-season rushing touchdowns record and is tied with Pete Guerriero for second in career rushing touchdowns at Monmouth.
Derek Robertson had 198 yards passing to give him 3,043 on the season.

Up Next
Monmouth is back at Kessler Stadium for Senior & Heroes Day next Saturday, November 16. Kickoff is set for 12 noon and the game will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and FloFootball.