FINAL SCORE
Eastern Washington 42 (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
Monmouth 27 (0-1, 0-0 CAA)

CHENEY, Wash. – The Monmouth University football team opened its 2024 season with a 42-27 setback at Eastern Washington on Thursday evening at Roos Field.

In his first start as a Hawk, Derek Robertson finished with 390 yards, three touchdowns and a late interception on 27-for-42 passing. TJ Speight led the Hawks with 97 receiving yards on five catches.

Sone Ntoh put the Hawks on the board in the first quarter with a two-yard touchdown plunge after the Eagles jumped out to a quick 14-point lead. Derek Robertson's arm set up the score with completed passes to Maxwell James (22 yards) and Gavin Nelson (35 yards) during the eight-play 75-yard drive.

On Monmouth's next drive, Josh Derry took a quick pass from Robertson and sprinted 48 yards to the end zone to tie the game at 14. Running back Rodney Nelson contributed 33 total yards on four touches as part of the eight-play, 95-yard, drive.

Trailing 42-14 in the fourth, Robertson and the Hawks put together a four-play 75-yard drive that was capped off with a 21-yard TD catch by tight end Jack Neri. On the previous play, Gavin Nelson hauled in a 39-yard reception.

James high-pointed a 19-yard pass for the game's final score with 3:41 remaining to finish off an impressive nine-play 89-yard drive from the Monmouth offense. 

Eastern Washington scored on all four of its drives across the second and third quarters after the Hawks leveled the score at 14-14. Preseason All-American Efton Chism III finished with a game-high 173 receiving yards on 12 catches and added three touchdowns for the Eagles.

EWU quarterback Kekoa Visperas tossed five touchdown passes while completing 89% of his passes.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"We didn't play nearly well enough to win and I didn't think we played up to our potential in any phase of the game. We struggled on offense, we couldn't contain them on defense and credit goes to Eastern Washington."
Head Coach Kevin Callahan on the game

"Derek had a phenomenal game tonight. He had to do a lot of it himself, he was under duress quite a bit and we had some key drops. I thought he played extremely well, he provided great leadership for the offense, really put the offense on his back and was able to get us down the field. "
Callahan on quarterback Derek Roberton's performance

The game was the first-ever matchup between Monmouth and Eastern Washington.
Monmouth played its third Big Sky opponent in program history.
Coming into the game, Eastern Washington was receiving votes in both national polls.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
TJ Speight, Josh Derry, and Jack Neri each caught five passes.
Speight led the Hawks with 97 receiving yards and 120 all-purpose yards.
Derry had a 48-yard touchdown and 64 total yards. 
Maxwell James caught a 19-yard touchdown pass and finished with 48 yards.
Neri had a 21-yard TD and 44 total yards.
Sophomore Deuce Lee led the defense with 12 total and eight solo tackles.
Sam Korpoi was the other Hawk in double figures with 10 total tackles.
Luke Schabel punted twice for 90 yards, including a long of 52.
Michael Calton Jr. was a perfect 3-for-3 on point after attempts.
The Hawks were held to just 49 total rushing yards on 21 attempts.
Monmouth was penalized just once for five yards in the contest.

UP NEXT 
Monmouth will host Lafayette at Kessler Stadium in a noon kickoff on Saturday, September 7. The game will be broadcast live on SNY, NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and FloSports. Season and single-game tickets for the 2024 Monmouth football season are on sale now at MonmouthHawks.com/Tickets.