For the second straight week, MU rode the legs of the running back combination of junior Julian Hayes and senior Kwabena Asante as they held off the Holy Cross Crusaders, 21-14.
The Hawks jumped out to a 21-0 lead on Asante’s 14-yard touchdown run with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, and then the Crusaders made it a game with two late scores. Though, the defense bent, they did not break and preserved their first victory.
With the win, the Hawks improved to 1-3 and Holy Cross now mimics MU’s record.
“I thought it was a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, I was very happy with the way we played,” head coach Kevin Callahan said. “This was a team that ran for 420-yards last week and they finished with 55-yards on 25 or so attempts. They never really got anything going until late in the fourth quarter. I thought we played dominant defensively.”
MU Junior quarterback Brandon Hill completed 12 of 22 passes for 139-yards and tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Lamar Davenport to break the scoreless tie just before the half. However, the rushing attack of Hayes and Asante stole the show.
Hayes took 28 carries for 131-yards and a 12-yard scamper into the end zone to put the Hawks up by two touchdowns. Asante carried the ball 24 times for 118-yards and a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to seal the deal before the Crusader’s late attempt at a comeback.
Through the air, Davenport led the way for the Hawks with 3 catches for 42-yards and a touchdown in the second quarter. Senior receiver Thaddeus Richards went 29-yards off three receptions, while teammate senior receiver Neal Sterling had 27-yards off two catches. Fellow senior receiver Elijah Phillips, gained 15 yards for the Hawks off two catches.
Defensively, the Hawks were led by fifth year senior Dave Damirgian, who accumulated six tackles. He was followed by fifth year senior Clark Coe who had five tackles and fifth year senior Gary Onuekwusi, who had four tackles.
Even though the three dominated the defense, the biggest play of the game came from senior Tevrin Brandon, who chipped in with five tackles for the day. Brandon was able to intercept a pass from Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals to end a Crusader’s run at the third yard line which shifted the momentum in MU’s favor. The forced turnover led to the Hawks’ final scoring drive.
“At halftime we challenged our offense to run the ball with more consistency. We were able to find our rhythm there; I thought the telling drive of the game came after Tevrin’s interception,” Callahan said. “We put together a 97-yard drive and there were 12 or 13 runs in there, I felt that really demoralized them. We made some adjustments. The big plays that we gave up the first few weeks of the season, we eliminated today.”
The Hawks will resume play in New York, NY on Saturday, September 28 as they take on the Columbia Lions at 12:30 pm.
PHOTO COURTESY of Bryan DeTuro
