After two tightly contested conference games at home, the Hawks hit the road again for their next game against Kennesaw State. MU fell to the Owls 23-13 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Atlanta.
The Hawks opened the game on offense and started at their own 35 yard line after the opening kickoff went out of bounds. They got the ball into the end zone when Cody Williams completed a 12 yard shovel pass to Darren Ambush to give MU an early 7-0 lead.
The Monmouth defense kept the Owls off the board in the first quarter and a big interception in the end zone by Mike Basile was a key play. But KSU returned the favor and shut out the Hawks in the next two quarters and responded with 23 unanswered points. The Owls got on the board on a two yard rush by Jae Bowen that capped off a 17 play, 80 yard drive that lasted 8:50 and tied the game at seven. Kennesaw State added points to the board in each of their next three possessions. Bowen got in once again from two yards out, this time on a pass from Trey White. The extra point attempt missed and the score was 13-7 KSU. A 37 yard field goal by Justin Thompson extended the Owl lead to 16-7 into halftime.
Kennesaw State opened up the second half going 11 plays for 58 yards as White kept it himself for a three yard touchdown run to make it 23-7. A 14 yard pass from Williams to Ugo Ezemma got the Hawks back in the end zone with 5:44 remaining in the fourth quarter and made it 23-13 after they failed the subsequent two point conversion. Monmouth recovered the onside kick, but Williams threw an interception that ultimately brought the game to an end.
“Going into the game we knew there were things we needed to do in all three phases of the game and we weren’t able to consistently do those things,” Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan said. “In a game like this, you get limited opportunities and you need to make every one of those count and unfortunately we didn’t today. For the third straight week our players gave great effort, we just need to turn that into positive results.”
Zach Welch had a career day on the ground, rushing for a career high 112 yards on 16 carries. Michael Jolly made the most of his carries on the day as he ran for 55 yards on four carries as the duo handled the running duties for the injured Lavon Chaney, who did not suit up for the game. Williams finished 13-25 for 134 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ezemma led Monmouth receivers with 52 yards on three catches while Reggie White Jr. had four catches for 35 yards. Mike Basile fell short of double digit tackles for just the second time this season. The Big South leading tackler finished the game with six stops and an interception.
KSU has 455 yards of total offense. White finished 7-14 for 114 yards, a touchdown and an interception. A first-year football program, Kennesaw State entered the game leading the Big South in rushing with 2,239 yards on the season and continued their strong rushing attack. The Owls ran for 341 yards and had two players rush for over 100 yards in Chaston Bennett (124) and White (102). They were most successful in making key plays when they needed to as KSU went 12-15 on third down conversions.
“To the credit of Kennesaw State, I thought they did a very good job of staying with their game plans,” Callahan said.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 3-6 on the season and 1-3 in Big South conference play. Monmouth has a bye week next week. They return home for their final home game of the season against Presbyterian (1-7, 0-3) on Nov. 14. Presbyterian currently sits dead last in the Big South with no wins, while the Hawks come in at 6th. Kickoff from Kessler Field will be at noon.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
