The University’s football team took a 17-10 lead into halftime, but No. 18 Coastal Carolina went on a 28-0 run and came away with a 38-17 victory over the Hawks in front of 7,123 fans at Brooks Stadium in Conway, SC on Saturday afternoon.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kenji Bahar led the blue and white on a 53-yard scoring drive to open the game, completing all three passes to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Reggie White Jr., who concluded the drive with a 14-yard touchdown to give the blue and white a quick 7-0 lead.
They added to that on their next possession when junior kicker Matt White converted a 45-yard field goal, a yard short of his career high, extending the Hawks’ lead to 10-0. Monmouth extended their lead to 14 early in the second quarter when Bahar connected with sophomore tight end Jake Powell for his first career touchdown, a seven-yard score, to extend the Monmouth advantage to 17-3 with 12:54 in the first half.
But Coastal Carolina scored 35 unanswered points from that point on to pull away with a 38-17 victory. The Hawks fell to 4-6 (0-4 Big South) on the season while Coastal Carolina improved to 7-2 in their first season as an independent as they transition to the Sun Belt Conference and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football.
“We got off to a good start on both sides of the ball, and were able to take a lead into halftime,” Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan said. “At the start of the fourth quarter it was a one score game, but were not able to finish the way that we started. I thought that we played extremely hard and tough.”
Bahar finished 23-43 for 200 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions while senior running back Lavon Chaney gained 58 yards on the ground on 17 carries. White Jr. had 10 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown. His 785 yards is the seven most in school history for a single season and his 59 receptions is third most. Junior safety Mike Basile led the defense with 16 tackles, a season-high and one shy of his career mark, and recovered two fumbles.
Coastal Carolina gained 333 yards on the ground, led by senior running back Kevin Daniles (13 carries, 133 yards) and freshman wide receiver Ryan Lee (16 carries, 121 yards, two touchdowns), who become just the fourth duo to rush for over 100 yards in a game in school history.
The blue and white have their bye this weekend and will put a close to the season on Nov. 19 when they travel to Boiling Springs, NC to take on Big South opponent Gardner-Webb for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
PHOTO COURTESY of Willis Glassgow
