Football played in front of their largest crowd in program history at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on the road against #19 Montana falling by a final score of 47-27 on Saturday afternoon.
23,119 fans looked on as the Hawks’ fifth-year quarterback Kenji Bahar lit up the field in the loss completing 34 of 50 passes for 393 yards and three total touchdowns one of which was on the ground. He also threw two interceptions and was sacked three times by the Montes defense.
Bahar’s final touchdown came early on in the fourth quarter on a 19-yard pass to junior wide receiver Lonnie Moore IV to bring it back to a one possession game, 33-27. Moore IV had another strong game hauling in seven receptions on the day for 104 yards and a score.
It was Montana who got the last laugh however at home scoring the final two touchdowns of the game leading to the 20-point margin of victory.
Bahar spread the ball around in the loss completing eight passes to junior wide receiver Terrance Greene Jr. who had career highs in both receptions and yardage with eight snags for 99 yards. Bahar also the ran the ball himself six times for 22 yards including a one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that made the deficit 33-20.
It was not just the offense that kept Monmouth in the game against the 19th ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), the defense was all over the field forcing two turnovers.
Freshman safety Davis Smith led the group with a team-high 11 tackles and his first career forced fumble. Senior defensive lineman Rusell Davidson recovered the fumble solidifying the turnover for MU.
Junior defensive back Anthony Budd kept his remarkable year going as well with ten tackles and an FCS-leading fourth interception of the young season that occurred in the first quarter. Senior linebacker Da’Quan Grimes was the third Monmouth defensive player in double figures for tackles with ten on the day adding to his team-leading total of 30 for the year.
“We came out here knowing that we were going to have to put out a really solid effort on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game to give ourselves a chance,” said Head Coach Kevin Callahan. “For the most part we did a lot of really good things out there today but in the end, we didn’t do enough to come away with a win.”
It was a much quieter game for the blue and white’s rushing attack in Missoula as junior running back Pete Guerriero was held under 100 yards rushing for the first time this season. Guerriero ran the ball 18 times for 48 yards while fifth year running back Devell Jones crossed the goal line once for the Hawks for his 20th career touchdown carrying the ball six times for 19 yards.
Monmouth finished with 474 total yards offensively while going three for four on fourth down attempts. Montana totaled 579 yards offensively as they threw for 358 yards but ran for 221 more.
“I was very proud of the way the guys played and the way that they battled and kept coming back,’ said Callahan. “If we continue to play like that through the rest of our schedule, we’ll be in good shape.”
Monmouth will now take a week off before traveling to Wagner on Oct. 5 whom they lead in their all-time series 14-10 and have beaten five straight times.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
