The Monmouth Football team secured their second consecutive Big South Championship on Saturday with an overwhelming victory of Kennesaw Stare by a score of 42-17 at Kessler Stadium.
The Monmouth defense did a great job of limiting the second-ranked rush attack in the nation as they only allowed 161 on 48 total attempts.
They also were able to pressure the opposing quarterback a ton as they recorded six sacks as a team. Because of this dominant defensive play, the Hawks did not allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter when the game was already in garbage time.
Senior defensive lineman Erik Massey led the defensive unit with nine tackles, one of them being a sack while junior defensive back Tyrese Wright added eight tackles to his total as well as a fumble recovery. Fifth year defensive lineman Kahari Scarlett led the squad in sacks with two.
The offensive performed just as well in this one, being led behind freshman quarterback Tony Muskett who earned many honors for his Saturday performance, including FCS National Freshman of the Week and Big South Freshman Player of the Week.
“We have talked about him before week one and what he’s been able to do as a true freshman, playing in only his third collegiate game right now,” said head coach Kevin Callahan. “When you take a game that is of the magnitude of this one, playing for a conference championship, an undefeated season at home and for a bid to the NCAA playoffs. For him to come out and go to work take what is given to him and not get rattled and make some big plays while he’s doing that, I think that speaks a lot to his maturity and also his talent.”
Muskett did not disappoint with his performance against the Owls as he threw for 290 yards as well as four touchdowns while not committing a single turnover. The true freshman also completed 18 of 22 passes which is good for 82 percent. Muskett also has a passing efficiency of 170.4 which is good for 2nd in the NCAA.
Graduate student linebacker Eddie Hahn also earned himself Big South Defensive Player of the Week Honors for his efforts in Monmouth’s victory. He recorded eight total tackles and a sack. Hahn also forced two turnovers in the contest as he was a problem all game for the Owls offense.
Redshirt sophomore Juwon Farri ran for 178 yards and also had two scores, including a 48 yard TD that put the game out of reach. He averaged a tremendous 8.1 yards per carry in a dominant showing. His performance was enough to notch him Big South Offensive Player of the Week Honors.
The Hawks also had two receivers eclipsing 100 yards. Junior wide receiver Terrance Greene Jr.as well as senior wide receiver Lonnie Moore racked up 119 yards and 124 yards respectively.
“I could not be happier with the performance our guys put forth. I thought it was a dominating performance in every phase of the game,” said Callahan.
The Hawks were ranked 20th coming into the contest but after their overwhelming victory against Kennesaw State, the Hawks were ranked 11th in the Athlon Sports poll.
With Saturday’s victory the Blue and White automatically qualify for the 2021 Spring NCAA Playoff. They will learn their opponent in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday April 18 during the selection show.
Monmouth is now 18-1 at home ever since Kessler Stadium opened in 2017; their only loss came at the hands of Kennesaw State that year.
As the Blue and White’s next game against Robert Morris was cancelled, the Hawks finished regular season play with an undefeated record of 3-0.
PHOTOS COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
