On Saturday, the Monmouth Hawks (3-4) went against the Towson Tigers (4-3) at Kessler Stadium in West Long Branch resulting in a tough loss of 14-26 for Monmouth.
Towson won the coin toss electing to kick off first, which led to the Monmouth offense starting at the 25-yard line. The game’s first play was a 5-yard run when quarterback, Derek Robertson, handed off the ball. After a first down and a false start, the Hawks kicked to the opposing team. Towson responded with no return on the play, a 15-yard pass interference penalty, and a kick back to Monmouth.
Monmouth’s second try started at the 37-yard line which allowed them to gain the first down immediately. After that, they went for it on a fourth and two resulting in them being 1-yard short, forcing a turnover. The next two possessions, by both teams, ended in a sacked quarterback by Towson’s defensive lineman Jurnee Dunbar.
The game started quickly in the second quarter when Towson scored a 10-yard touchdown to tight end Carter Runyo and got the extra point. In response, Robertson threw a 41-yardcatch to wide receiver Gavin Nelson. This was capped with a touchdown by running back Sone Ntoh and the extra point by Michael Calton Jr.
With 1:40 left in the second quarter, Towson scored a field goal by Keegan Vaughan leaving the score 10-7 for halftime after a false start for all 11 offensive players. With just six seconds left, Monmouth was close to another touchdown but ultimately could not come through ending with an interception in the endzone in the first half.
The second half started with Towson’s quarterback Sean Brown leading a nine-play, 70-yard drive. This led to a 3-yard touchdown once again by Runyon, giving the Tigers a 17-7 lead.
Towson ultimately went the whole game never trailing behind Monmouth. After a 10-yard penalty for holding and a sack resulting in a loss of 5 yards, MU started at the 11-yard line but quickly got down the field. Right before the third quarter ended, Robertson threw a 33-yard scoring pass to Nelson attempting to catch up to the Tigers.
After several failed throws in the endzone, Towson got a 22-yard field goal. In their next possession midway through the fourth quarter, Brown threw a 6-yard touchdown once again to Runyon. When they went for a 2-point conversion, Monmouth’s defense denied them quickly.
With almost 20 seconds left on the clock, the game came to a close with a final score of 26-14.
Robertson threw 305 yards in total involving two touchdowns and an interception leaving both team’s records at 4-4. After a four game stretch at home, the Hawks will hit the road again this weekend to face Rhode Island on Saturday Nov. 2 in Kingston, RI.
