Grasso's Punt Return Ignites Monmouth's Second-Half Surge

Photos above courtesy of Monmouth University: #8 Michael Jolly, #4 Devell Jones and #25 Pete Guerriero

WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth senior Vinny Grassso’s thrilling 70-yard punt return for a touchdown turned a game that had seesawed back-and-forth decidedly back in Monmouth’s favor and the Hawks went on to double-up Big South foe Presbyterian 42-21 Saturday at Kessler Stadium.

The win allowed Monmouth to defend its first ever national ranking after being voted No. 24 in the most recent FCS Top 25 polls. It also kept them tied atop the Big South standings with Kennesaw State (8-1, 3-0), ranked right behind the Hawks at No. 25.

“I’m very happy with the victory,” Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan said after the win. “Our goal today was to come out of this game 1-0 this week and to get to 8-1 overall. We weren’t hitting on all cylinders in the first half but you have to credit Presbyterian for that, they had a good game plan. During the half we just kind of refocused and to the credit of our team we came out in the second half flying and scored in a lot of different ways and that was the difference in the game. I’m very happy where we are.”

With two conference games remaining for both Kennesaw State and Monmouth (8-1, 3-0) their November 18 game at Kennesaw State is shaping up to be a classic showdown for the Big South title. Whoever does come out on top earns a trip to the FCS playoffs, which would be another program first for the Hawks if they can pull it off.

Grasso’s punt return for a touchdown with the Hawks leading 21-14 at the 7:33 mark of the third quarter was his first actual punt return of the year for the Hawks starting wide receiver and the decision to put him out there turned out to be a genius move – if only by necessity – by Callahan.

“Kamau Dumas sprained his ankle, so it wasn’t too hard to be honest with you,” Callahan chuckled when asked what was behind his decision to put Grasso in. “Punt return is something we work on a lot, guys work hard to try to get on blocks on it. He made a great run. It’s up to the returner to make the first guy miss. Vinny did that, then he was able to pick up a few good blocks along the way but that was a big, big play in the game and a huge momentum swing for us.”

“That was my first punt return of the year, so coach kind of just threw me back there,” Grasso said. “I had a punt return last year but you just have to find the seam and make people miss. I thought we did a good job blocking. I made the first two miss and it was off to the races.”

On Presbyterian’s ensuing possession junior cornerback Tymere Berry kept the momentum moving in the Hawks favor intercepting Blue Hose quarterback Will Brock at the Monmouth 44 and returning it 36 yards to the Presbyterian 20-yard line.

On first-and-10 from the 20-yard line sophomore quarterback Kenji Bahar spotted junior tight end Shawn Clark all alone in the end zone before making a difficult across the body throw to Clark for the touchdown boosting the Hawks lead to 35-14.

A miscue in the secondary then led to a quick Presbyterian (3-6, 0-3) touchdown when Brock connected with DaShawn Davis on a 59-yard scoring play to pull the Blue Hose within 35-21 with 4:09 left in the third quarter.

Monmouth followed with a drive of their own to the Blue Hose 23-yard line in nine plays converting a fourth-and-7 at the 34 with an 11-yard completion to true freshman Joey Aldarelli. That gave the Hawks a first down at the 23-yard line as time ran out in the third quarter.

However, Bahar was then picked off on first down at the goal line giving the ball back to Presbyterian at the one-yard line.

Two stops by junior linebacker Diego Zubieta on first and second down set up a crucial third-and-4 for Presbyterian at the seven-yard line. Hawks senior linebacker Agbai Iroha then pulled down freshman running back Torrance Marble after a two-yard pick up forcing Presbyterian to punt out of their own end zone giving the ball back to the Hawks.

Taking over at midfield following the punt the Monmouth embarked on a game-clinching, six-play, 50-yard scoring drive with sophomore running back Pete Guerriero finishing off the drive with five-yard burst up the middle for a 42-21 lead with 9:33 remaining in the game.

Guerriero rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries for his fourth 100-plus rushing day and seventh touchdown of the season. He leads the team with 768-yards rushing on 129 attempts for a six-yard average.

The two teams traded touchdowns twice in the first half and went into the locker room knotted at 14-14 at halftime.

“We might’ve been too hyped up,” Callahan said of his team’s slow start. “For that reason we weren’t executing as well as we needed to (in the first half). Some people thought this was going to be a cake walk for us but if you look at their (Presbyterian) resume of losses it’s pretty impressive and there’s not a bad loss on it.”

Following a Matt White punt, Presbyterian scored on their second possession of the game going 50 yards in nine plays with a Brock finding Davis for a nine-yard pass completion for a touchdown.

Monmouth answered right back with 10 play, 80-yard touchdown drive to knot the game at 7-7. A Bahar to Reggie White Jr. eight-yard completion on 3-and-4 from the Presbyterian 38 kept the drive alive before a 15-yard run by Guerriero and a 11-yard completion to Jake Powell set up junior power-back Devell Jones’ two-yard scoring burst with 3:59 left in the first quarter.

The two teams exchanged punts before the Blue Hose went up 14-7 on a six play, 75-yard drive with Brock finishing off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Riley Hilton.

A Bahar interception on fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line thwarted a Monmouth 59-yard drive but after Presbyterian took over at their own one-yard line following the pick the Monmouth defense forced a three-and-out and Presbyterian had to punt out of their own end zone.

Senior defensive tackle Manny Maragato and freshman linebacker Erik Massey had big stops and Dumas defended a pass on third-and-seven from the four-yard line to force the punt.

Presbyterian got the punt off out of the end zone and the Hawks took over at the Blue Hose 48-yard line. Three runs by Guerriero netted 23 yards before a Bahar sack set up a third-and-five from the 26-yard line. Senior running back Michael Jolly then broke a number of tackles before scampering down the right sideline for the tying score with 2:57 left in the first half.

Presbyterian attempted a desperation 55-yard field goal as time ran out in the half but senior safety Mike Basile got his hand up to block the kick.

“We came out in the first half and we were a little sluggish and we gave up some points and some yards.” Basile said. “We just needed to regain focus. We had a good game plan and in the second half we came out and were able to execute it.

“We always try to win the turnover battle and Tymere did a good job on that play (his interception) to make a big play for us and that led to a touchdown on the next play.”

Basile finished with a game-high 10 tackles including one TFL boosting his program record to 404 stops for his career.

The offense scored 30 or more points for the seventh time this season and put up over 400 yards of total offense (402) for the sixth time this season.

Bahar finished 13-of-26 for 165 yards and one touchdown but had a season-high three interceptions. He also rushed three times for 12 yards including a seven-yard touchdown run on the Hawks first possession of the second half that gave them their first lead of the game, 21-14.

“Honestly, right now, it doesn’t mean anything,” Callahan said when asked about his team being ranked nationally. “It’s great, I’m glad our team is getting recognized for their efforts and that’s nice but what matters is what we do on the field on Saturdays. Today we got the job done, we got this week’s victory and pretty soon we’ll begin looking on to next week.”