Monmouth Ekes Out Win Over Bucknell With Decisive Fourth Quarter

Photos courtesy of Patrick Tewey of Monmouth University: #30 Juwan Farri, #5 Evan Powell, #1 Tymere Berry, #9 Reggie White Jr., #4 Devell Jones and #92 Kahari Sccarlett

WEST LONG BRANCH – After shooting itself in the foot all afternoon, Monmouth University found themselves down 19-16 late in the fourth quarter to a 1-6 Bucknell team that the Hawks were expected to handle with relative ease.

Monmouth’s defense was playing its best game of the year but a turnover-prone offense that had trouble getting untracked much of the day had the Hawks in a hole that was beginning to appear too deep to dig out of.

“There was no question that we were hurting ourselves on offense,” Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan said. “We were giving ourselves bad field position, taking ourselves out of drives with penalties that put us in unmanageable down-and-distance situations. And then we had the turnovers and any time you turn the ball over it’s not good. But at the end of the game in that last five plus minutes we able to just really put together some solid drives to get the win.”

However, as bleak as things looked, the defense made the play of day that turned the game around and the Hawks eventually pulled out a 36-19 win over Bucknell Saturday afternoon at Kessler Stadium.

After Bucknell took a 19-16 lead at the 12:33 mark of the fourth quarter, Monmouth’s Brandan Batts returned the ensuing kickoff 19 yards to the 34-yard line. The Hawks then went three-and-out and Colin McCreary’s punt was partially blocked handing the Bison excellent field positon at their own 41-yard line.

Bucknell moved the ball to the Hawks 41-yard line and was driving for what could’ve been a game-clinching score. With the Bison looking at a third-and-four situation for a first down with a little over nine minutes to play in the game, Monmouth was in desperate need of a stop here.

Enter junior linebacker Evan Powell.

With Powell dropping back in zone coverage, Bucknell quarterback Logan Bitikofer tried to force a pass over the top that Powell grabbed with a nice leaping catch intercepting the ball at the Hawks 36-yard line and returning it to the Bison 37-yard line.

“We called timeout and kind of figured what they were going to do,” said Powell of his game-changing play. “I made eye contact with the quarterback right before he threw it so I expected to have it in my hands but it ended up high and I made the play.”

Monmouth then marched 37 yards in eight plays to take a 23-19 lead after Matt Mosquera’s extra point with 5:40 left in the game and the Hawks never looked back.

On the drive, senior running back Devell Jones converted two huge third-down’s on runs of three and nine yards and had a seven-yard run down to the one-yard line that set up junior quarterback Kenji Bahar’s one-yard touchdown toss to sophomore tight end Gene Scott to take the lead.

Jones, who scored twice and rushed for 33 yards on six carries, is the epitome of what a role player is all about and someone the Hawks can always rely on to pick up the tough yardage when needed in some of the most critical junctures of a game.

It was Scott’s first career reception with regular tight ends Jake Powell and Shawn Clark both out with injuries.

Bucknell took over at their own 36-yard line following Mosquera’s kickoff and the Hawks defense stepped up again forcing another three-and-out at the Bucknell 37-yard line.

Vinny Grasso called for a fair catch on the ensuing punt and the Hawks had a first-and-10 at their own 21-yard line with the lead and the clock showing 4:15 left to play.

With starting running back Pete Guerriero out with an injury, Juwan Farri got his first career start in place of Guerriero and up to that point had a solid day rushing for 68 yards on 16 attempts.

But Farri quickly turned a solid day into a spectacular day. The 5-foot-10, 185 pound freshman took a handoff from Bahar up the middle on first down and ran through a couple of tackles before breaking it to the outside and outrunning the nearest defender down the right sidelines for a 79-yard touchdown.

“He had a hell of a day,” said Callahan of Farri’s performance. “I thought you saw a tremendous individual effort from him on a couple of those runs, particularly on the long runs he had.”

Farri finished with a game-high 189 yards rushing on 18 attempts and a touchdown.

“The team just helps me out doing a lot of stuff,” said Farri when asked he felt any added pressure in his first career start. “They pick me up whenever I’m down and I’m very thankful for them to be around me and pick me I up when I need it.”

A fumbled snap on the extra-point attempt left the score at 29-19 with 3:53 remaining in the game.

Bryan Marine returned Mosquera’s kickoff 24 yards to the Bucknell 41 where the Bison were now fighting the clock.

Two plays netted five yards. Then on third-and-five junior cornerback Tymere Berry knocked away a pass intended for Steven Walier setting up a crucial fourth down for the Bison. Bitikofer surprisingly went right back at Berry who again defended the play with text-book coverage before swatting the ball away from the intended receiver.

Berry’s fourth-down play turned the ball back over to the Hawks with 2:23 left in the game.

“He really made some key plays at critical points in the game and turned the game in our favor and helped secure the win,” said Callahan of Barry’s pivotal plays. “Those two consecutive plays were big plays where he did a fine job of locking the receiver up and playing the ball.”

“Today as defensive backs we had to really focus on our eyes and our technique. Things we let slip or didn’t do too much of in the last few games,” Berry said. “So we really wanted to make a point to come out here to work our eyes and discipline and things like that so that’s what I tried to do on each play.”

Fellow secondary mates Kyle Gregory and Anthony Budd –in his first action since Lafayette game – also had standout games in coverage and run support. Gregory finished with a team-high nine sole tackles while Gregory added six solo tackles.

Defensive end Kahari Scarlett was stout all game adding five solo tackles and a sack.

On first down, Farri raced 42 yards down to the Bucknell 13-yard line and two plays later Jones took it in from 12-yards out to cap a 20-point fourth quarter and a 36-19 win.

The Hawks are now 8-0 at the new Kessler Stadium dating back to last year and improve to 4-2 on the year.

The first quarter ended scoreless with neither team producing much offense with Bucknell gaining just 51 yards while Monmouth creating 59-total yards of offense.

However, on the first play of the second quarter with Monmouth in an all-out blitz, Bitikofer set up a perfect screen pass to Jared Cooper, who dashed 74-yards down the left sidelines for a 6-0 lead.

Monmouth’s Gerron Pendarvis then blocked the extra-point attempt and sophomore cornerback Justin Terry scooped up the ball and returned it all the way for an exhilarating two points, plus the Hawks received the ball on the ensuing kickoff.

Taking over at their own 30, Monmouth marched 70 yards in six plays with Jones finishing the drive barreling in from a yard out for a 9-6 lead with the extra point by Mosquera.

A 35-yard Bahar to Reggie White Jr. completion on first down got the drive moving and Bahar found Grasso for 16 yards and a first down on the drive.

On Bucknell’s next possession, Budd put a vicious hit on Andrew Owers forcing a fumble that Trey Nelson recovered at the 50-yard line.

Moving to the 16-yard line with a first down, Bahar found tight end Quentin Parham down the left sidelines, but as he tried to dive into the end zone with the ball extended in his hand to reach the pylon a defender knocked it out and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Bucknell for a touchback – the first of three crucial turnovers for the Hawks in the second half.

The Hawks defense held after Bucknell reached the Monmouth 48 on their ensuing possession and the Bison punted back to the Hawks.

Monmouth took over deep in their own territory at the seven-yard line following the punt and drove all the way to the Bucknell 26-yard line but another turnover ruined the drive.

On second-and-2, Bahar was sacked and fumbled with Bucknell recovering at the 35-yard line with 14 seconds left before the half.

With the score still 9-6 Monmouth took over at their own 30-yard line to start the second half.

Bahar hit White Jr. for 10 yards and Grasso for 20 moving the chains to the Bucknell 33-yard line before finding White Jr. on second-and-10 from the 23-yard line for a touchdown. On the play, White Jr. set the program record for career receiving yards with 2,900 yards, passing Miles Austin, who was in attendance to witness his record be broken.

“I wasn’t focused on any record, I was just focused on getting the win,” said White Jr. of his second record-breaking game in a row. “It just happened to be on the touchdown and I’m glad it helped us win the game.”

White Jr. finished with seven receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown while Lonnie Moore added five catches for 65 yards.

The defense forced a Bucknell punt with Grasso calling for a fair catch at the 10-yard line. On third-and-8 from the 12-yard line, Bahar was sacked again, this time for a nine-yard loss all the way to the two-yard line. McCreary’s punt out of the end zone was then blocked and recovered for a Bucknell touchdown.

With Monmouth’s lead now down to three, 16-13, things just kept getting worse. Bahar was picked off on third-and-five and returned to the Monmouth 48-yard line.

However, Monmouth’s defense held Bucknell to 10 total yards on their next two possessions and the Hawks had a first down at their own 27-yard line entering the fourth quarter.

Bahar was sacked for the third time and fumbled the ball all the way back to the three-yard line before it was recovered by center Peter Righi. On fourth-and-34, McCreary punted out of the end zone sailing an end-over-end kick all the way to the 47 but Marine returned 23 yards to the Monmouth 30-yard line.

Five plays later, Jared Cooper ran it in from 13-yards out handing Bucknell a 19-16 lead with 12:33 remaining in the game.

Monmouth then went nowhere setting the stage for Powell’s game-changing interception.

The Hawks did outgain the Bison 469 to 266 in total yardage but it might’ve been a day the offense would've liked to forget, especially Bahar, who had a rough day all around despite his yardage.

However, it was without a doubt the defense’s best outing of the season by a long shot. Their inspired play should give the much maligned unit a needed boost in confidence as the Hawks head into conference play beginning next Saturday when they host Big South newcomer Campbell, who will travel to Monmouth sporting a 5-1 record.

“I think it’s a game that will help build some confidence and help get us back to way we know we can play and the way we know we will need to play to be competitive in Big South Conference games,” said Callahan referencing his defense’s improved play. “So I’m happy about that.”

Despite their struggles, the offense came through big when they needed it most and a win is a win no matter how you look at it.

“I think you saw the ability of some of the different playmakers we have on offense and it showed we can perform in the clutch when we needed to make some plays and we needed to get some first downs,” said Callahan praising his offense’s tenacity. “I thought that was extremely important.”

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