Reggie White Jr. Completes Monmouth University's Epic Comeback

Photos courtesty of Monmouth University: #7 Vinny Grasso, #9 Reggie White Jr. #25 Pete Guerriero and #11 Kenji Bahar

WEST LONG BRANCH – Down 47-32 with just over 12 minutes left in the game, Monmouth University staged one, if not the, most thrilling comebacks in program history.

With just over one minute left in the fourth quarter and the score knotted up at 47-47 senior wide receiver Reggie White Jr. took a swing pass in the right flats from junior quarterback Kenji Bahar and raced 84 yards for the winning touchdown for a wild 54-47 come from behind victory over Wagner.

On the play, White Jr. set the all-time program record with his 213th career catch, breaking current New York Jet receiver Sterling Sterling’s Monmouth record of 212.

And you couldn’t have ask for a more dramatic scenario to break the record in front of a delirious home-field crowd.

“It was huge,” said White Jr. of his record breaking and game-winning catch. “Darnell Leslie told me I was going to break the record on a TD. I was running down the field and he called it. As soon as I scored I pointed right to him. Righi (Pete Righi) and Juwan (Ferri) had huge blocks. They opened it up for me and I just ran the rest of the way. Without them the play wouldn’t have happened.”

White Jr.’s exhilarating dash to the finish line completed what seemed like an almost impossible task for the Hawks after falling behind Wagner late in the game and the offense suddenly sputtering.

Unable to slow down the potent Wagner passing attack for the better part of the game, the Hawks offense was asked to keep pace with the Seahawks and for the most part they did just that. But Wagner converted a Monmouth interception and a three-and-out into a two-touchdown lead with 12:39 left in the high-scoring affair.

Trailing 33-29 at start of the second half, Monmouth drove to the Wagner 14-yard line on their opening possession, but junior quarterback Kenji Bahar was sacked for a six-yard loss on second-and-3.

That stalled the drive and the Hawks had to settle for a 37-yard Matt Mosquera field goal to pull them to within one, 33-32.

On Wagner’s ensuing possession, junior linebacker Da’Quan Grimes snuffed out a short pass to Jeffery Bost from quarterback Luke Massei on third-and-10 from the Wagner 32-yard line stopping Bost after a four-yard gain and forcing a punt.

Monmouth took over at their own 30 following the punt, but two plays later Bahar was picked off by Sterling Lowry and the Seahawks took over at their own 29-yard line.

Nine plays later, Ryan Fulse ran it in from five-yards out extending Wagner’s lead to 40-32 with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

Bahar was sacked for a one-yard loss on third-and-11 from the 36-yard line on the Hawks following possession bringing on Colin McCreary to punt on fourth down and handing the ball back to the Seahawks.

Wagner then pushed the score to 47-32 marching 70 yards in 10 plays scoring on a 26-yard Massei to Chris Wood touchdown.

Senior wide receiver/ returner Vinny Grasso got the Hawks miracle rally rolling returning the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the Hawks 44-yard line giving Monmouth some needed momentum as they set out on their improbable comeback.

Grasso handed the Hawks excellent field position all day long returning six kickoffs for 147 yards and three punts for 63 yards finishing with 306 all-purpose yards, including 38 yards rushing and 58 yards receiving in addition to his return yardage.

“Vinny did a great job on some of his kick returns and punt returns to give us phenomenal field positon,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan.

Facing a third-and-12 from the 42-yard line on this do-or-die possession, Grasso found some open space and Bahar got the ball to him for a 12-yard completion and a crucial first down.

Bahar spotted Grasso open over the middle on the next play for a 17-yard pickup giving the Hawks another first down at the Wagner 29-yard line.

“There was a sense of urgency,” said Grasso. “We were thinking we have to score on this drive or we don’t know what’s going to happen. We all looked at each other and said ‘We got to do what we got to do’ and we did it.”

White Jr. then picked up eight yards on a Bahar pass completion before freshman running back Juwan Farri finished off the scoring drive with a nifty 21-yard run while breaking a number of tackles and plowing over a would-be tackler at the goal line to score.

Farri made it a seven-point game, 47-40, bulling his way up the middle for a two-point conversion.

The Hawks were now within a touchdown to tie the game with 10:24 showing on the clock but needed a defensive stop if they were to have any chance of winning the game.

Wagner took over at their own 25-yard line following a touchback and immediately picked up a first down on a 14-yard pass completion to Fulse in the flats.

The play should’ve been stopped short of the first-down marker, but a missed tackle – something that plagued the defense, in particular the secondary, all game – allowed Fulse to pick up the extra yardage needed for first down.

However, on third-and-2 from the 50-yard line, on a unusual play, the defense batted down a Massei pass into the hands of offensive lineman Jake Vogel, who was then pulled down for a loss of 13 yards by defensive lineman Kahari Scarlett for a huge third-down stop.

Grasso then returned the punt 14 yards to the Monmouth 28-yard line and Hawks were looking at a 72-yard drive with 6:21 left to tie the game.

On first-and-5 following a Wagner offside penalty, Farri steamed up the middle for a 33-yard gain and a first down at the Wagner 34-yard line.

Farri picked up 11 yards for another first down then on second-and-5 from the Seahawks 19-yard line he broke loose for a 19-yard game-tying touchdown with 4:17 still left on the clock.

On the drive, the rising freshman stamped himself as a legitimate threat out of the backfield giving the Hawks an explosive one-two punch of Farri and speedster Pete Guerriero, who picked up 102-yards rushing on 16 attempts and a touchdown in the win. Farri finished with 104 yards on just seven carries and two touchdowns.

“Juwan was ready to go when his number was called and went in there and executed,” Callahan said. “He was prepared, he prepared during the week and he knew what he had to do in terms of assignment and game plan. When he had the opportunities, he made the plays.”

With the score now tied at 47-47, Wagner took over at their own 19-yard line after the Mosquera kick with 4:10 left in the fourth.

The game’s delicate balance was now in the hands of the defense and they got the stop they needed when they needed it the most.

The Seahawks converted two third-down plays giving them a first-and-10 at the Monmouth 44-yard line.

But on third-and-6 at the 40-yard line sophomore linebacker Erik Massey hurried Massei into an incompletion and the Seahawks were forced to punt with under two minutes remaining.

Eric Silvester’s punt rolled all the way down to the Monmouth one-yard line and the Hawks were staring at a 99-yard drive if they were to win or else send the game into overtime.

Backed up at the one-yard line with 1:44 showing on the clock Farri gave the Hawks some breathing room on second-and-10 rushing for 15 yards to the 16-yard line.

White Jr. then capped off the comeback with his incredible 84-yard catch-and-run touchdown and Evan Powell sealed the win with an interception off a Mike Blowers deflection.

Monmouth got off to disasterous start to the game but eventually overcame it to win.

Three straight Monmouth turnovers led to 21-unanswered first quarter points for the Seahawks as they took a 21-2 lead with 5:08 left in the quarter. A Wagner snap out of the end zone resulted in a safety and two points for Monmouth on Wagner’s first possession of the game.

“It looked like it was going to be a long afternoon,” Callahan said after his team fell behind early. “But fortunately we started to make some plays and got ourselves back in it and kept the game within striking distance.”

In all, Monmouth turned the ball over four times with each one resulting in a Wagner touchdown.

“If you turn the ball over four times and you give up as many big plays as we did today as a defense, it’s difficult to win,” said Callahan. “But we had guys who made big plays too and I think you saw that right down at the very end, and that was the difference.”

Monmouth began its comeback with a 11 play, 76 yard scoring drive with Bahar and White Jr. hooking up on a five-yard completion for the touchdown. Bahar’s pass fell incomplete on the two-point conversion attempt and the score stood at 21-8.

The defense then forced a three-and-out and Grasso returned the punt 49 yards to the Wagner 16-yard line. Four plays later Guerriero ran it in from five yards out and Mosquera’s extra point kick pulled the Hawks even closer at 21-15.

Another three-and-out gave the ball back to Monmouth at their own 38-yard line before Bahar gave the Hawks the lead scampering 68 yards on a designed keeper for the score and a 22-21 lead.

"I was just as surprise as you," Bahar said of his long run. "I made a move and I was still up and I made another move and I was still up and I said to myself 'Man I might just score.'"

The two teams then traded possessions twice before Wagner took a 27-22 lead on 48-yard Massei to Willie Dale touchdown on a first-down play. The two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the Seahawks lead at five.

Monmouth answered right back with a quick five play, 75-yard scoring drive with Devell Jones taking it in for the final two yards to put the Hawks back on top with a short-lived 29-27 lead. On the play, Jones absolutely destroyed Wagner defensive back Tajai Ownes, who came up to make the stop at the goal line. A Bahar 49-yard completion to White Jr. was the big play of the drive.

White Jr. finished with seven receptions for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

Wagner took a 33-29 lead right before the half marching 55 yards in eight plays in just 2:39 with Massei finding D’Erren Wilson for a three-yard score.

Although the Hawks defense allowed almost 400 yards of offense through the air, the run defense was impenetrable. Wagner gained just 59 net yards on the ground on 31 attempts for a 1.9 yard average.

Fuse - the Seahawks leading rusher - came into the game as the FCS second leading rusher with 732 yards on 125 attempts (5.9 yard average) and the Monmouth defense held him to just 72 yards on 28 carries with 38 of those yards coming on one run.

“The front seven of defense played outstanding today,” said Callahan. “You got to give them a lot of credit, they did an outstanding job. He (Fuse) had no place to run. They had several tackles for losses and they were big for us. They made Wagner one dimensional.”

It was Monmouth’s sixth straight win over their former North East Conference opponent and the highest scoring game ever between the two teams.

“It was an exciting game,” Callahan said. “We knew going into the game that this game was probably going to be like the 23 that came before it. It would be a game that went down to the wire with players from both teams making plays. I didn’t think it would come down exactly the way it did, though but I’m very happy with the outcome. There were times during the game where it looked like we could not do anything right and there were times during the game where it looked like we could not do anything wrong, and I certainly like the latter much better.

“As we move forward and go into our bye-week there’s a lot that we have to work on and a lot we can do better but we are very happy to come out of this game with a victory and move on to 3-2 heading into the bye.”

Following their bye, the Hawks will host Bucknell on Saturday, October 13.

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