CAA Football Recap – Nov. 11
Four teams – UAlbany, Delaware, Richmond and Villanova – remain tied for first place in the CAA entering the season’s final week after they each picked up victories on Saturday. New Hampshire, Rhode Island and William & Mary also earned wins in close games.
Villanova 33, Towson 10
Box Score
Connor Watkins threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring passes of 79 and 63 yards to Rayjoun Pringle, as Villanova (8-2, 6-1 CAA) rolled past Towson (4-6, 3-4 CAA), 33-10. The two TD’s to Pringle, who finished with five catches for 180 yards, put the Wildcats ahead by 17 in the second quarter and a 19-yard scoring reception by Jaylen Sanchez made it 24-0 at halftime. VU added a 4-yard TD run by TD Ayo-Durojaiye in the third quarter before the Tigers reached the end zone on a 75-yard Christopher Watkins run with 7:10 left.
Jalen Jackson added 85 yards on the ground as VU finished with 555 yards of offense. The Wildcats’ defense held Towson to 211 yards and recorded a third-quarter safety. Daniel Raymond made 13 tackles and 2.5 TFL’s for the Towson defense and Shane Hartzell had seven stops for Villanova.
Delaware 45, Campbell 7
Box Score
Ryan O’Connor passed for 246 yards and four touchdowns to lead Delaware (8-2, 6-1 CAA) to a 45-7 victory at Campbell (4-6, 3-4 CAA). The Blue Hens took a commanding 24-0 halftime advantage following scoring passes of 51 yards to Jourdan Townsend and 17 yards to Joshua Youngblood and a 100-yard pick six by Khalil Dawsey. O’Connor added third-quarter TD tosses to Youngblood (1 yard) and Braden Brose (12 yards) to extend the lead to 38-0 before Campbell got on the board on a 3-yard run by Hajj-Malik Williams.
Townsend finished with five catches for 92 yards. Jackson Taylor and Keeno Arrington made eight tackles apiece for a Blue Hens’ defense that held Campbell to 288 total yards, while Dawsey tallied two interceptions. Williams passed for 151 yards, with Ezeriah Anderson making six catches for 84 yards.
UAlbany 38, Stony Brook 20
Box Score
Reese Poffenbarger threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns as UAlbany (8-3, 6-1 CAA) claimed the Golden Apple with a 38-20 win over Stony Brook (0-10, 0-8 CAA). Griffin Woodell added 136 yards and a TD on the ground as the Great Danes piled up 430 yards of offense.
Stony Brook jumped on top early courtesy of a 49-yard pick six from Clarens Legagneur, but Woodell’s 4-yard TD run tied it up at 7-7. The Great Danes led 17-13 late in the second quarter when Julian Hicks had a 14-yard TD reception to extend the margin to 11 at the half. UA pulled away in the second half as Poffenbarger fired TD passes to Levi Wentz (28 yards) and Hicks (13 yards). SBU added a late score on a 22-yard grab by freshman Anthony Johnson. Brevin Easton had 89 receiving yards and a TD for UA, while Dylan Kelly recorded a team-high 14 tackles. For SBU, Daron Bryden was 21-of-31 passing for 208 yards and a TD and Aidan Kaler tallied a team-high 10 tackles.
Richmond 38, Elon 24
Box Score
Quarterback Kyle Wickersham passed for 169 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 130 yards and a TD to power Richmond (7-3, 6-1 CAA) over Elon (5-5, 5-2 CAA), 38-24. The Spiders finished with 235 yards on the ground as Savon Smith added 70 yards and 2 TD’s.
The game was tied at 7-7 following the first quarter, but the Spiders broke loose with 21 second-quarter points. Connor Deveney caught a 9-yard TD pass and Smith followed with a 1-yard scoring run and 12-yard TD catch to make it 28-7 at halftime. Elon cut into the deficit on a 42-yard TD run by Jalen Hampton in the third quarter, but Smith’s 5-yard TD run with 2:36 left sealed the contest. Tristan Wheeler made a team-high 11 tackles for a UR defense that registered four sacks. Elon’s Matthew Downing threw for 281 yards and 2 TD’s, with Jordan Bonner making six catches for 122 yards.
New Hampshire 31, Monmouth 24
Box Score
Reserve freshman quarterback Matt Vezza threw a 38-yard touchdown strike to Myles Thomason for his first career completion with 2:18 to play, lifting New Hampshire (5-5, 3-4 CAA) past Monmouth (4-6, 3-4 CAA), 31-24. The Hawks led 17-10 entering the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats tied it on a 3-yard TD catch by Colby Ramshaw. Just 11 seconds later, Monmouth went back on top, 24-17, as Dymere Miller broke loose on a 75-yard TD grab. UNH drew even once again on a 4-yard Isaac Seide run with 11:04 left, before Vezza capped a 10-play, 82-yard drive with his big throw. The Hawks drove to the UNH 32 in the closing seconds but couldn’t convert a Hail Mary pass as the clock expired.
Miller finished with 11 catches for 333 yards and 2 TD’s, setting a Monmouth record and posting the 2nd-most receiving yards in CAA history. Quarterback Marquez McCray was 21-of-32 passing for 402 yards and 2 TD’s. For UNH, Max Brosmer threw for 239 yards and 2 TD’s and Josiah Silver paced the Wildcats’ defense with five tackles, 2.0 sacks and 3.0 TFL’s.
William & Mary 31, Hampton 10
Box Score
William & Mary (6-4, 4-3 CAA) scored 21 points in a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to battle past Hampton (5-5, 3-4 CAA). The game was tied 10-10 midway through the final period when the Tribe’s Quinn Osborne picked off a pass. On the next play, JT Mayo caught a 76-yard TD pass to put W&M on top. On the first play of the Pirates’ next possession, W&M linebacker Kevin Jarrell returned an interception 40 yards for a score to make it 24-10. The Tribe defense came up big again as David Roulley recorded an interception, and four plays later, W&M quarterback Tyler Hughes had a 6-yard TD run to put the game in control.
Hughes, making his first career start, passed for 145 yards and 2 TD’s to lead the W&M offense. Jarrell finished with 10 tackles and two forced fumbles in addition to the interception. Hampton quarterback Chris Zellous threw for 159 yards and ran for 77, while Romon Copeland had seven receptions for 111 yards and a TD. Qwahsin Townsel had seven tackles and a forced fumble for the Pirates defense.
Rhode Island 31, North Carolina A&T 24
Box Score
Ja’Den McKenzie rushed for a career-high 233 yards and three touchdowns, including a game-winning 4-yard score with 2:55 to go, as Rhode Island (6-4, 4-3 CAA) defeated North Carolina A&T (1-9, 0-7 CAA). McKenzie scored from 39 yards out late in the second quarter and added a 30-yard TD run near the end of the third quarter to put the Rams ahead 24-10. North Carolina A&T battled back in the fourth quarter, getting a 1-yard TD run from Kenji Christian and a 14-yard TD gallop from quarterback Eli Brickhandler to tie the game at 24-24 with 6:15 remaining. However the Rams responded with a 73-yard drive capped by McKenzie’s 4-yard run and a fumble forced by Brent Jackson and recovered by Malachi Burby sealed the win.
Kasim Hill threw for 137 yards and a TD, with Kahtero Summers making three catches for 69 yards and a TD for the URI offense. Jackson and Jarrett Martin each had 10 tackles. For A&T, Brickhandler passed for 161 yards and a TD and ran for 88 yards and a TD, while Christian ran for 97 yards and a TD. Kade Moledor contributed 12 tackles and an interception for the Aggies defense.
