CAA Football Recap – Sept. 30
It was a wild day in CAA Football with plenty of points and close finishes. Elon, UAlbany and Towson earned conference wins over nationally ranked opponents, while Hampton and Maine also picked up CAA victories. The league went 3-1 in non-conference action with Rhode Island, Monmouth and North Carolina A&T coming out on top.
Elon 14, William & Mary 6
Box Score
Matthew Downing threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes and Elon (3-2, 3-0 CAA) got a strong performance from its defense to battle past #4 William & Mary (4-1, 2-1 CAA), 14-6. It was just the second win ever for the Phoenix over a Top 5 program and snapped the Tribe’s nine-game conference winning streak.
Trailing 6-0 in the fourth quarter, Elon got an interception from Jaidyn Dennis that put the ball at the W&M 30-yard line. Downing took advantage, hitting Chandler Brayboy with a 16-yard TD pass to go up by one. On the next Phoenix possession, Downing found Brayboy with a 76-yard strike to the Tribe 10-yard line, and Elon capped the drive with an 8-yard TD catch by Jamarien Dalton. Caleb Curtain and Marco Patierno tallied 11 tackles apiece for an Elon defense that held W&M to second-quarter field goals of 32 and 45 yards from Caden Bonoffski. Malachi Imoh ran for 132 yards and Martin Lucas added 95 yards for the Tribe offensively, while Ryan Poole contributed a team-best 10 tackles.
Towson 54, New Hampshire 51 (ot)
Box Score
Towson (2-3, 1-1 CAA) scored 10 points in the final 3:43 to force overtime and then scored a walk-off touchdown in the extra session as the Tigers knocked off #14 New Hampshire (2-3, 0-2 CAA), 54-51. Towson quarterback Nathan Kent passed for career-highs of 252 yards and 5 TD’s, including a game-tying 15-yard toss to Lukkas Londono with 24 seconds left in regulation. After limiting the Wildcats to a field goal in overtime, the Tigers won the game on a 2-yard run by Devin Matthews.
Towson finished with 561 yards of offense, including 309 on the ground as D’Ago Hunter and Matthews each tallied 116 yards. The Tigers were up 30-20 early in the third quarter, but New Hampshire got a 3-yard TD catch from Caleb Burke and a pair of scoring runs from Dylan Laube to take a 41-30 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Tigers answered with a 24-yard TD catch by Daniel Thompson IV, but UNH went back up by 11 after Charles Briscoe blocked a punt and recovered in the end zone with 8:12 remaining. Wildcats’ quarterback Max Brosmer threw for 340 yards and 2 TD’s, while Laube ran for 92 yards.
UAlbany 31, Villanova 10
Box Score
UAlbany’s defense recorded seven sacks and forced five turnovers as the Great Danes (3-2, 1-0) defeated #16 Villanova (3-2, 1-1 CAA) in their CAA opener. AJ Simon tallied three sacks and Ori Jean-Charles and Anton Juncaj made two apiece as UAlbany held the Wildcats to 269 total yards.
The game was tied at 3-3 when UAlbany moved on top on a 12-yard TD pass from Reese Poffenbarger to Julian Hicks. Villanova drew even as Connor Watkins hit Jaylen Sanchez with a 17-yard toss, but the Great Danes took a 17-10 lead into halftime after a 19-yard Griffin Woodell catch. The Great Danes’ defense pitched a second-half shutout and UAlbany pulled away on a 3-yard TD run by Woodell early in the fourth quarter followed by a MarQeese Dietz 4-yard TD reception. Poffenbarger threw for 244 yards and 3 TD’s and Woodell rushed for a career-high 107 yards. For Villanova, Watkins passed for 198 yards.
Hampton 31, Richmond 10
Box Score
Hampton (3-1, 1-0 CAA) used a balanced offensive attack to roll up 497 total yards as the Pirates earned a 31-10 triumph at Richmond (2-3, 1-1 CAA). Quarterback Chris Zellous threw for 256 yards and a TD and ran for 60 and 2 TD’s, while Elijah Burris rushed for 115 yards on 16 carries. The Pirates’ defense held the Spiders to 260 total yards as Stanley Garner made six stops and intercepted two passes.
Hampton built a 17-0 halftime advantage on scoring runs by Zellous (7 yards) and Tymere Robinson (2 yards) and a 24-yard Brian Csehoski field goal. The Spiders twice closed within 10 on TD passes of 7 and 25 yards from reserve quarterback Camden Coleman, who threw for 224 yards in his collegiate debut. However, Hampton answered both times as Zellous tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Darren Moultrie and had an 8-yard TD run. Wayne Galloway and Tristan Wheeler each had 10 stops for the UR defense.
Maine 56, Stony Brook 28
Box Score
Derek Robertson was 25-of-30 passing for 394 yards and five touchdowns as Maine (1-4, 1-2 CAA) sprinted out to a 28-point first-quarter lead and beat Stony Brook (0-5, 0-4 CAA), 56-28. The Black Bears forced a fumble on the opening play and cashed it in with a 1-yard Tristen Kenan TD run. They used big plays to blow the game open later in the period as Robertson hit Joe Gillette with a 55-yard TD pass, Trevin Ewing ran in from 30 yards out and Montigo Moss caught a 41-yard scoring pass.
Stony Brook never got closer than 21 points the rest of the way, despite TD passes of 47, 51, 36 and 4 yards from Casey Case, who threw for 348 yards. Robertson added TD tosses to Moss and Cooper Heisey in the second half. Moss finished with five catches for 108 yards, while SBU’s Jayden Cook had seven receptions for 117 yards and 2 TD’s.
Rhode Island 49, Bryant 26
Box Score
Kasim Hill passed for 332 yards and three touchdowns as #24 Rhode Island (3-2, 2-1 CAA) overcame an early deficit to roll past Bryant, 49-26. Trailing 13-7 after the opening quarter, the Rams responded with 28 unanswered points and posted their highest scoring output since 2005. Hill spurred the rally, hitting John Erby with a 57-yard scoring pass, finding the end zone on a 5-yard run and connecting with Darius Savedge on a 24-yard TD pass to put URI up 28-13 at halftime. A 1-yard TD run from Ja’Den McKenzie and a 4-yard scoring pass to Kahtero Summers put the game away.
Along with Hill’s big day, Marquis Buchanan had nine receptions for 111 yards. Evan Stewart and A.J. Pena each had nine stops for the URI defense, with Pena adding 3.0 TFL’s and a pair of sacks.
Monmouth 49, Lehigh 7
Box Score
Marquez McCray was 22-of-28 passing for 333 yards and four touchdowns as Monmouth (2-3, 1-1 CAA) cruised over Lehigh. The Hawks piled up 619 yards of total offense as Jaden Shirden rushed for 119 yards, Sone Ntoh ran for 110 yards and 2 TD’s and Dymere Miller made eight catches for 128 yards and 2 TD’s.
The contest was tied at 7-7 midway through the second quarter before Monmouth exploded for 21 points over the final 6:13 of the half. McCray hit Miller with a 10-yard TD strike, Deuce Lee contributed a 36-yard pick six and Dre Tucker caught a 34-yard TD pass to make it 28-7 at halftime. The Hawks added three more TD’s in the third quarter on a 36-yard catch from Miller, a 92-yard run by Ntoh and a 29-yard reception by Gavin Nelson. Remi Johnson had nine tackles and 2.0 TFL’s for the MU defense and Tyrese Wright added six stops, 2.0 TFL’s and a forced fumble.
North Carolina A&T 28, Norfolk State 26
Box Score
Making his first career start, freshman quarterback Kevin White ran for 115 yards and 2 TD’s and added 98 yards through the air as North Carolina A&T (1-3, 0-1 CAA) held off Norfolk State, 28-26, for their first victory of the season. Kenji Christian picked up a team-high 118 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground for the Aggies, while linebacker B.J. Turner had a huge game defensively with 19 tackles and 2.5 TFL’s.
White broke loose for a 65-yard TD run on the second play of the game to put A&T up 7-0 quickly and Christian followed with a 34-yard scoring burst later in the period. The Aggies went ahead 28-12 in the third quarter after a 40-yard TD yard run by White and a 1-yarder by Christian. Norfolk State pulled within 28-26 with 3:07 to go, but the Aggies stopped the game-tying 2-point attempt and were able to run out the clock on their next possession.
North Carolina Central 49, Campbell 48 (ot)
Box Score
Hajj-Malik Williams passed for 302 yards and five touchdowns, but Campbell (2-3, 1-2 CAA) dropped a tough 49-48 decision in overtime at #13 North Carolina Central. Williams threw an 11-yard TD pass to Lamagea McDowell and scoring strikes of 70 and 65 yards to Jason Kelsey in the first quarter as the Camels took a 21-14 lead. A 6-yard TD catch by VJ Wilkins put Campbell up 35-14 in the second quarter, but N.C. Central scored 28 unanswered points to take the lead. The Camels forced OT on a 4-yard Na’Quari Rogers run and took the lead in overtime on a 13-yard TD catch by Ezeriah Anderson, but the extra point was blocked and NCCU got the win on a 25-yard run.
Kelsey finished with seven catches for 172 yards. D’Marcus Harrington made a team-high 10 tackles.
