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Rhode Island football beats Monmouth again, 37-28

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Rhode Island football beats Monmouth again, 37-28

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SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island seems unstoppable during a special football season.

Not even the Rams themselves could stop Saturday's train with a handful of self-inflicted wounds. Their trademark resilience once again led them to the finish at Meade Stadium.

Devin Farrell's 24-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Buchanan with 1:17 to play finally gave No. 14 URI the lead for good. The Rams fended off three turnovers and did enough to limit the Monmouth offense, one of the strongest in the collegiate rankings, to claim a 37-28 victory in front of another sellout crowd.

More: URI football shows no signs of slowing down. Here's what the team did against Maine.

URI trailed in the majority until the game-winning drive, starting at its own 31 with 3:09 remaining. The Rams stormed down the field and Farrell found Buchanan up the middle running toward the goal post. His catch and dive into the end zone was part of a career day for the former Classical star, and URI put a 28-24 deficit behind it.

“It’s about resiliency,” URI coach Jim Fleming said. “It's about not batting an eyelid when you come down. It’s all about really good play.”

AJ Peña's fumble recovery with 0:33 to play ended Monmouth's last real chance. Case Mankins applied pressure from the left side and Hawks quarterback Derek Robertson put the ball on the ground at the Rams' 48th. Monmouth took advantage of all three timeouts and forced a punt, but a series of laterals in the final seconds resulted in a fumble that led to URI defensive back Fredrick Mallay running into the end zone as time expired.

“There are a lot of words for this,” Peña said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

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Peña made another key defensive play late in the third quarter that helped change the momentum. The Hawks went on fourth down from the Rams 40 and Peña picked off Sone Ntoh in the backfield for a turnover on downs. URI went from a potential three-point deficit to trailing 28-17 when Malik Grant broke 16 yards up the middle and scored a touchdown with 1:44 left.

“This is crucial,” Peña said. “We saw them taking risks throughout the game. In the first series they went for a fourth and an eighth, so we knew that was coming.”

Monmouth (4-5, 2-3 CAA) was ready to take the win within the first seven minutes. Farrell threw an interception in his own half of the field and the Hawks went on fourth down inside the Rams 30.

Robertson's pass to Jack Neri was good for the conversion and Ntoh hit 7 yards up the middle to start a string of three consecutive touchdown drives.

“We have so much trust in each other,” Farrell said. “That was whatever. It was just whatever.”

URI trailed 21-17 at halftime and won by one in the fourth quarter for the fifth time this season. Grant rushed for 126 yards and Buchanan collected 171 receiving yards on 12 catches. He caught all but two of his 14 targets, including a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter and six more receptions that led to first downs.

“When you're targeted a lot, you have to do the actions when they come to you,” Buchanan said. “I knew we were going to lose and I knew I had to make a play every time the ball came to me.”

The Rams (8-1, 5-0 CAA) are 5-0 in conference play for the first time since winning their first five Atlantic 10 games in 2001. It's the first time they've started with five straight wins in the Coastal Athletic Association. It's only the second time they've won that many games in their current league. URI posted a seven-game winning streak for the first time since 1985, the last year it reached the FCS playoffs.

“We still have a lot to accomplish,” Fleming said. “There is no guarantee. In an 11-game season, I always said eight was the magic number – I don't know if that's true anymore. I don't really care.

“I know we have a chance.”

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