No. 14 Rhode Island comes from behind and turns Monmouth on its head

28

Monmouth
MO

4-5, 2-3

37

winner

Rhode Island
URI

8-1, 5-0

28

37

Rhode Island
URI

8-1, 5-0

winner

Points by quarters

team	1	2	3	4	F
MO Monmouth	14	7	7	0	28
URI Rhode Island	7	10	7	13	37

Match Review: Football | November 2, 2024

FINAL RESULTS
No. 14/14 Rhode Island 37 (8-1, 5-0 CAA)

Monmouth 28 (4-5, 2-3 CAA)

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth's strong start wasn't enough to stop No. 14/14 Rhode Island's second-half surge, as the Hawks lost 37-28 at Meade Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks are now 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), while Rhode Island improved to 8-1 and 5-0 in the CAA with the win.

Monmouth opened the game with a nine-play drive that was capped by a 10-minute lead Sone Ntohs 7-yard touchdown run that gave them a 7-0 lead. Rhode Island responded with a long 88-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Devin Farrell to Marquis Buchanan to tie the score. Towards the end of the first quarter Derek Robertson attached to Jack Neri with a 4-yard touchdown pass that gave the Hawks a 14-7 lead.

In the second quarter, Rhode Island got a 29-yard field goal from Ty Groff, cutting Monmouth's lead to 14-10. Monmouth responded with a 12-play, 84-yard drive and Ntoh hit his second touchdown from 2 yards out to extend the lead to 21-10. However, Rhode Island quickly responded with another touchdown pass from Farrell, this time to Tommy Smith, increasing the score to 21-17 at halftime.

Monmouth scored first in the third quarter when Robertson scored Tra Neal for an 11-yard touchdown and capitalized on a Rhode Island turnover to extend the lead to 28-17. The trigger was an attempted flea flicker that was plucked from the air and returned to the Rhode Island area Miles Mitchell.

Holds an 11-point lead after an interception in the end zone K Shawn ShouldersMonmouth Monmouth missed fourth-and-1 inside Rams territory, swinging the momentum in the home team's favor. A 16-yard touchdown run by Malik Grant closed the gap to 28-24 as the teams entered the fourth quarter.

With just over a minute remaining, Rhode Island took the lead for the first time when Farrell found Buchanan again for a 24-yard touchdown pass, capping an eight-play, 69-yard drive to make it 31-28. Monmouth's last-minute attack faltered, and after a series of substitutions, a fumble return by Rhode Island's Fredrick Mallay sealed the game.

Robertson finished the game with 266 passing yards and completed 28 of 43 attempts with two touchdowns. Defensively, Monmouth forced three turnovers, with Justin Bennin and Shoulders each recorded an interception to accompany Mitchell's fumble recovery.



NOTES AND QUOTES
“I thought we played extremely well for most of the game and I told our team that. We're supposed to take on the No. 14 team in the nation, a team that only has one loss to a Big 10 school, and play like that. “We did it and put ourselves in a position to win, we need a good one.” Feeling about our performance. On the other hand, there are things we missed and we need to do a better job.

Head coach Kevin Callahan

The Hawks went 2-2 on the road this season.
Monmouth is now 1-3 all-time against Rhode Island.

The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 5,674.

NUMBER CRUNCH

Justin Bennin recorded his second interception of the season.

K Shawn Shoulders made his first interception as a Hawk.

Miles Mitchell's The fumble recovery was his first of the season and second of his career.

Chris King recorded two sacks, his first multi-sack game in his career. He now has four sacks in his career.

Sam Korpoi led the Hawks with nine tackles, including six solo stops.

Deuce Lee And Charlie Sasso had eight tackles each. Sasso's eight stops marked a career high.

Charlie Sasso set a new career high with six tackles, including four solo stops.

Derek Robertson finished the game with 266 yards passing on 28 of 43 and two touchdowns.
Robertson now has 2,845 passing yards this season, the second-most in a single season in Monmouth history.

Sone Ntoh has scored 20 touchdowns this season and 34 in his career. He is now third in touchdowns in a season and in career touchdowns at Monmouth.
Monmouth blocked a field goal for the first time since Sept. 20, 2018 against Campbell.

NEXT
Monmouth returns north next Saturday for a match against New Hampshire. Opening kickoff in Durham, NH is scheduled for 1:00 p.m