CAA Football Recap – Oct. 31

UAlbany 45, Campbell 35

Box Score

UAlbany’s defense contributed two touchdowns and made a big fourth-down stop with 1:52 left as the Great Danes (6-3, 4-1 CAA) earned a hard-fought 45-35 victory over Campbell (7-2, 4-1 CAA).

UAlbany got off to a fast start when linebacker Dillon Dunathan returned a fumble 77 yards for a TD, but Campbell tied it up on JJ Cowan’s 1-yard run. The Great Danes added first-quarter scoring runs from Kai Colon (14 yards) and Rahshan La Mons (63 yards) but the Camels answered with a 40-yard TD grab by Aaryn Tate. The Great Danes pushed their lead to 31-14 on a 24-yard Daniel Growney TD catch and a Brayden Heitmeyer 44-yard field goal, but Cowan’s second TD made it 31-21 at the half. A 25-yard pick six by Jamari Young in the third quarter upped the UA advantage to 17, but Campbell fought back again with a 27-yard TD catch by Chinua Ezeigbo and a 41-yard Cowan scoring run to make it 38-35 with 13:13 to play. The Great Danes put the game away after a fourth-down stop by Donny Jones with 1:52 left followed by a 16-yard TD pass from Colon to BJ Norman. Colon threw for 214 yards and 2 TD’s and La Mons ran for 119 yards and a TD. Shawan Lewis contributed 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles for the UA defense. For Campbell, Kamden Sixkiller passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns and Cowan ran for 97 yards and 3 TD’s. AJ Benton had five tackles and an interception.

Sacred Heart 32, Stony Brook 31

Box Score

Poochie Snyder threw a game-winning 6-yard touchdown pass to Jason Palmieri with nine seconds remaining as Sacred Heart (4-4, 4-2 CAA) overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to edge Stony Brook (5-4, 3-2 CAA), 32-31.

Down 31-13 with under six minutes to play, John Michalski capped a 94-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run to pull the Pioneers within 12. SHU followed with a 93-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard TD grab by Steven Dowdy, Jr. to trim the gap to 31-26 with 2:09 to play. After getting a 3-and-out, the Pioneers went 94 yards in 1:39 for the game-winning score. Stony Brook took a 14-13 halftime advantage on a 19-yard TD catch by DJ Linkins and then scored 17 straight points in the third period that included a pair of TD passes from Quinn Boyd to Andrew Riggs (13 and 18 yards). Snyder finished 28-of-43 passing for 309 yards and 2 TD’s with Palmieri making nine receptions for 95 yards for SHU. For Stony Brook, Boyd was 29-of-40 through the air for 333 yards and four touchdowns. Linkins had nine catches for 138 yards.

Rhode Island 14, Maine 13 (ot)

Box Score

Alex McClelland fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Buchanan in overtime to lift Rhode Island (5-4, 2-3 CAA) past Maine (1-8, 1-5 CAA), 14-13.

Both defenses dominated the game, with Rhode Island taking a 7-0 lead on an 84-yard pick six by Tyler Grimm just before halftime. Maine battled back to tie the contest early in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard scoring run by Rashawn Marshall. The Black Bears got the ball first in overtime and reached the end zone on a 1-yard run by Nick Laughlin, but the extra point was blocked by Patrick Conserve. That set the stage for Buchanan’s TD grab, which was followed by a game-winning extra point from Ty Groff. Buchanan finished with nine catches for 107 yards and became URI’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 3,969 yards. Rohan Davy had 19 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery for the Rams’ defense. For Maine, Marshall ran for 139 yards on 25 carries and Chris Bacon made six tackles and 2.5 TFL’s defensively.

North Carolina A&T 13, Elon 10

Box Score

Asher Holland booted a 34-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining and Tyrek Brown forced a fumble on a sack with 44 seconds to go as North Carolina A&T (4-5, 3-2 CAA) got past Elon (4-5, 2-3 CAA) for its third straight win.

Holland and Elon’s Luke Barnes traded 25-yard field goals in a game that was tied 3-3 early in the third quarter. Trey Woods recovered a fumble for the Phoenix and they turned it into points on a 2-yard TD run by Kamerin McDowell-Moore. The Aggies battled back to tie the game at 10-10 on a 8-yard scoring pass from Kevin White to Jayvonne Dillard. After Holland’s field goal put A&T ahead, Elon drove to the Aggies’ 14-yard line in the final minute before Brown’s strip sack was recovered by Cadricus Stanley to seal the victory. White passed for 98 yards and ran for 95 to lead the A&T offense while Brown finished with six tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles. For Elon, McDowell-Moore topped the century mark for the fifth straight game with 102 yards on the ground. Brodie Carroll made seven tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Monmouth 34, Bryant 21

Box Score

Monmouth (7-2, 6-0 CAA) sprinted out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter on the way to a 34-21 triumph over Bryant (5-4, 3-2 CAA). Elijah Jennings rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns and Kenny Smith, Jr. added 157 yards and 2 TD’s as the Hawks piled up 319 yards on the ground.

Scoring runs of 18 and 37 yards by Jennings put Monmouth ahead 17-0 early in the second quarter and Smith, Jr. followed with a 55-yard scoring burst. A 1-yard TD run by Jordan Bennett got Bryant on the board before halftime, but Smith’s 8-yard run late in the third period put Monmouth in control, 34-7. The Bulldogs got a 21-yard TD catch by Shamar Fowles and a 12-yard Deshon Jenkins TD run in the fourth quarter. Ryan Russo had seven tackles and two sacks for a MU defense that held BU to 297 yards. For Bryant, Brennan Myer passed for 133 yards and a TD and Duke Bradley tallied eight tackles and a TFL.

Towson 44, Hampton 13

Box Score

Freshman quarterback Jacob Davis passed for 216 yards and two touchdowns and added 109 yards and a TD on the ground as Towson (1-8, 1-4 CAA) posted a 44-13 triumph over Hampton (1-8, 0-5 CAA). The Tigers finished with 591 yards of total offense.

Towson went up 10-0 on Tristen Kenan’s 1-yard TD late in the first quarter before Davis fired scoring passes to Jacob Zollar (4 yards) and Mason Cunningham (43 yards). A 72-yard TD catch by Isaiah Smith got Hampton on the board, but Davis reached the end zone on a 16-yard run to put the Tigers ahead 30-6 at the half. The Pirates cut into the deficit with a 25-yard pass from Xavier Brookins to Damon Short, but Towson’s Kemarrion Battles had TD runs of 2 and 91 yards for the final margin.