Hard Work and Perseverance Has Paid Off For Monmouth Football's Rising Defense

WEST LONG BRANCH – For much of this season, Monmouth’s much-maligned defense took the brunt of the criticism directed at the team, and for good reason. While the offense has gone about its business, almost matter-of-factly, while leading the country in just about every offensive category, the defense has been hovering around the bottom of the stat sheet.

This put an additional strain on the offense as they were either trying desperately to protect a lead or take back the lead in high-scoring shootouts that became the norm. Luckily, for Monmouth, though, its prolific offense wears down defenses to the point of submission, and they go on to outscore them.

While the offense brought back its entire starting lineup, except for one position, from a year ago, only three starters off of last season’s final game depth chart began this season as starters on defense. So, their slow start is understandable given the circumstances.

It's been a rough go, though, with so many new faces on defense, but in each subsequent game, you caught a glimpse of what they’re capable of with an interception here, a sack there, a turnover on downs, or a forced fumble; there just wasn’t enough of them. They lacked consistency. One series they would force a three-and-out, the next was a 90-yard touchdown drive. Still, it was clear that it wasn’t from a lack of effort. They were determined to succeed, had faith in one another, and possessed a relentless work ethic. Most importantly, it’s beginning to pay off as evidenced by their play in the last couple of games, most notably in last Saturday’s 49-21 win over Stony Brook.

On Stony Brook's last possession of the first half, they drove 95 yards in 11 plays to pull within 21-14 at the half and were to receive the second-half kickoff as well. The Seawolves floated to the locker room high on momentum and smelling victory.

Monmouth’s defense, however, had its own idea of where this game was heading.

Following the second half kickoff, the Seawolves were facing a third-and-16 at their own 40-yard line, following one and five-yard tackles for loss by Izzy Clark-White and Justin Bennin, respectively. Stony Brook quarterback Chris Zellous faded back to pass, but defensive end Lamont Lester Jr. was there for the sack, his sixth of the season, and forced a fumble at the same time with tackle Rob Adamson recovering – the first of four second half forced turnovers.

All-American quarterback Derek Robertson was sacked and injured on the Hawks' ensuing series, and they were forced to punt. Robertson is still being evaluated for the severity of the injury, and more information will be available later this week. But Robertson’s loss put added pressure on the defense to take over the game, and that’s precisely what they did.

“I thought our guys rallied around him (Robertson),” said Monmouth head coach Callahan. “He’s one of our leaders and one of our captains. And our guys rallied around the fact that he wasn’t on the field anymore and probably played some of our best football of the season.”

Stony Brook was now like a shark circling in the water, knowing Robertson was ruled out for the game. But Monmouth’s fourth down punt was a beauty, pinning the Seawolves back at the 10-yard line. Advancing the ball to the 37-yard line, Stony Brook was now looking at a third-and-9. Emmanuel Lane then tipped Zellous’ third down pass into the hands of linebacker Ryan Russo, who rumbled 50 yards into the end zone, pushing the Hawks' lead to 28-14.

The momentum shift to Monmouth’s side was as sudden as Russo’s dash into the end zone, and there was no letting go of it now.

On Stony Brook's ensuing possession, the defense, totally locked in, forced a three-and-out and another punt.

With backup quarterback Frankie Weaver now behind center, the Hawks' offense was held to four yards and forced to punt.

Monmouth’s defense then suffered a momentary lapse of focus, allowing Stony Brook to march 77 yards in 10 plays to make it a one-score game again, 28-21. Zellous’ 19-yard scramble on a broken play was decisive.

Weaver now found his groove on the Hawks' ensuing possession. He found Josh Derry for 41 yards to the Seawolves' 30-yard line, then five plays later lofted a perfect spiral to Tray Neal in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown strike and a 35-21 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the game.

“Coach Callahan and coach Gabriel do a great job with the scout team and simulating Stony Brook's defense this week,” said Weaver. “I felt like once I stepped in, it was like a Tuesday practice.”

Charlie Sasso and Bryce Rooks teamed up for a TFL on first down of Stony Brook’s following possession. Then on second-and-11, safety Jaeden Jones picked off Zellous and returned it to the two-yard line. Rodney Nelson took it in from the one-yard line and the Hawks were off to the races.

“I think it showed what we’re capable of when we’re all on the same page and we’re all firing,” said Jones. “That’s how dominant we can be. And I think we’re just scratching the surface because there is still a lot of stuff we need to work on.”

Jones finished tied for the team lead in tackles for the game with 11, including six solo stops.

The defensive parade continued on the Seawolves' next possession. Following a roughing the passer penalty by end Hunter Watson, the Hawks' pass rush forced an intentional grounding penalty. Then on third-and-15, defensive end Josiah Graham burst through the line and sacked Zellous, forcing another Stony Brook punt.

Following a Monmouth three-and-out, Bennin made a fine play on the ball on fourth-and-9, knocking it away for an incompletion and a turnover on downs. Monmouth took over, and three plays later, Nelson sprinted downfield for a 73-yard touchdown and a 49-21 lead. Nelson finished with 145 yards rushing and two scores.

Linebacker Spencer Kishbaugh, who finished tied for the team lead in tackles (11), including four solo stops, recorded a fourth down sack, initiating a turnover of downs, and on the Seawolves’ final possession of the game, Graham and Lester Jr. teamed up for the final exclamation point, another sack.

“After the Towson game, all week we were preaching to set the new standard on defense,” said Kishbaugh. “We just went out there and showed that we set a new standard; play hard, play fast, and play together. That’s our defense. I think we finally showed what we can do when we all play for each other.”

Graham’s 8.5 sacks for the season are No.2 in the country, and Lester’s 6.5 are tied for eleventh, while Monmouth’s 21 team sacks are sixth in the country.

For the game, the Hawks' defense recorded four sacks, forced three fumbles, recovered two, and intercepted two passes, one of which went for a touchdown. All but one fumble were part of Monmouth’s defensive domination of the second half, which was unrivaled in terms of defensive football played at Monmouth for as long as anyone can remember. It’s undoubtedly a confidence builder and something this defensive unit can take pride in.

“I think defensively, the story of the day was forcing four turnovers that directly led to 21 points,” said Callahan. “You saw a unit today that was very opportunistic, a unit that is still searching for consistency that we haven’t quite found yet, but we’re getting a lot closer to it. The unit is maturing, and as we know, it is a very young group. They're not perfect, but they’re starting to make game-changing plays. And in the last two weeks, they’ve done just that with turnovers that have set our offense up with good field position or scoring touchdowns themselves.”