Monmouth Gives One Away In Stunning Loss To 19th-Ranked Lafayette

WEST LONG BRANCH – One second, you’re on top of the world, and the next second, it all comes crashing down. Just ask the Monmouth University football team.

Monmouth and nineteenth-ranked Lafayette were locked into a furious back-and-forth contest, with the two teams knotted at 28-28 with 6:25 remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s home opener for the Hawks at Kessler Stadium in West Long Branch.

The Hawks then went on a 10-play, 80-yard drive to take a 35-28 lead with 1:54 left on the game clock. On third-and-1 from the Lafayette 17-yard line, 5-foot-11, 235-pound running back Sone Ntoh busted tackle after tackle on his way to the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown run that set off a wild celebration on the Hawks sidelines and in the stands.

The Leopards, however, were far from through. They marched 81 yards in just four plays, taking a mere 59 seconds off the clock, quieting the Monmouth crowd, and giving Lafayette all the momentum back in their favor. All-Patriot League quarterback Dean DeNobile connected with wideout Chris Carasia (Ocean Township) for a 12-yard touchdown to pull Lafayette to within one, 35-34.

With 53 seconds remaining, Lafayette decided to go for a potential game-winning two-point conversion to take the lead instead of settling for a tie and an eventual overtime period. With everyone on their feet and going crazy, Monmouth’s sophomore safety, Deuce Lee, knocked down the pass in the end zone for what looked like a game-winning play.

The celebration was on at Kessler Stadium, but there were still 51 seconds remaining in the game, an eternity the way this game played out. Everyone and their brother knew Lafayette would attempt an onside kick, which they did, and unmercifully recovered it at the 49-yard line, putting everyone in a state of shock.

Two plays later, DeNoble found All-Patriot League wide receiver Elijah Stewart down the left sidelines for a 42-yard touchdown and a 40-35 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt with 36 seconds remaining.

Monmouth was still alive and drove as far as the Lafayette 35-yard line with 22 seconds remaining, but Monmouth quarterback Derek Robertson’s first down pass was picked off, putting an end to the Hawks comeback attempt.

The thrill of victory had turned into the agony of defeat in the span of 17 seconds, leaving spectators in stunned silence as they made their way to the exits feeling numb.

Heartbreaking isn’t a strong enough word to describe what happened on the field Saturday. Now the question is, how do the Hawks put this behind them and move on?

“This is a perfect example this afternoon why the game is 60 minutes, and you have to play the entire 60 minutes,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “I told the team you can’t compete for 59 minutes and 34 seconds and think you’re going to come away with a win against a good football team. When you’re playing a team ranked 19th in the country, you have to make sure you're perfect in everything you do, and we were far from perfect from the coaches down to the players. We have to do things much better moving forward, or we may not win a game this season.”

Callahan’s frustration is justifiable. The win was there for the taking against a nationally-ranked team, and the Hawks let it slip through their hands.

“This was a game I thought we could’ve won,” Callahan added. “It was a game where the guys competed extremely hard for a large portion of the game, and you have got to give our guys a lot of credit for doing that. Unfortunately, we didn’t close out the game the way you need to in order to win games. Hopefully, there’s a lesson in that: to play complete games and close out games. If you don’t, and you’re playing against an explosive opponent with as many weapons as Lafayette has on offense, that is the result you get.”

A dejected Robertson was understandably in no mood to talk after Saturday’s game, especially about his second-straight standout performance.

“It wasn’t good enough, though; we didn’t get the win, and that’s all that matters,” Robertson said when asked about his stellar performance. “We got to learn from it, come back tomorrow, and figure it out because the season’s not slowing down; we have to figure it out.”

It’s up to the Hawks to put this loss behind them and move on from it because if they don’t, it could ruin their season as quickly as it started.

“There’s a saying that goes, ‘you never let the same team beat you twice. If you dwell on today too long, it will haunt you the next game,’” said Callahan. You got to evaluate it, see what you can do better, go to work fixing those things, and move on to the next challenge, and we’re going to have a hell of a challenge at the University of Maine.”

Robertson was tremendous for the second straight week, passing for 355 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers after passing for 390 yards and three touchdowns a week ago in the Hawks loss to Eastern Washington. He completed 31-of-45 passes (69%) with two interceptions. He’s quickly developing chemistry with his young group of wide receivers, who appear to have boundless potential.

Senior T.J. Speight (3-97-1), junior Maxwell James (5-39-1) and sophomores Josh Derry (4-71-1) and Tra Neal (5-55-1) were Robertson’s main targets Saturday.

After rushing for just 49 yards a week ago, Monmouth didn’t fare much better Saturday, picking up 74 yards on the ground, with Ntoh’s 18-yard touchdown run being the Hawks longest run of the season.

Monmouth’s defense, with its young secondary, is a work in progress. For the second week in a row, it surrendered over 500 yards of total offense. On Saturday, it gave up 526 yards after allowing EWU to ring up 547 yards last week. Those numbers speak for themselves.

The Hawks' schedule doesn't get any easier. Next week, they travel to the University of Maine to face an improved Black Bears squad. Maine defeated Colgate 17-14 in their home opener, then went on the road Saturday and hung in there against third-ranked Montana State, losing 41-24.

The Hawks are 0-2 to start the season for the first time since 2015.