WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University's football team completed
the 2012 Blue/White Spring game in front of a crowd of nearly a thousand, Saturday
afternoon on Kessler Field.
"Today was a culmination of a very good spring," said head coach Kevin Callahan.
"I thought we made steady and very good progress from day 1 to day 15. The
Spring Game is all about having fun. We mix in groups, we don't take it too
seriously but we want the guys to come out and perform. We had some guys
individually who showed some good things so I was happy with that. We had a
great crowd here, it was a great atmosphere so it was a real positive day."
The offense scored on a 9-play 52 yard drive, which was capped by a 35 yard
field goal. On that drive wideout Neal
Sterling (Belmar, N.J./Manasquan) made a number of key catches. Sterling finished
with four coaches for 41 yards including a long of 17 on the day.
The first touchdown of the game came after a 12-play 65 yard drive. After the
offense worked its way down to the four yard line, backup quarterback Charles
Vellis (Wallington, N.J./Wallington)
threw a ball to the back shoulder of widout Thaddeus Richards (Columbus,
N.J./Northern Burlington) who made the tough catch for the TD. Richards
finished with three catches for 26 yards.
The offense went back to work after the team took a quick break intended to be
halftime. On the first play after the break, running back Julian Hayes (Middletown,
Conn./Xavier/The Hun School) took a handoff inside and darted 65 yards for a
touchdown. Hayes had three runs for 68 yards on the day. Back Kwabena Asante (Silver Spring, Md./James
Hubert Blake/West Virginia) tore off a 60 yard run of his own, culminating in
the day's final touchdown. Asante led all backs with four carries for 75 yards.
Defensive lineman Rich Lorfing (Monroe, N.J./Monroe) put himself in
great position to intercept a pass in the backfield, returning the ball 29
yards inside the offense's five yard line, where he was caught by Pete Nagy (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park/Montclaire). Freshman defensive back Monwell
Brown (Manchester, N.J./Manchester/OCC) jumped a route and recorded an
interception, brining the ball back 42 yards before being tackled.
The offense put together another late impressive drive in the second half. Rising freshman Eric Sumlin (Dover, Del/Dover)
took a double reverse 35 yards early in the drive then capped it off on a 32
yard touchdown reception thrown by Greg DePugh (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany
Hills).
Dave Damirgian led all players with five total tackles and a forced fumble.
Linebacker Fran Foreman (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) had five tackles, including
one for a loss and a qb hurry. Captain Mike Upham (Clifton, Va./Centreville)
had a pair of sacks and five tackles from his defensive end position while
linebacker Zak Irizarry (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) had five
tackles, two sacks and a pass break up. The defense also batted down or broke
up a total of 13 passes.
Fifth year senior Craig Peterson (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) had the best
outing of any of the four MU quarterbacks to played, finished with nine
completions in 20 attempts for 103 yards.
Placekicker Eric Spillane (Howell, N.J./Colts Neck) converted six of seven
field goal attempts, including one from 42, three from 32 and a 37 and 35
yarder.
Nest Notes:
-The hit of the day came from linebacker Dave Damirgian on a short pass to
running back Danny Ageyeman.
-The defense was without the service of any of its starting linebackers from
2011 but three reserve linebackers led the squad in tackles in the game.
-Sumlin led all offensive players with 89 all purpose yards.
-Six different Hawks registered multiple rushes in the game
- The defense had five sacks in the contest
-Monmouth hosted its first ever Fan Fest on the practice field from 11 to 1, a
free event with food and games open to all spectators.
-Prominent players who did not participate included QB Kyle Frazier, DL Chris Luma, OT Mike
Murphy, DL Eric Macik, CB Elijah Phillips and DL Brad Harris,
LB Colin Cooper, LB Dan Sullivan and LB Bill Lauch
