WEST LONG BRANCH,
N.J.- Monmouth football wrapped the first spring scrimmage on Saturday
afternoon, with the offense scoring a touchdown and the defense making a number
of key plays.
"There were a lot of things we did well today," said Coach Callahan. "I thought
on offense we showed the ability to make some big plays and put some drives
together. The defense did a good job in third downs and in the red zone,
particularly in the second half. The things we need to clean up are the
self-inflicted penalties. You can't give yards away. We need to do a better job
of ball security, we put three balls on the ground, we need to protect the
football."
The offense had a few big plays that brought the crowd to its feet, including a
Craig Peterson (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) to Eric Sumlin (Dover, Del./Dover)
53-yard reception that set up a first down on the defense's seven yard line. The
defense stiffened after Sumlin's reception and the offense was forced to settle
for a field goal. Peterson led all the quarterbacks with six of 13 passing for
101 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown
was thrown to sophomore running back Joe Impreveduto (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus)
who took a screen pass and darted through traffic 33 yards for the day's lone
score.
The Hawk defense racked up five sacks, nine tackles for a loss, six pass
breakups and a pair of forced fumbles on the day. Rising junior Austin Kugler
(Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) led with two sacks while linebacker Dan
Sullivan had five tackles and a sack. Mid-year transfer linebacker Anthony
McDonnough (Philadelphia, Pa./West Catholic/Salisbury School) led the defense
with eight tackles, including two for a loss.
Freshman Charlie Vellis (Wallington, N.J./Wallington) threw for 47 of his 74
passing yards on one play, a 47 yarder to Abe Sanchez (Parsippany,
N.J./Parsippany). Pete Nagy (East Hanover, N.J./East Hanover Park/Montclaire)
led the running backs with 34 yards, including a long of 25. Kwabena Asante (Silver
Spring, Md./James Hubert Blake/West Virginia) started things off with a 21 yard
run, finishing with three carries for 29 yards. Impreveduto finished the day
with three carries for 20 yards with a long of 11.
Safety Clark Coe (Hoboken, N.J./Carteret) led the defensive secondary with
three pass break ups on the day, including two on passes that would have moved
the offense into the redzone. After
Starting corner Reggie Hildebrandt Jr. (Seat Pleasant, Md./Eleanor
Roosevelt/Morgan State) led the secondary with three tackles on the afternoon.
Rising sophomore kicker Eric Spillane (Howell, N.J./Colts
Neck) converted a number of field goals from 37 yards and had a long of 42 on
the day. No punting was done during the session.
Additional comments from Coach Callahan can be viewed on Hawk
Vision or on Monmouth's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/monmouthhawks
The Annual Blue/White Spring Game will be held next
Saturday, April 21, at 1 p.m. on Kessler Field.
Fan Fest, which includes carnival games, free food and more will begin
at 11 am.
Follow Monmouth Football on Twitter
or on Facebook
Nest Notes
- Three of four Monmouth quarterbacks completed at least half their passes
- Thaddeus Richards averaged 20.0 yards per catch
- Linebacker Dale Degraw, coming off ACL surgery, had three tackles including a
sack from his LB position
-Six different Hawk running backs had multiple carries
-Five of the defense's top six tacklers were linebackers
- Prominent players who did not participate included QB Kyle Frazier, OT Mike
Murphy, RB Julian Hayes, DL Eric Macik, CB Elijah Phillips and DL Brad Harris,
LB Colin Cooper and LB Bill Lauch
