NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Montclair State in overtime at POMOCO Stadium, 17-14. The Captains are now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
Senior kicker Hunter Daly connected on a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give the Red Hawks the victory. CNU junior quarterback
Jack Anderson was intercepted by MSU's Jalen Harris to end Christopher Newport's possession in the extra period. The Hawks improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in league play.
"We just couldn't get it going in the second half," Head Coach
Art Link said. "Penalties certainly hurt us, and Montclair State plays hard, you always know they're going to be well coached and difficult to put away."
The Captains were flagged for nine penalties and 100 yards in penalty yardage, with seven coming in a scoreless second half. Montclair State turned the ball over four times in the game, as the Captains picked off three passes and also recovered a Red Hawk fumble.
The Red Hawks opened the scoring midway through the opening quarter with a two-yard scoring pass from sophomore quarterback Ja'Quill Burch to junior tight end Brian Kowalczyk. CNU pulled even thanks to a 12-play, 77-yard drive capped by a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore
Hunter Rogers early in the second quarter.
Christopher Newport grabbed its only lead of the day with 5:50 to play in the second quarter when junior receiver
Nick Hunter connected with sophomore receiver
Garrison Mayo on a 17-yard scoring pass on a double reverse. The touchdown culminated a seven-play, 67-yard drive and the Captain had a 14-7 edge. Montclair State evened things up at the 2:22 mark of the second quarter when Burch hit sophomore Carsen Johnson with a 15-yard TD pass and the game was tied, 14-14.
The Captains had a chance to take the lead before intermission, but a 38-yard field goal attempt by sophomore kicker
Ben Garbarini sailed just wide of the upright and the game remained deadlocked.
The second half was extremely entertaining if you're a fan of punts and penalties. CNU senior punter
Dylan Curran was called on five times in the second half and eight times in the game, averaging almost 35 yards per punt and putting five inside the 20-yard line. Daly, who punts as well as kicks for the Red Hawks, booted six punts in the game, three times in each half. MSU was also called for nine penalties in the game for 100 yards.
Montclair State won the coin toss heading into overtime and elected to defend first. CNU ran just three plays, a rush for no gain, a nine-yard loss on a sack, and then the interception. The Hawks took over and advanced the ball to the two-yard line before being penalized back to the seven on Daly's first field goal attempt thanks to a false start. Daly then knocked the 25-yard attempt through the uprights to end the game.
Anderson finished the day 17 of 33 for 180 yards and two interceptions. MSU's Burch was 16 of 30 for 162 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Junior transfer
Nehemiah Harris led the ground attack for the Captains rushing for 74 yards on 18 carries, and Mayo topped all receivers with seven catches for 64 yards and a score.
On defense, five different CNU players recorded five tackles. Senior safety
B.J. Hill, junior safety
Damian Jiggetts, and sophomore cornerback D. J. Wright each intercepted passes for the Captains.
The schools have now split four games in the all-time series. It marked the second game in the series decided in overtime, as the Captains needed double overtime to beat MSU at POMOCO Stadium in 2016, 28-21, in the Captains last overtime battle. The four games in the series have been decided by a total of 28 points.
CNU returns to action next Saturday, September 29th, when they travel to Glassboro, New Jersey, to take on Rowan University. Kickoff time is set for 6:00 p.m. The Profs are 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the NJAC following a loss on Saturday at Frostburg State, 34-7.
