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MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY HAWKS FOOTBALL facebook.com/MUFootball @MUHAWKSFB YouTube.com/MonmouthHawks FOOTBALL CONTACT: Greg Viscomi (732) 571-4447 • 400 Cedar Avenue • West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898 SEPT. 5 • HOLY CROSS AT MONMOUTH • GAME 1 HOLY CROSS CRUSADERS (0-0, 0-0 PATRIOT LEAGUE) AT MONMOUTH HAWKS (0-0, 0-0 BIG SOUTH) AT Date: Sept. 5, 2015 Kickoff: 1:04 PM Field: Monmouth Stadium (3,500), West Long Branch, N.J. Series: 1-0 Monmouth Last Meeting: Monmouth 21, Holy Cross 14 (9-21-13) Coaching Matchup: Kevin Callahan (126-102) vs. Tom Gilmore (60-64) TODAY’S GAME: Monmouth and Holy Cross kick off the 2015 season today at Monmouth Stadium. The Hawks are coming off a 6-5 season, their first in the Big South while Holy Cross finished 4-8 in 2014. Monmouth jumped out to a 5-1 non-conference record but struggled in their first season in the Big South dropping four straight contests before closing out in strong fashion with a win at home against Gardner-Webb. Holy Cross saw six of their eight losses come in games decided by a touchdown or less in 2014. The Crusaders finished tied for fifth place in the Patriot League but won two of the team’s final four games. Today’s game is featured on ESPN3, with Matt Harmon and Eddy Occhipinti on the call. Monmouth begins its 23rd season of football at home for just the seventh time in school history. The Hawks graduated their starting receivers and quarterback but a veteran offensive line and second team all-conference running back Lavon Chaney return to pace the offense. Defensively, Big South Rookie of the Year Mike Basile returns to head up a deep secondary while junior John Sieczkowski will lead a linebacking corps that has plenty of depth. Up front, Dimitrius Smith and Andrew Jurczynski are two players with starting expe- rience and they lead a young, talented group. The Hawks were chosen sixth in the Big South preseason poll just ahead of Kennesaw State. Holy Cross, which returns seven starters on both sides of the ball, was selected sixth in the 2015 PL Preseason Coaches Poll. Led by the dangerous offensive duo of preseason all-conference quarterback Peter Pujals and wide receiver Jake Wieczorek, the Crusader offensive unit returns almost all of its receiving threats but just two starters on the offensive line. Defensively, Holy Cross returns three players on the defensive line and three in the defensive backfield but loses its top two tacklers. The Crusaders averaged a hair under 21 points per game last season while allowing 24.2, both of which were sixth in the Patriot League. GLANCE AT THE SERIES HISTORY Monmouth is 1-0 all-time against Holy Cross. The two teams met at Fitton Field in September of 2013, with 2015 MU SCHEDULE MU having to fend off a late HC comeback to clinch the 21-14 win. Date Opponent Result/Time 09.05 HOLY CROSS 1:00 p.m. TODAY’S MEDIA INFORMATION 09.12 at Central Michigan 3:00 p.m. TELEVISION: ESPN3 09.19 at Wagner 6:00 p.m. Play by Play: Matt Harmon ‘96 ‘04 09.26 at Fordham 1:00 p.m. Color: Eddy Occhipinti ‘06 10.03 BRYANT 1:00 p.m. STREAMING VIDEO: N/A 10.10 at Charleston South.* 12:00 p.m. 10.17 LIBERTY* 1:00 p.m. LIVE STATISTICS: http://www.MonmouthHawks.com 10.24 COASTAL CAROLINA* 1:00 p.m. 10.31 at Kennesaw State* 1:00 p.m. 11.14 PRESBYTERIAN* 12:00 p.m. 11.21 at Gardner-Webb* 1:30 p.m. TODAY’S Monmouth’s deep defensive backfield, which returns all four starters and six play- 0-0 Overall 0-0 Home 0-0 Away ers who made starts in 2014, and the passing attack of Holy Cross. The Crusad- *Denotes Big South Conference Game STAT ers, led by All-PL QB Peter Pujols also return three starters at wideout. GAME 1 - HOLY CROSS AT MONMOUTH 2015 MONMOUTH FOOTBALL GAME NOTES INSIDE THE MONMOUTH-HOLY CROSS SERIES SERIES TALE OF THE TAPE Today marks the second time the two teams match up. The first meeting came in 2013 at Holy Cross where the Hawks took down the Crusaders 21- 2014 TEAM STATISTICS 14. The Hawks dominated the first 55 minutes of the game, building up a 21-0 lead but Holy Cross would not go away quietly, scoring twice in the final five minutes of the contest. Monmouth’s three touchdowns were scored by MONMOUTH HOLY CROSS Lamar Davenport, K.B. Asante, and Julian Hayes. The Hawks quarterback, 19.0 First Downs Avg. 20.8 Brandon Hill, was 12 for 22 139 yards and a touchdown pass. Peter Pujals 129.1 Rushing Offense Avg 157.0 threw two touchdown passes for the Crusaders, connecting with Mike Fess 251.1 Passing Offense Avg. 205.7 and Nate Stanley late in the 4th quarter. Pujals came off the bench in that 380.2 Total Offense Avg 362.7 game, and has started every game since for Holy Cross. 157.8 Rushing Defense Avg. 168.2 251.1 Passing Defense Avg. 213.0 381.3 Total Defense Avg. 381.2 GAME BY GAME SERIES HISTORY 36.2 Net Punting Avg. 35.7 MONMOUTH vs HOLY CROSS 5.8 Punt Return Avg. 11.7 19.7 Kickoff Return Avg. 19.4 Date Winner,Score Location 60.1 Penalty Yard Avg. 40.8 9/21/13 Monmouth, 21-14 Worcester, Mass. 29.3 Scoring Avg. 20.8 25.6 Opp. Scoring Avg 24.2 MONMOUTH AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE 2014 MONMOUTH LEADERS Monmouth University is 7-8 all-time against members of the Patriot League, with its most recent win coming last season against Lehigh. Mon- Rushing Att Yds Avg Td Lg mouth is 1-0 against Holy Cross and Fordham, two teams that the Hawks will Chaney 173 835 4.8 8 45 face in 2016. MU has recorded two wins against Georgetown, while going 0-1 Royds 22 171 7.8 1 44 against Lafayette and 1-5 against Lehigh. In 2006 MU defeated Colgate but Welch 26 160 6.2 2 27 the Raiders have won three straight in the series. Monmouth will face Holy Cross and Fordham in 2015 with Lehigh set to return to the schedule in 2016. Passing Cmp Att Yds Td Int None THREE HAWKS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG SOUTH Receiving Rec Yds Avg Td Lg Redshirt junior John Sieczkowski and sophomores Mike Basile and Alex Chaney 49 359 7.3 2 25 Thompson were each selected to the preseason All-Big South team. Basile Ambush 23 327 14.2 3 37 was a First Team selection and Sieczkowski was a second team pick in 2014. Valles 18 255 14.2 3 68 Monmouth was the only school to have sophomores featured on the all-con- ference preseason team. Basile, who hails from nearby Brick Township, was Defensive Tac Solo TFL Sck Int the Big South Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014. Sieczkowski and Basile Sieczkowski 85 58 4.5 1.0 0 started every game last season while Thompson started 10 of 11 games as Basile 78 59 4.0 1.0 4 a true freshman in 2014. Thompson 72 41 7.5 2.0 0 HAWKS CHOSEN SIXTH IN PRESEASON POLL 2014 HOLY CROSS LEADERS Monmouth University was picked to finish sixth in the 2015 Big South Presea- Rushing Att Yds Avg Td Lg son Coaches Poll. Coastal Carolina was picked to win the conference earning Pujals 170 705 4.1 6 62 15 first place votes and 139 total points. Right behind them was Liberty with Guild 131 588 4.5 5 30 129 points and six first place points followed by Charleston Southern (106 Walker 69 283 4.1 3 24 points) and Presbyterian (72). Gardner-Webb was chosen fifth with 57 points while Monmouth was just four points behind with 53. First year program Ken- Passing Cmp Att Yds Td Int nesaw State was picked seventh with 32 points. Pujals 225 375 2353 10 7 Monmouth finished 6-5 overall and 1-5 in conference in 2014, its first sea- Flaherty 1 1 2 1 0 son in the Big South. In addition to Basile and Sieczkowski, the Hawks had five other members earn all-conference honors. MU returns nine starters on Receiving Rec Yds Avg Td Lg defense and six starters on offense, including junior RB Lavon Chaney. Wieczorek 50 694 13.9 5 74 Raymond 39 305 7.8 2 51 Flaherty 30 309 10.3 1 25 WILLIAMS SLATED TO MAKE FIRST CAREER START With the graduation of two-year starter Brandon Hill, redshirt freshman Cody Defensive Tac Solo TFL Sck Int Williams won the quarterback battle in camp and will get the start against the Crusaders. While he has not played in a collegiate game, Williams was McBeath 43 33 1.0 1.0 1 30-5 as a high school starter in Springfield, Mass., accumulating 6,975 yards Martinez 43 37 0.0 0.0 2 with 89 total touchdowns. Bhaya 40 33 1.0 1.0 1 DID YOU KNOW? Individual stats include returning players only Every Monmouth home game will be televised on ESPN3 this season, thanks to the University’s partnership with the Worldwide Leader in Sports. In addition, road contests with Kennesaw State and Central Michigan will also be show on ESPN3. 2 MonmouthHawks.com 2015 MONMOUTH FOOTBALL GAME NOTES COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS THE LAST MEETING CRUSADERS MONMOUTH 21 HOLY CROSS 14 HEAD COACH TOM GILMORE Sept.