Hawks looking to contend for NEC title and bowl bid
Monmouth football team is 2-0 for the first
time ever
Welcoming 39 letter winners and 15 starters back from the team that won four of its last six games, Monmouth University football coach Kevin Callahan has every reason to believe the Hawks will improve on last year’s 5-6 season.
"Based on how we finished last season and the solid effort the guys put forth in spring practice and the off-season workouts, we should be in contention for the title," said Callahan. "We are looking forward to re-establishing ourselves in the Northeast Conference."
There is an added incentive for the winner of the NEC this fall because the winner will receive a bid to the ECAC Bowl where it will face the champion of the Metro Atlantic Conference. The Hawks were 4-4 in the NEC last year.
Callahan, entering his ninth season as the Monmouth head coach, had the NCAA 1-AA top-ranked defense in the nation in 2000 and has five starters back in West Long Branch.
Monmouth moved from a 4-3 front to the 3-4 last year with remarkable results. The team went from yielding almost 400 yards a game to rank first in the nation in total defense (232.1 yards per game) and pass defense (115.7 yards per game).
Cushioning the loss of six starters is the return of All-American candidate Aaron Edwards (6-1, 210), the senior from Jackson High School. The defensive back is 60 tackles away from becoming Monmouth’s all-time career leaders in stops and has five pass interceptions.
The other returnees to the defense include Manalapan grad Mike DiBella (6-1, 230) and Hasbrouk Heights alum Joe Sentipal (5-11, 235) at linebacker; lineman Chris Ammacher (6-4, 240) from Hawthorne; and defensive backs Justin Rosato (6-0, 190) of St. John Vianney and Michael Pitts (5-11, 190) from Tenafly. All are underclassmen. Rosato is a sophomore and everyone else are juniors.
Sentipal and DiBella really benefited from the defensive change, freeing the linebackers to do what they do best — make plays. Sentipal set a school and NEC record for quarterback sacks in a season with 15.5. He had 86 total tackles. DiBella had 90 stops including 51 solo.
On the defensive line, Todd Stevens (6-4, 250), New Market, Md., and Sean Kerr (6-0, 250), Summit, will start on the line with Elizabeth’s Glascow Bart (6-2, 260), Spotswood’s Mike DeFalco (6-3, 235) and Toms River East’s Bob Pluta (6-1, 245) expected to be in the rotation.
Hazem Ibrahim (5-10, 225) and Danny Barker (5-11, 220) are the outside linebackers flanking Sentipal and DiBella. Mater Dei’s Ibrahim played in all 11 games last year, and Manchester’s Barker was in nine contests. Marlboro’s Tom Schultzel (6-4, 215) and North Brunswick’s Colon Sumter (6-2, 220) are pushing the starters at outside linebacker for playing time.
With Edwards, Rosato and Pitts, the Hawks have an experienced secondary. Rosato had two interceptions and made 45 tackles in 2000 while Pitts, the team’s top cover man, had 52 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups.
Keith Harper (6-1, 170) will start at corner. The sophomore from Hamilton West saw action in all 11 games as a frosh and made 20 tackles.
In the nickel and dime defense, Kevin Hutchinson (6-4, 210) of Florence and Joe Billups (6-1, 195) of Piscataway will join the backfield.
This year it’s the offense that is in for a new look with new offensive coordinator Greg Boyce tinkering with things. He has nine returning starters.
"Offensively, we showed a lot of improvement in spring practices," Callahan remarked.
Quarterback Bill Rankin (6-1, 200) from Toms River South, tailback Matt Merklinger (6-0, 210) from Seton Hall Prep, and fullback Jay Wolfstirn (5-11, 215) from Ridgewood bring experience to the skill positions.
Rankin had a solid freshman year, displaying a lot of potential. He played in all 11 games and started the last 10 for the Hawks, going 5-5. He passed for 1,355 yards and nine touchdowns.
He is helped not only by the return of Merklinger and Wolfstirn, but of wideout Uriel Riley (6-4, 215). The senior from Glassboro had 17 catches in 2000 and, with his size and speed, gives Rankin a downfield target.
Jirmad Gordon (5-9, 180) and Billy Lynn (5-9, 170), both sophomores, are the other wideouts. Orange’s Gordon caught nine passes in 2000, and Lynn of Fair Lawn pulled down 14. With Rankin also a sophomore, the Hawks are well-stocked in the passing game for the next three years.
Jay Roach (5-10, 180) of Manchester and North Brunswick’s Raheem Byrom (5-11, 185) are a pair of speedsters who stretch defenses.
Merklinger, a senior, is coming off of the best season a running back has had at Monmouth. He ran for 913 yards and 12 touchdowns and also led the team in pass receptions with 29 for 254 more yards and two more TDs. He produced close to 1,200 yards from scrimmage.
Manasquan’s Tyhquan Walker (5-8, 170) and St. Augustine Prep’s Chad Smith (6-0, 200) are very capable backups. Walker is a sophomore and Smith a junior.
Wolfstirn, a junior, has not missed a game in his two years at West Long Branch. He is the prototypical triple-threat fullback, capable of blocking, running and catching the football.
In addition to the returning talent at the skill positions, the Hawks have a veteran offensive line which makes it easier for the backs and receivers to display their skills.
Center Mark Di Pisa (6-4, 270), guard Eric Buraszeski (6-1, 260) and Matt Herdman (6-2, 260), all starters from 2000, are a solid nucleus to build the line around. Bergenfield’s Herdman and Brick’s Buraszeski are preseason NEC picks. Di Pisa of Hasbrook Heights started all 11 games last year.
Guards Mike Stoia (6-2, 255) of Red Bank and center Jon DeAngelo (6-1, 260) of Toms River South provide the line with depth and two more seasoned players.
Monmouth’s offensive line has added muscle since last year, beefing up 20 pounds per man up to an average of 273.
Linemen vying for playing time include South Brunswick’s Ed Helfrey (6-4, 320), Monmouth’s biggest player on the line.
It was defense and special teams that came to the fore when the Hawks beat Wagner College, Staten Island, N.Y., in their season-opener, 23-15, in West Long Branch. Roach equaled the kickoff return school record when he returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a score. Bobby Smith (Hopatcong) blocked a Seahawks punt to set the Hawks up deep in Wagner territory Rankin connected with Gordon on a 19-yard scoring strike to give Monmouth a 16-15 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Merklinger then capped the come-from-behind win, giving the team a cushion with his 70-yard touchdown run. He had 140 yards on 32 carries for the day.
It was Monmouth’s first-ever opening game win at home or on the road.
The Hawks backed that win Saturday with a 20-14 victory on the road at Central Connecticut State, New Britian, Conn. It lifted the Hawks to 2-0 for the first time ever and ran their winning streak to four games.
Monmouth started the scoring by going on an eight-play 65-yard march culminating in a Rankin to Matt Sosnovik from 16 yards out for the first score of the game.
After that Monmouth relied on the big play as Chad Smith rambled 60 yards for a score and Rankin and Merklinger hooked up on a screen pass that Merklinger turned into a 73-yard touchdown play.
The Hawks led 20-7 at intermission and held on in the second half to get the win.
Monmouth returns home Saturday to take on Canisius in a nonconference game. Kickoff is 1 p.m. The Hawks are also home on Oct. 6 for C.W. Post in another non NEC game. Kickoff is also 1 p.m.