Johnson, Toreros too much for the Hawks

BY DOUG McKENZIE Staff Writer

BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, Monmouth's Jamaal McClintock takes down San Diego's J.T. Rogan during Saturday's Gridiron Bowl in West Long Branch. At left, MU's Shane Sharpley tries to outrun San Diego's Patrick O'Neill to the end zone. Below, Monmouth's Erik Yngstrom is held as he tries to get to the quarterback. PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, Monmouth’s Jamaal McClintock takes down San Diego’s J.T. Rogan during Saturday’s Gridiron Bowl in West Long Branch. At left, MU’s Shane Sharpley tries to outrun San Diego’s Patrick O’Neill to the end zone. Below, Monmouth’s Erik Yngstrom is held as he tries to get to the quarterback. Going into Saturday’s inaugural Gridiron Classic, the Monmouth University football team knew what it would take to knock off San Diego.

They had to find a way to contain quarterback Josh Johnson.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Wrong.

Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound double threat (who’s equally dangerous with his legs or his arm), was simply too good for the Hawks on Saturday, leading his Toreros squad to a 27-7 win at Kessler Field.

The Hawks, who fell to 10-2 while San Diego improved to 11-1 to conclude their season, did an admirable job of slowing Johnson down, limiting the Toreros to 324 yards, more than 100 yards below their season average, and 27 points, well below their average of 44 points per game. But Johnson came up big time after time (especially on crucial third-down plays) to lead his team to victory.

“That was a great football game between two very good teams,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “We missed out on some opportunities, but that doesn’t take away from the accomplishments of this team.”

Early on, it was Monmouth that made the game’s first big play. Senior linebacker Mike Castellano, of Freehold Township, pressured Johnson into throwing the ball right into the hands of MU’s Mike Nunziato deep in Hawk territory with 7:39 left in the first quarter. However, the ensuing Monmouth drive was brought to an abrupt halt as Brian Boland was intercepted by San Diego’s Ben Hannula, who took the pick back 37 yards for a touchdown at the 5:29 mark to give the Toreros the game’s first lead at 7-0.

The score stayed at 7-0 until San Diego’s J.T. Rogan scored his first of two first-half touchdowns, the first from five yards out, to give the Toreros a 13-0 lead at the 13:48 mark. San Diego kicker Hutch Parker missed the point after touchdown attempt.

Rogan then scored his second touchdown of the half, from four yards out, with 28 seconds left, giving them a 19-0 lead heading into halftime after Monmouth’s T.J. Cerezo broke up the two-point conversion attempt.

To their credit, the Hawks came out fighting in the second half, scoring on their opening possession on a David Sinisi one-yard plunge that followed a 57-yard pass play from Boland to Shane Sharpley. After a defensive stop, the Hawks seemed poised to chip away even more with another lengthy drive, only to see Boland get intercepted again by Hannula at the Torero 9-yard line.

San Diego’s final score of the game came soon after, when Brendan Feliczak found the end zone from three yards out to conclude the scoring at the 3:29 mark. Johnson hit Chris Ramsey for a two-point conversion after the touchdown.

Johnson ran for 104 yards and completed 18-of-30 passes for 180 yards on the day. While not a typically dazzling day for the talented QB, he was effective when he needed to be.

For the Hawks, Sinisi ran 10 times for 38 yards for the Hawks, while Boland completed 14-of-24 yards for 145 yards. Kiley caught a career-high five passes for 51 yards.

Castellano led the MU defense with a season-high 13 tackles, and Matt Hill had 11.

With the loss, Monmouth wraps up the season with a 10-2 record, which helped them capture their fifth NEC Championship.