The Kean Cougars (9-1) defeated the Montclair State Red Hawks (8-2) 27-14 Saturday to clinch the NJAC Championship, and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
You can't continuously turn the football over and hope to win. And that is exactly what Montclair did on Saturday. The Kean Cougars forced seven Montclair turnovers, including five interceptions by Red Hawks quarterback Tom Fischer.
Freshman linebacker Matt Clerk intercepted two passes for Kean and added a sack. Jamahl Williams intercepted a pass for the Cougars in the third quarter, returning it 63 yards to the Montclair 1-yard line. The Williams interception set up Darius Kinney 2-yard touchdown run to put Kean ahead 24-7.
Chris DiMicco and Kinney combined for 166 yards rushing to pace the Kean offense. Tom D'Ambrisi threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Scott Davis, but was largely held in check by the Red Hawks.
The Kean victory sends the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament for the first time under head coach Dan Garrett. Kean rolls into the playoffs with four consecutive victories, and has victories over national powerhouse Wesley, Rowan, Cortland, and Montclair on their 2011 resume. The quality of Kean's victories will make a strong argument for a top-3 seed in the eastern bracket of the NCAA Division 3 football playoffs.
Montclair held a clear statistical edge in total offense, 334 to 248. Chris D'Andrea rushed for 126 yards, and Gerald Silvera caught 10 passes for 146 yards. But in the end the Red Hawks could not overcome their turnovers.
2 comments:
Had a brain f**t on that last post. Predicting Hobart gets the sixth seed in the "MUC bracket" and plays Kean (third seed due to H2H win over Wesley vs. Salisbury who will be fourth and has a loss to them) in the first round. My "east" bracket picks are on gohobart.blogspot.com
Dan - maybe we can have you on ITH tmw night to discuss prior to our interview with Coach Cragg?
That would be great, I would be honored to be a part of In the Huddle!
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