MONTCLAIR – Montclair State University’s unranked football team was right there with the No. 13 team in the NCAA Division III football for four quarters Saturday at Giancola-Sprague Field.
After gaining possession through a forced fumble and recovery and gaining 72 yards on an 11-play drive, the Red Hawk offense had the ball at Christopher Newport University’s 24-yard line.
Montclair had converted on fourth down when Khalil Forbes held onto a short pass from Luke Henrich at the Newport 29, but after a few minimal running plays, they were facing third down. They were near the red zone, and one moderately long passing play away from their third touchdown of the game and tying it up with under a minute left.
The ball was snapped and quarterback Luke Henrich dropped back. The junior from West Orange, New Jersey, dropped back and quickly saw the wide receiver who leads his team in receiving yards and touchdowns this season, TJ Kachala.
Kachala had positioned himself in the corner, inside the five-yard line. He was in the right spot to make the play that would surely put a third Red Hawks touchdown on the scoreboard, but that’s when the play slipped out of his control.
Christopher Newport’s senior defensive back Noah Martin would intercept Henrich’s pass, return it 17 yards, and it was all over.
With just 27 seconds left, Newport quarterback Brandon Pena knelt down to run out the clock, and the visitors came away with their 21st consecutive regular season victory, albeit a close one against the Montclair State Red Hawks.
How It Happened
The hosts had a key player go down early. After just three rushing attempts during which he gained three yards, senior running back Diante Wilson suffered an undisclosed injury. He could be seen on the sidelines talking to the medical staff but would not return to the game.
In years past, Montclair State head coach and alumnus Mike Palazzo has stressed his program’s ‘next man up’ mentality and on Saturday the next man up was junior Bernie Tinord.
Tinord would make an impact on the game, but not immediately. The running back from Parsippany had returned punts and kicks for Montclair earlier in the year, but had been used sporadically.
On Saturday at Rick Giancola-Sprague field in Montclair, he showed everyone what he can do on a football field.
When you have a kid as good as Diante (Wilson) sometimes you guys don’t see what we have on this roster and Bernie (Tinord) is an outstanding football player. He’s been working his butt off for three years and he got an opportunity today and he made the most of it. I’m so proud of him that he came in and had the game that he had because we’ve seen him working but he hasn’t shown it for you guys yet. – Mike Palazzo
Tinord took a little while to get going but once he did, he rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown, both career-highs for a single game. Tinord accounted for most of the Red Hawks’ 132 rushing yards on the day.
The reason why Montclair State lost this game was turnovers and giving up a few big plays to Newport’s offense.
On the first offensive play of the game, Henrich threw an interception. Freshman defensive back Jayden Miller picked Henrich off at the Montclair 42. Then, on the ensuing Christopher Newport drive, Pena connected with his senior tight end Jayson Viernes on a short pass. Viernes then broke a tackle and ran it in 30 yards after the catch for Newport’s first touchdown after 19 seconds had elapsed in the first quarter.
Things settled down after that. Montclair got the ball and after seven plays, Brendan McGonigle punted the ball away.
On their second drive, Newport ate up 7:31 of the first quarter with a 14-play, 77-yard drive that ended in a missed 23-yard field goal attempt.
After Montclair made little headway on their next drive, Newport took over at their own 38-yard line with 1:46 to go in the first. After minimal gains on two plays, Pena threw a deep pass that had too much hangtime. Montclair’s sophomore defensive back Jahmir Beal tracked it and caught it for the interception, giving Montclair its first turnover created of the game and returned it 27 yards to the Montclair 47. Beal was hit out of bounds and that incurred an unnecessary roughness penalty, which moved the ball up 15 yards from the MSU 47 to the CNU 38.
As a defense, we let up a big play to start the game but I felt like we all stuck together and just tried to play Montclair State football. Taking the ball away when the ball’s in the air, especially as a safety, that was just our job. – Jahmir Beal
On the ensuing drive, Montclair State’s offense could only advance six yards on four plays; on one of them Tinord was tackled for a loss. That set up a long, 48-yard field goal attempt for freshman kicker Mike Firetto, who missed wide left, keeping the Red Hawks behind 7-0.
On the first play of the next Newport possession, Jordin Lennon broke off runs of 28 and 20 yards, bringing the ball to the Montclair 18-yard line and the visitors were knocking on Montclair State’s door.
Four plays later, Newport found the endzone on a two-yard run by senior running back Alex Jreige. The extra point attempt by Brandon Prater went through the uprights and despite creating a turnover, Montclair State found themselves in a 14-0 hole.
An Eventful End to the Second Quarter
With 9:53 left in the first half, Montclair State answered back four plays into their drive when Henrich connected on a deep 62-yard pass to senior wide receiver Khalil Forbes.
Henrich’s accurate touchdown pass cut the deficit in half and Firetto kicked the ball off 55 yards on the ensuing kickoff which Newport only managed to return 12 yards, setting their drive up at their own 22.
But, for the second consecutive drive, a pass from Pena was intercepted by Beal near the red zone. Beal could only return this pick three yards and that set Montclair up at their own 28 with just over six minutes to go in the half.
As a defense, we let up a big play to start the game but I felt like we all stuck together and just tried to play Montclair State football. Taking the ball away when the ball’s in the air, especially as a safety, that was just our job. – Jahmir Beal
Montclair State would go three-and-out and give the ball back to Newport with under five minutes to go in the half and this time, the Red Hawks defense couldn’t stop the Captains. The Captains’ 61-yard drive ended with Jreige’s second touchdown run.
In the middle of that drive, while defending a rush, Montclair defensive lineman Richie Martinez was injured. The fifth-year lineman had to be helped up and driven off the field in a cart.
He’s gonna be out for the season. Ankle injury. So he got brought over to the hospital. Tough break for the kid who’s a fifth year guy that’s given everything he’s had to the program and came back this year after missing last year with a shoulder problem, so my heart breaks for the kid. I’m going to go over and see him soon if he’s still over at the hospital but what a leader and part of this program that we’re really going to miss.
On the next possession, Montclair State drove 35 yards on five plays, taking them to the CNU 29. However, their second attempted field goal was missed by Firetto, this time from 46 yards out.
Newport took a 21-7 lead into halftime.
Shutting out the NJAC Champs in the Second Half
The Montclair State Red Hawks defense stepped up big in the second half.
Their defense held Christopher Newport to just 27 yards of total offense in the third quarter and forced three-and-outs on two of Newport’s three drives in that quarter. They also kept Newport from scoring any points in the second half.
After hemming Newport inside their own 10-yard line, the Captains punted. The punt only went 37 yards and Montclair State would score on the ensuing drive. Tinord ran the ball in 10 yards for the score and McGonigle’s point-after attempt was good, bringing the deficit back down to one touchdown (21-14).
Newport took a false start penalty on the first play of their next drive and were forced a three-and-out at the end of the third. Montclair State got the ball back and on the third play, Henrich was intercepted for the second time of the game by sophomore defensive back Jaden Plantin, who returned it 37 yards.
Now, with the Captains starting their first drive of the fourth quarter at the Montclair 22, things looked bleak for the hosts, but the Red Hawk defense held their ground. They limited the Captains to just three yards but on a third-and-seven, Pena completed a short rollout pass to his gamechanger Jreige but linebackers Will Canavan and Jayden Lucas combined to tackle the Newport running back before he could reach the first down. Now facing a fourth down, the visitors elected to kick a field goal and the attempt by Prater from 36 yards out was no good. Montclair State weren’t dead yet.
Despite Tinord’s 10-yard rush on the first play of their drive, Montclair were forced to punt.
Things started looking bleak again for Montclair when Jreige broke off runs of 29 and 22 yards on the first two plays of the Captains’ drive with 8:50 remaining.
The ball was at the Montclair 28 and Newport’s other rushing threat, Lennon, made a short gain for the first down on third down.
Newport converted on third down again and with the Captains pushing inside the 10, it was time for Montclair State’s defense to bear down once more. And bear down they did on second-and-goal. The Captains’ confidence in their running game led to them attempting to punch in another touchdown from the two-yard line, but senior defensive lineman Tom Cader forced Lennon to fumble.
The fumble was recovered by Beal and the tables had turned.
Two Tinord runs of 11 and 10 yards respectively pushed Montclair to their own 31. On second down, Henrich threw a pass that was intercepted by Dray Waller but a Newport lineman was called for roughing the passer, which negated what would have been Henrich’s third interception.
With the ball now inside Newport’s half of the field, Tinord continued to have his way, rushing for 11 yards. However, that play was reversed due to a holding call against Montclair.
Then, Newport’s defense stepped up, limiting Tinord on two successive running plays to two and three yards. On third down, Henrich’s pass was incomplete setting up a fourth-and-nine. With their backs against the wall, Henrich completed a 13-yard pass to Forbes which got them the first down.
Tinord was limited on two successive running plays and that set up a third-and-five with 36 seconds left in the game. Palazzo called his final timeout.
It all came down to this. The Red Hawks lined up in the shotgun. Henrich received the snap, pump-faked and took his shot, a 17-yard pass attempt that aimed for Kachala, but it was intercepted by the Newport senior Noah Martin.
Christopher Newport held on to win 21-14.
Reactions from Palazzo, Beal
With the loss, Montclair State fell to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 vs the NJAC, while Christopher Newport improved to 6-0 and 3-0 in the NJAC.
After the game, Montclair State’s head coach Mike Palazzo described what he saw from his team, which created three turnovers (two interceptions and a fumble).
In the situations defensively, (our players) did a great job. They made big plays when they needed to but offensively it comes down to guys pushing and trying to do things that are outside of their job and that comes with a high-pressure moment, you know, we’re playing the #13 team in the country…it just happens in a big game like that, guys trying to make a play and maybe doing something outside their read and Luke (Henrich) knows it, with the interceptions he’s got to clean that up, certainly never wants to throw an interception, he’s just trying to make a play with no time left so (I’m) not mad at him, (I) want to learn from it and get better.
Sophomore from Perth Amboy, Jahmir Beal was named NJAC Defensive Player of the Week for his game-high two interceptions, one fumble recovery and seven tackles. Even though, Montclair State quarterback Luke Henrich threw three interceptions in this game, Beal offered support for his quarterback.
I have a lot of confidence in him. He comes here every day to work. He’s the first person here that I see in the locker room, the last person to leave. So I put faith in him at all times. – Jahmir Beal
The fourth-year head coach, Mike Palazzo added his thoughts on the state of his team following their first contest against a ranked opponent.
I think we can play with anybody. We shut them out in the second half and that’s a very good offense and a very good football team and we moved the ball offensively. So, I think we can play with anybody and that gives us confidence going into that run where two of the next four teams being ranked opponents so I’m proud of the way the guys played. We were never out of it. I’ve been part of games before where we play ranked opponents that we really couldn’t compete with. I think we have a quality football team so I think we have a lot of confidence going into the last stretch of the season.
Montclair State’s next game is on the road against Salisbury University, who are 5-1 and one spot ahead of fourth-place Montclair in the NJAC standings. That game is scheduled for Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. in Maryland.
