Week four was an exciting, jam-packed edition of NJAC football. Seven of the eight teams in the conference were in action and two of those games came down to the wire.
Wilkes Ruins Montclair State’s Homecoming
The Red Hawks saw themselves down by 14-0 at halftime. They stormed back with 21 points in the second half and fell 24-21 to Wilkes on a game-winning field goal at Sprague Field in Montclair, New Jersey.
MSU’s Luke Henrich led the game in passing yards with 212 and one touchdown while their dynamic duo of running backs, Christopher Arnold and Diante Wilson combined for 233 rushing yards and two touchdowns both scored in the second half.
MSU lost on Homecoming for the first time since 2022 and will gear up to face Kean in their NJAC Opener next week in Union.
Salisbury Crushes Catholic
Syrus McGowan went 9-of-13 for 181 yards and two touchdown passes and Andre Matthews rushed for two touchdowns as the Sea Gulls romped to a 55-6 win over Catholic University on Saturday.
The Sea Gulls are a perfect 3-0 and next week will host NJAC rivals TCNJ.
Kean Thumped by Western Connecticut
The Cougars managed just 147 total yards of offense while giving up 441 in a 38-7 loss to Western Connecticut State on Saturday. Kean quarterback Rocco Pellegrini was outplayed by the visiting teams quarterback Dylan Jackson. Pellegrini threw for one passing touchdown and an interception to go with 123 yards while Jackson managed five passing touchdowns for the visiting Wolves.
Next week will be Homecoming for the Cougars as they prepare to host the Red Hawks in their NJAC Opener.
TCNJ Blank Juniata
It’s a good time to be a fan of Lions football right now because the NFL’s Detroit Lions are 2-1 and the TCNJ Lions of D3 football are coming off their most complete performance of the season, a 35-0 win over Juniata at home.
In this shutout victory, the TCNJ Lions ran for 300 yards on the ground, while holding Juniata to just 75. The reason for that? Five TCNJ players rushed for 20 yards or more, with Jordan Morrell rushing for 89 and a score and Joe Visaggio punching in two rushing touchdowns. The Lions as a team went just 4-for-6 passing but they managed to gain 99 yards while also tossing an interception.
They will need to be on their ‘A game’ when they go on the road and face Salisbury next week in their first conference game of the season; a team which has given up just 13 points across it’s last two games.
Profs Prevail over Lycoming
A back and forth game between the Rowan Profs (2-0-1) and the visiting Warriors was tied in the third quarter, but the Profs ended up pulling away in the fourth quarter behind two Greg Casimir field goals (one from 33 the other from 36 yards) as the Profs prevailed past Lycoming in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on Saturday 34-23.
Profs’ quarterback Nate Maiers was very efficient through the air going 15-of-23 for 284 yards and three touchdowns (all to Michael Zarfati) while his rival Joe Lyons went 22-of-39 for 290 yards and one touchdown (plus an interception. Nunes Bukula IV led the game in rushing with 116 yards on the ground and one rushing score.
Rowan will have their sternest test next week when they face Christopher Newport University at home.
Captains Climb Past No. 13 Susquehanna
On Saturday, the Christopher Newport University captains (3-0) were home to face ranked Susquehanna University River Hawks and pulled off the upset 41-27. The Captains defense shined as they made three interceptions. Meanwhile, CNU quarterback Connor Barry was the passer of the week throwing for three touchdowns and 374 yards and wide receiver Colin Hart hauled in four passes for 144 yards and a score.
The Captains will be in Glassboro next week as they face Rowan in their NJAC opener.
William Paterson Pummels Moravian
After going down 14-0 on the first two possessions, the Pioneers (1-2) scored 38 unanswered points to snatch a 38-14 victory away from Moravian on the road Saturday. Willy P quarterback Nigel Jennings passed for 177 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. William Paterson’s dynamic duo of receivers, Brion Dorsey and freshman Te’Quan Thomas each hauled in a receiving touchdown.
William Paterson will next be in action on Oct. 4 for a Homecoming tilt with Vermont-State Castleton.
BYE- Vermont-State Castleton (2-1)
Performers of the Week
Our top offensive performers are CNU quarterback Connor Barry, Montclair State running back Christoper Arnold, and Rowan wide receiver Michael Zarfati.
Our top defensive performers are Montclair State linebacker Alex Buchwald (12 tackles, two for loss, 0.5 sacks) and Salisbury linebacker Ryan Salvosa (three tackles for a loss/interception).
After three weeks, four teams remain undefeated (TCNJ, Salisbury, CNU and Rowan). We will see if that changes next week when TCNJ take on Salisbury and CNU visit Rowan.
