Nov. 15, 2008
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PITTSBURGH - David Sinisi ran for 174 yards and three touchdowns as Monmouth scored the game's final 27 points in posting a 37-14 win over Duquesne at Rooney Field.
The win upped Monmouth's record to 7-4 overall and 6-1 in the Northeast Conference. Duquesne finished its season 3-7 overall and 2-5 in its inaugural NEC season.
The Hawks, who outgained the Dukes 497 to 195, held the Dukes scoreless for the final three quarters.
Monmouth got on the board first when Sinisi capped a 10 play 69 yard drive with a one-yard plunge.
Eric Halberstadt stepped in front of a Brett Burke pass and returned it 24 yards to the Monmouth 10 setting up a 10 yard run by quarterback Kevin Rombach that tied the game at 7-7 with 7:36 to go in the first quarter.
Fred Weingart kicked a 39 yard field goal to give Monmouth a 10-7 lead three minutes later.
Willie Milhouse returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Monmouth 38 and Duquesne capitalized when Connor Dixon hit Brian Layhue with a three-yard touchdown pass to put the Dukes back in front.
Two plays later, Monmouth answered with a 57-yard Burke to Rodney Salomon scoring strike to take a 17-14 lead after one quarter.
The Hawks outgained the Dukes 193 to 52 in the opening 15 minutes.
In stark contrast to the first quarter, neither team managed to score in the second. Both did have a scoring chance, but Duquesne mishandled a snap on a Mark Troyan 45 yard field goal attempt and Monmouth's Weingart was short on a 41 yarder.
Duquesne advanced to the Monmouth six on its first possession of the second half, but was turned away when David Kennedy got a hand on a 32 yard Troyan field goal attempt.
Monmouth then went 87 yards on six plays to take a 24-14 lead on a 33 yard Sinisi touchdown run.
The Hawks struck again when Burke hit John Nalbone with an 87 yard bomb to make it 30-14 with just over a minute left in the third quarter.
Monmouth's Kevin Walsh forced and recovered a Dixon fumble at the DU 10, setting up Sinisi's third touchdown of the day - this one from one yard out on a fourth down play.
Burke completed 14-of-23 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns for Monmouth. Rombach completed 12-of-16 passes for 71 yards and Dixon completed 6-of-11 for 63 yards for the Dukes who used both quarterbacks throughout the game.
Duquesne managed just 61 yards rushing on 27 attempts. Monmouth finished with 11 tackles for loss including four sacks.
Freshman Chidozie Oparanozie led the Dukes with a game-high 13 tackles (11 solo). Walsh had six stops, including four tackles for loss and two sacks for Monmouth.
BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINALMONMOUTH 17 0 13 7 37DUQUESNE 14 0 0 0 14
LEADERSRushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Williams (15-38-0); MU - Sinisi (23-174-3)Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Rombach (16-12-0-71-0), Dixon (11-6-0-63-1); MU - Burke (23-14-1-263-2)Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Spinks (7-57-0); MU - Yudin (3-23-0), Nalbone (2-89-1)Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Oparanozie (13/11); MU - Gumbs (8/4)
GAME NOTES
Monmouth had 22 first downs to 12 for Duquesne ... the Hawks did not punt until the 4:22 mark of the fourth quarter ... Monmouth was the sixth team to rush for over 230 yards against the Dukes this season ... Monmouth's 497 total yards was the second-highest total by a DU opponent in 2008 ...the Dukes played without leading tackler sophomore linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle), who was on crutches with a knee injury suffered last week at Wagner ... freshman linebacker Chidozie Oparanozie (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School, W.Va.), a three time NEC Rookie of the Week, posted his second consecutive 13 tackle game (11 solo) ... he also added Duquesne's only sack and broke up a pass.
