Box Score Box Score (PDF)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- Monmouth outscored Cornell 31-7 after halftime and cruised to a 48-23 victory over the Big Red in front of a Homecoming crowd of 4,553 on Saturday afternoon at Kessler Field. The Hawks evened its record at 4-4, while the Big Red fell to 1-4.

Senior quarterback Jeff Mathews completed 13-of-29 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a score. He was also intercepted once. He set yet another Ivy League record, this one for career completions. He ended the day with 798, nine more than Brown's James Perry. Lucas Shapiro caught a touchdown in his fourth straight game as part of a three-catch, 75-yard afternoon. Grant Gellatly found the end zone and had five catches for 86 yards.

Cornell's three turnovers forced the defense onto the field for 78 plays and more than 37 minutes. Monmouth scored on all five of its second half drives, though two were of less than 35 yards on a short field. Brett Buehler made a game-high 10 tackles and was in with freshman Jackson Weber on a sack, while Tre' Minor had 1.5 tackles for loss. Both Twan Terrell, who had a career-high eght tackles, and Matt Smith blocked a punt.

The Big Red's only consisent success came on special teams, where it averaged 24.0 yards per return on kickoffs, averaged 46.2 yards per punt and blocked a pair of punts. Another Monmouth punt was snapped over the kicker's head and went through the end zone for a safety to start Cornell's comeback.

Brandon Hill completed 20-of-32 passers for 308 yards and four touchdowns, while K.B. Asante ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, while Julian Hayes ran 17 times for 86 yards. Lamar Davenport caught four passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, while Neal Sterling, Mike McLafferty and Thaddeus Richards also caught touchdown passes for Monmouth. The defense also sacked Mathews four times.

Monmouth outgained the Big Red 512-290 and held a decisive 37:02-22:58 time of possession lead.

It was a disappointing loss for a team that went into the locker room with all the momentum, trailing just 17-16 after falling behind early by three scores.

Monmouth scored first after a ragged start. The Big Red forced a three-and-out on the first possession and then Terrell blocked the ensuing punt at the Hawks' 31 before recovering the loose ball at the 25. Less than 15 seconds later, Monmouth had the ball right back after the Big Red fumbled the ball away. The Hawks used that break to get on the scoreboard thanks to a 25-yard Eric Spillane field goal. The big play on the drive was a third-and-7 pickup that went for 40 yards down the right sideline from Hill to Davenport to keep the drive alive.

Cornell punted on its next drive and Monmouth picked right up where it left off, picking up four straight third-down conversions, including the final third-and-3 on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Hill to Richards to make it 10-0.

After a Big Red punt, Monmouth again went on the attack. The Hawks marched 71 yards on 10 plays and ran more than five minutes off the clock in taking a 17-0 lead with 9:37 left in the second quarter when Hill found Neal Sterling for an 11-yard strike.

Another Big Red punt gave the home team the ball back, and this time Monmouth helped the visitors out. After Justin Harris broke up a third-down pass to force a punt, the ball was snapped over the punter's head and kicked through the end zone for a safety to get the Big Red on the board.

Ben Rogers took the free kick back 37 yards to the Monmouth 43. Mathews found Hagy for a gain of 21 yards, then kept it himself and gained 19 more. Two plays later, Mathews called his own number again and squeezed into the end zone. With 3:50 left in the first quarter it was 17-9.

Cornell's defense again stuffed Monmouth on a three-and-out drive with Jarrod Watson-Lewis breaking up a third-down conversion attempt, and this time Matt Smith was able to get his hands on the football where it was recovered at the 15. Mathews didn't waste any time, hitting Gellatly for a 15-yard score on the first play. Olsen's kick got Cornell back within one (17-16) and made it a game again.

Momentum had switched as the teams went into the locker room. It switched back almost as soon as the teams hit the field again.

Cornell fumbled the opening kickoff and gave the Hawks a short field. The home team took advantage, marching 34 yards in just over 90 seconds with Hill hitting Davenport for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 24-16.

Ten minutes later, Monmouth had all of that 17-point lead back and then some. McLafferty hauled in a 32-yard pass from Hill for another touchdown and then Spillane kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 34-16 heading into the fourth quarter.

A Monmouth squib kick gave Cornell great field position, and eight plays later the Big Red was back on the scoreboard. The drive ended with Mathews hitting a wide open Shapiro from 27 yards out. Olsen's PAT made it 34-23 with 14:21 remaining.

That would be as close as Cornell would get. Monmouth went back on the attack, answering with an eight-play scoring drive of its own that ended with Asante finsing the end zone from 23 yards to push it back to a three-score game. After a sustained Big Red drive ended in a turnover on downs, Monmouth added one more scoring drive that culminated in Asante finding the end zone on the ground.

Cornell closes out the season with five consecutive Ivy League contests beginning on Saturday, Oct. 26 when it plays host to Brown at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.