Courtesy Wesley Athletics
DOVER, Del. - Wesley College held Montclair State to its lowest point total in 49 games, as the Wolverines downed the Red Hawks 44-7 in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Wesley limited Montclair State to just 113 yards of total offense and a negative-five on the ground in the win.
Brandon Wright (Clayton, N.J./Clayton), meanwhile, rushed for 136 yards and Justin Sottilare (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) tossed three touchdowns to lead the Wolverines.
However, it was the Wesley defense that scored first. Corner Marcus Wilson (Pennsauken, N.J./Camden Catholic) picked off a pass on the seventh play of the game and returned it 52 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Wolverines forced a three and out on the Red Hawks next possession, then put together a nine-play, 77-yard march for a 14-0 lead midway through the first period. Wright rushed for 31 yards and caught a seven yard pass on the drive before Chris Cummings (Newark, Del./Newark) scored his first rushing touchdown of the day.
In the second quarter, Wesley put together a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ate nearly seven minutes of game time to extend the lead to 20-0 on a nine-yard strike from Sottilare to Ellis Krout (Dallas, Texas/Roosevelt).
The Red Hawks answered with a 12-play series of their own, but Sean Scanlon (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) intercepted a pass at the Wesley two to end the threat. Wesley then took the ball and went 60 yards to set up a school record 46-yard field goal by Dan Tryon (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) as the first half ended with the Wolverines ahead 23-0.
Wesley's third interception of the day, this one by Byron Eaton (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown), set up the only score of third quarter. Sottilare finished off a short 38-yard drive with a two-yard pass to Hassan Alston (Randallstown, Md./New Town).
Sottilare's third touchdown of the day, and 35th of the year, came on the first drive of the fourth quarter. The junior hit Leonard Stevenson (Nanjemoy, Md./Lackey) for 15 yards at the end of a nine-play, 68-yard drive.
The Red Hawks got on the board with just over four minutes left when back up quarterback James Melody threw a 25-yard touchdown to Dan Keegan to make it 37-7.
Cummings second rushing touchdown of the day finished the scoring and Wesley sacked Melody three straight times to end the game.
Wright's 23 carries for over 130 yards put the sophomore over 1,000 yards for the year.
Sottilare completed 20-of-27 passes for 190 yards and three scores against zero interceptions.
Stevenson and Krout each caught four passes, while Stevenson led the team with 58 receiving yards. In all, eight different receivers caught passes for Wesley.
Defensively, Chris Mayes (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) had six tackles, four for loss and 1.5 sacks. in the game. Aaron Benson (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) and Jeff Morgan (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) each had seven tackles and Devin Hardy (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) notched a pair of sacks.
Montclair State's leading rusher on the season, Matt Jimenez was held to minus-two yards in the game and quarterback Tom Fischer, the NJAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, was held to just 12-of-26 passing for 78 yards and three interceptions.
Byron Lewin, Keegan and Joe LaSala each caught at least four passes, but no Red Hawk player reached 40 yards receiving.
Ed Kirschenbaum had a big day for the Montclair State defense with 15 tackles and three for loss. Mario McLean added 14 tackles, while Gary Knoeppel was in on 10 stops.
With the win, Wesley will host Mary Hardin-Baylor in the NCAA Division III Championship Quarterfinals on December 4 at noon at Scott D. Miller Stadium.