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Montclair, NJ - Junior wide receiver AARON WILLIAMS hauled in a pair of touchdown passes as Montclair State took over first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 20-16 victory over Rowan University at Sprague Field on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore running back DENZEL NIEVES rushed for 108 yards and also added a touchdown as the Red Hawks won their sixth straight game (6-1). MSU moved ahead of the Profs for the top spot in the league standings as Rowan (4-3, 3-1 NJAC) had their four game-winning streak snapped with the loss. Montclair also posted their first win over the Profs since 2011 and now lead the series between the two teams 31-23.
Williams pulled in passes of 13 and 24 yards from GABE DIMASI, the latter one a 24-yard grab on the first play of the fourth quarter that gave the Red Hawks a 20-13 lead. Rowan responded driving to the MSU 8 before settling for a 25-yard field goal by Tyler Knighton (Gibbstown, NJ / Paulsboro) with 10:39 to play cutting the lead to 20-16.
After trading punts, the Profs came up with a huge defensive play as tackle Anthony Rizzolo (Green Brook, NJ / Watchung Hills) leaped and intercepted a short pass over the middle on a third-and-5 with 5:41 to go giving Rowan the ball at its own 49. Rowan pushed the ball down to the Montclair 24 yardline however the Profs came up short as a fourth-down pass was caught out of bounds along the right sideline with 2:01 left.
Montclair took 68 seconds off the clock with three running plays and punted back to Rowan with 53 ticks remaining. Quarterback Bill McCarty (Williamstown, NJ / Williamstown) threw four straight incompletions, the last one batted away by C.J. CONWAY sealing the game for MSU.
Montclair State is back in action on Saturday, November 1 heading to Cortland, NY for a 1:00 pm NJAC mathcup with the Red Dragons on SUNY Cortland.