Montclair, NJ – Senior wide receiver Aaron Williams hauled in a pair of touchdown passes while freshman Willie Barr came off the bench to score twice on the ground as Montclair State dominated William Paterson in a 64-7 victory at Sprague Field on Saturday afternoon.
Eric Gargiulo returned an interception for a score while Jaquan Spann ran back a punt for a touchdown as the Red Hawks (1-3, 1-2 NJAC), who picked up their first win of the season, made it a happy Homecoming for its fans and themselves with their largest offensive output in 28 years.
Dwaine Dabney had a touchdown reception for the Pioneers (1-3, 0-3 NJAC), who dropped their third consecutive contest.
MSU dominated in almost every fashion as the Red Hawks put up its fourth-highest single-game point total in program history and its third-highest at home. It was the sixth time Montclair State reached the 60-point mark in the game and the first since a 65-0 win over Ramapo at home exactly 28 years ago to the day (October 3, 1987).
Montclair pinned the Pioneers deep in their own territory early and got the ball in great field position at the WPU 44. Six plays in John DiStefano ripped a 25-yard run off the left side for a touchdown however the play was called back for a hold and MSU later punted, which again pinned the Pioneers inside their own 5.
Another punt gave the Red Hawks the ball at their own 48 and MSU quickly capitalized as Ryan Davies found Williams down the left sideline for a 7-0 lead with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Midway through the second the two connected again this time on a 12-yard past extending the lead to 14-0 with 4:45 to go.
Two possessions later, MSU marched again as a 21-yard pass from Davies to Julanee Prince spotted the ball at the WPU 20. MSU later faced a 4th-and-1 with 35 seconds left from the WPU 11. Following the timeout, Denzel Nieves ripped through the line for a touchdown as Montclair State led 21-0. Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Gargiulo delivered a dagger through the heart of the Pioneers, returning his first interception of the year 42 yards for a score with 15 ticks as the Red Hawks took a 28-0 lead into the locker room.
Meanwhile the MSU defense was dominating as it held William Paterson to just 20 yards of offense in the first half and 84 for the game. The Pioneers had just eight first downs in the game, three in the first half. Two of those came on penalties and the third on a mishandled punt snap in which punter Nick D'Angelis ran for the first down.
Montclair State would score points of six of its nine possessions in the second half, including the final three. Spann electrified the crowd with a 61-yard return with 8:57 left in the third and Frank Schneeberger booted a 26-yard field goal making the score 38-0. Barr scored late in the third quarter on a 21-yard run and added a three-yard scamper with 10:22 left in the fourth before Akeer Franklin blasted through for a 38-yard touchdown two minutes later.
Dabney would finally get William Paterson the points as he pulled in a three-yard pass from James Waldron with 5:27 to play. Nassan Anderson capped the scoring for Montclair with 94 seconds remaining barreling in from a yard out.
Barr and John DiStefano each ran for 60 yards with Nieves and Franklin totaling 44 and 43 yards respectively on the ground. Davies completed 10-of-14 passes for 160 yards with Williams pulling in six for 109 yards. Montclair amassed 373 total yards in the game, including 204 on the ground. Michael Tenpenny and Chris Cimilluca led the stout Red Hawk defense with seven and six tackles, respectively. Kevin Bless accounted for 1.5 of Montclair's four sacks in the game with Joshua Betts and Michael Klimek each recording one.
Montclair State goes back out on the road next Saturday, October 10th for another NJAC contest as the Red Hawks head to Buena Vista, VA to face Southern Virginia University at 1:00 pm.