Montclair, NJ – Junior quarterback Ja'Quill Burch threw for 280 yards and a touchdown while Jalen Harris returned a pick for a score as Montclair State raced past local rival William Paterson, 36-6 at Sprague Field on Saturday afternoon.
Senior running back Craig Merkle added a 14-yard rushing TD and Anthony Marinelli kicked two field goals as the Red Hawks (5-4, 4-2 NJAC) posted their second straight victory. MSU also improved to 45-3-1 in the all-time series with the Pioneers.
Tracy Fudge connected with Siraj Abdul-Malik on an 82-yard touchdown pass for WPU (2-7, 0-6 NJAC), which has lost six in a row.
The Red Hawks took their opening possession of the game and turned it into points. Burch hit Carsen Johnson for 57 yards down to the WPU 9 however MSU stalled and settled for a 22-yard field goal from Marinelli for a 3-0 advantage with 10:23 left in the first quarter.
Marinelli would factor into the next as Montclair State went 51 yards in 11 plays. Merkle kept the drive going with a 10-yard run on third down to the Pioneers 45. Again the Red Hawks pushed inside the 10 but couldn't get into the end zone. Marinelli split the uprights from 29 yards making the score 6-0 just 49 seconds into the second quarter.
Good field position allowed MSU to widen its lead on its next touch of the football. Taking over at the WPU 44, Ralph McLean had a 14-yard run to the WPU 26. A fumble pushed the ball back out to the 38 however MSU was able to hold on to the ball as Burch found Merkle twice, the latter a 13-yard completion on 4th-and-6 to the WPU 9. Freshman Abellany Mendez raced into the end zone on the next play for a 13-0 lead with 7:57 to go before halftime.
The advantage became 20-0 two minutes later as Montclair used two big plays to find the end zone. Merkle ripped off a 52-yard on the first play before Burch threw a 28-yard strike to Kason Campbell for a touchdown.
A safety for the Red Hawks added two points early in the third when a high snap on a punt flew out of the end zone. Trailing 22-0, the Pioneers would get on the board as Fudge hit a streaking Abdul-Malik down the left side for the touchdown cutting the lead to 22-6 with 1:04 left in the third as Campbell came up with a block of the extra point.
The Red Hawks responded with a 70-yard drive capped off by Merkle, who finished off the possession with a 14-yard scamper through the middle growing the lead to 29-6 with 13:48 to play in the fourth. Harris put the exclamation point on the victory intercepting a Fudge pass and bringing it back 21 yards for the touchdown.
Burch completed 21-of-30 as he surpassed the 2,000-yard mark for the season. Merkle (5 catches, 77 yards) paced the ground game with 101 yards on 10 carries as Montcair amassed 165 yards on the ground and 445 yards of total offense in the game. Johnson had six catches for 100 yards with Campbell pulling in six for 70 yards.
Sophomore safety Zack Zaccone had seven tackles and an interception for MSU, which held the Pioneers to just 162 total yards. Jaier Garrett added seven tackles with Brennan Ray totaling six. Michael Stefkovich and Dominic Ferrara (one sack) had five apiece.
Montclair State closes out its season next Saturday hosting Kean University at Sprague Field. Kickoff for Senior Day is set for 1:00 pm.