Ewing, NJ. — Montclair State senior quarterback
ED COLLINS threw for 299 passing yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another two in leading the Red Hawks to a 42-30 road win against New Jersey on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, MSU is now 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while TCNJ drops to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference. The Red Hawks have now won 11 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season.
Collins set MSU's career passing yards record as he moved ahead of Walter Briggs' (1983-1986) as he now has 7,497 yards in his career. Briggs held the record previously with 7,378 yards. MSU jumped out to a 12-0 lead when senior running back
ELIJAH FREER rushed in from 14 yards out in the first quarter (11:39) to cap a seven-play, 77-yard drive and gave the Red Hawks a 6-0 lead. MSU added another score as Freer run in from 2 yards out at 2:05 in the first and broke open the game.
TCNJ junior running back Chris Franco put the Lions on the board with a 5-yard rush to start the second quarter and pull the Lions with in five points. MSU would capitalize on a 21-yard field goal by junior kicker
BRENT GRABLACHOFF at 6:20 in the second to give Montclair a 15-7 lead. Collins would rush in for a 1-yard score with 1:23 before the half and gave his team the 22-7 lead at the half. The Red Hawks had 20:00 minutes of possession at the break.
MSU junior
ERIC MAGRINI hauled in a 29-yard pass from Collins at 11:17 and another touchdown pass, a 5-yard score at 7:09 to break open the Red Hawk lead, 36-7. TCNJ's junior quarterback Bob Schurtz rushed in from 1 yard out at 2:19 in the third quarter and pulled the Lions within 22 points. The Lions came up with a safety at the end of the third quarter before Collins added another rushing score to open the scoring in the fourth at 9:45. Sophomore running back Jon Hedgepath had a 2-yard touchdown pass from Schurtz in the fourth at 6:20 and caught a Schurtz two-point pass to make the score, MSU 42-24 with 6:20 left to play.
The Lions would narrow the gap as sophomore defensive back Jeremy Julio blocked a Red Hawk punt and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown at 3:24. Collins finished the day with 299 passing yards on a 22-for-34 performance with two passing scores and added another two rushing scores for the Red Hawks who have equaled the program's best start, which was an 8-0 mark in 1960.
A frequent target for Collins was Magrini, who had eight catches for 145 yards and added two scores, while TCNJ's junior wide receiver Joe Gargione had six catches for 81 yards for the Lions.
Schurtz threw for 180 yards and was 16-for-31 on the day. MSU sophomore linebacker
ROBERT DAVIS led his team with 12 tackles, while senior
OMAR LUCAS added eight tackles and three sacks. TCNJ's junior linebacker Matt Scaravaglione made 16 stops, including 11 assisted tackles in the loss for the Lions.
The Red Hawks racked up 430 yards of total offense, while limiting the Lions to just 178 yards on the day, including minus-2 team rushing yards as Schurtz was sacked seven times.
