Upper Montclair, NJ (10/11/03) - Junior defensive back Shaun Murray (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and the Montclair State special teams also recorded a safety as the Red Hawks won their fourth straight with a 9-0 New Jersey Athletic Conference victory over Kean University before a Homecoming crowd of 2,894 at Sprague Field on Saturday afternoon.

Junior running back EUGENE VICK (Newark, NJ/Hillside) rushed for 249 yards as the Red Hawks (4-1, 2-0 NJAC) defeated the Cougars for the eighth straight time and 26th time in 29 overall meetings. Kean (1-5, 1-2 NJAC) played the game without the NJAC's leading rusher Chandler Brown (Trenton, NJ/Notre Dame), who missed the game with an injured hip. The contest also marked the first between MSU head coach Rick Giancola and Kean head coach Charlie Cocuzza. Cocuzza spent the last 27 years as the Red Hawks offensive coordinator before taking over the Cougars program in April of this year.

Murray provided the only score the Red Hawks would need as he took the opening kickoff at his own 15 and came across to the near sideline picking up several key blocks and outracing the pack for the touchdown, the first kickoff return for a TD by Montclair since Mark Hall raced 90 yards against Western Connecticut in the 1999 NCAA Division III Playoffs.

The Red Hawks had an opportunity to extend the lead late in the first quarter when Vick took a handoff from the MSU 33, broke through the secondary and appeared on his way for the touchdown. However, Aharon Kiett (Atlantic City, NJ/Oak Crest) chased down Vick at the one and punched the ball loose through the end zone for the touchback.

Kean then had a chance to tie the game before the half as the Cougars took advantage of three Montclair State penalties and moved the ball to the MSU six with 26 seconds remaining. However, following a timeout, Mike Dugan (Branchburg, NJ/Immaculata) rolled out and tried to hit Derek Valentine (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) on the end zone sideline, but freshman TROY BISHOP (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) stepped in front and intercepted the pass to keep the defensive battle at 7-0 heading into the half.

In the fourth quarter, the Red Hawks once again took advantage of a Cougar special team miscue when PAUL GOLDEN (Seaside Park, NJ/Central Regional) blocked a Pat Gorbatuk (Manville, NJ/Manville) punt through the end zone. The safety gave the Montclair a 9-0 advantage with 9:52 left in the game.

Late in the final quarter the Cougars mounted a final comeback attempts and marched down to inside the Red Hawk 10-yard line where the drive stalled. On fourth down, the Cougars sent on freshman kicker Chris Ebbeson (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken) to attempt a 19-yard field goal, however, the snap was botched and the kick was never attempted. Montclair State was able to run out the final two minutes to seal the Red Hawks first shutout of the season.

Vick carried 31 times as the Red Hawks ran for a season-high 240 yards and outgained the Cougars in the game 325-229. Both quarterback struggled in the contest as Dugan completed 15-of-36 for 185 yards, but was intercepted twice and sacked eight times. MSU signal caller JOHN DIGIROLAMO (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) was just 7-of-27 for 85 yards and sacked five times. Kean's Jared Crowley (Trenton, NJ/Hamilton West) and Montclair's JASPER HANKINS (Union, NJ/Union) each had five catches in the game (Crowley 42 yards/Hankins 68 yards).

Defensively, Ricky Jones (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) collected seven tackles and three of the Cougars five sacks. Dan D'Avanzo (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) led the Cougars with eight tackles and added a forced fumble. For Montclair State, defensive lineman MATT CHAMPION (Maplewood, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) had nine tackles while linebackers Corey Baker (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) and RAY MEYER (Hasbrouck Heights, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights) had 2 1/2 and two sacks, respectively.