Montclair, NJ (10/16/04) - Senior quarterback Mike Passero threw a pair of touchdown passes and sophomore kicker Vin Doffont kicked a pair of field goals as Montclair State delivered a Homecoming victory and snapped a two-game losing streak with a 20-7 victory over William Paterson at Sprague Field on Saturday evening.

EUGENE VICK rushed for 114 yards for the Red Hawks, who improved to 3-2 this season and picked up their first New Jersey Athletic Conference win this season (1-2). Cristobal Rodriguez rushed for a touchdown for the Pioneers (2-4, 1-3 NJAC), who dropped their second straight. The victory by MSU was its 11th straight against it local rival and upped the Red Hawks mark in the series to 30-2-1.

This started out well for Montclair State as Shawn Perryman forced a fumble on the opening kickoff that teammate MIKE AJADI recovered at the WPU 17. After a pair of rushes by Vick, Passero hit CHRIS BECKER from nine yards out to give Montclair a 7-0 lead 93 seconds into the contest. Montclair extended the lead to 10-0 with 6:31 left as it again took advantage of another William Paterson fumble this one at the Pioneers' 20. The drive stalled following a penalty and a sack by Ricky Vesce and Doffont came on to kick a 30-yard field goal. With 27 seconds before half, Montclair got the ball back at the WPU 48 and moved 23 yards as Passero connected with ERIC FERRIOL on a pair of passes.

Doffont then came on and converted his second attempt, this time from 42 yards as the Red Hawks headed to halftime with a 13-0 lead. In the second half, Montclair took the opening kickoff and moved 63 yards in eight plays to make the score 20-0 with 10:31 left in the quarter. Passero hit Becker for a four-yard gain to keep the drive alive and Ferriol hauled in two receptions for 23 yards that moved the ball to the WPU 47. Passero then found STEVE ARMSTRONG in stride for a 47-yard touchdown. William Paterson finally broke through late in the third quarter on a 16-play, 67-yard drive that was aided by six Montclair penalties on the drive. A defensive holding penalty on third-down gave WPU new life in the drive and an unsportsmanlike call against the Red Hawks moved the ball to the MSU 32. Rodriguez hit Justin Leslie for 23 yards down to the nine for first-and-goal and that's when things became very interesting.

Montclair held on the first three downs, but on fourth down the Red Hawks were flagged for pass interference moving the ball to the 2. A William Paterson penalty pushed the ball back to the seven and three straight rushes got the Pioneers to the MSU 1. On fourth-down, Montclair stopped Jamal Locklear, however, the Red Hawks were offside. On the replay Locklear was again stopped short of the goal line, but again MSU was offside. Cristobal then dove in from the one for the touchdown. Vick rushed 24 times for the 114 yards while Passero was 9-of-19 for 119 yards. Ferriol finished with four catches for 42 yards. Montclair State recorded 281 yards of offense, but was done in by 16 penalties for 129 yards. Defensively, Derrell Sapp led the way with eight tackles and a forced fumble while linebacker MORGAN BURKLOW had seven tackles.

For William Paterson, Prince Breeden rushed for 65 yards on 16 carries. Rodriguez was 5-of-28 for 50 yards. Defensively, Craig Kohan had a game-high 12 tackles while Vesce had two sacks. The Pioneers had 129 yards of offense in the game.