Wayne, NJ – Sophomore running back Denzel Nieves (South Orange, NJ, Columbia) rushed for a 118 yards and scored a pair of second-half touchdowns as Montclair State picked up its third consecutive victory on Saturday, knocking off local rival William Paterson University in the NJAC opener for both teams at Wightman Stadium.

Junior wide receiver Aaron Williams (West Orange, NJ, Jonathan Dayton) had seven catches for 108 yards while also blocking a field goal attempt with junior Eric Gargiulo (Cranford, NJ, Cranford)coming up with a pair of interceptions as the Red Hawks (3-1, 1-0 NJAC) posted its 23^rd straight victory over the Pioneers (2-2, 0-1 NJAC) while improving to 41-2-1 in the all-time series.

Playing through a steady rain shower during the first half, Montclair squandered a 14-play, 66-yard first drive off the opening kickoff as it failed to convert on a 4^th-and-1 from the WPU 12. The Red Hawks would also lose fumbles on two other drives but defensively it would come up with big plays.

After the fourth-down stop, William Paterson drove the ball to the MSU 23 before missing a 40-yard field goal attempt with 1:15 left in the opening quarter. The Pioneers then failed to capitalize on both Montclair fumbles in the second missing a 42-yard field goal with Gargiulo picking off the first of his two interceptions in the end zone.

Late in the half, William Paterson would get to the Montclair 33 in the closing seconds and went for a third field goal attempt, this one from 50 yards. But Williams, a former basketball player for MSU, blocked the attempt to end the half.

Gargiulo's second interception on the first play of the second half set up Montclair State at its own 48 yardline. Two plays into the half, Williams hauled in a 46-yard pass from Ryan Davies (Lanoka Harbor, NJ, Howell) down to the WPU 4. But a two-yard loss and a pair of incompletions forced Montclair to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Mike Borrelli (West Orange, NJ, Seton Hall Prep) and a 3-0 lead with 12:21 left.

Three possessions later, the Pioneers took the lead as Austin Fellows hit Anthony DiMarscio for a 45-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point attempt failed as the snap was mishandled as the score went to 7-6 in favor of William Paterson.

Montclair State immediately answered with a 63-yard drive on its next touch of the ball. Davies hit Clinton Coffey (Roselle, NJ, Roselle) for 37 yards to the WPU 26 and found Devon Levesque (Hanover, NH, Valley Forge) for 11 yards down to the 13 with a penalty putting the ball at the WP 6. Nieves ran six yards down to the 1 before getting across the goal line as MSU led 10-6 with 3:54 remaining in the third.

The Red Hawk defense shut down the Pioneers offense and then got into the scoring act in the fourth after a JOE JANOVIC punt pinned William Paterson at its own 2. The Pioneers tried three passes each one going for naught with the third attempt turning into a safety as Allen Phillips (Kenilworth, NJ, David Brearley) sacked Fellows in the end zone to give MSU a 12-6 lead with 8:40 to go.

Montclair's final touchdown was set up by a solid punt return by Pat Caggiano (Cedar Grove, NJ, Cedar Grove), who brought back a  William Paterson punt 41 yards to the Pioneers 20 with a penalty against the hosts adding 10 more yards. Two rushes by Nieves got the ball into the end zone extending the Red Hawks lead to 19-6 with 4:17 left.

Nieves finished with 29 carries, averaging 4.1 yards per touch as Montclair finished with 133 yards rushing and 330 total. Davies was 14-of-25 for 197 yards. Bill Shimko (Manahawkin, NJ, Southern Regional) finished with 12 tackles and added two breakups to lead the MSU defense. Phillips added nine tackles and a 1.5 sacks while Nick Mangum (Nutley, NJ, Nutley) collected six tackles along with 1.5 sacks.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, October 11 when it travels to Buena Vista, VA to face NJAc newcomer Southern Virginia University at 1:00 pm.