Middletown, RI - Junior quarterback Ryan Davies (Lanoka Harbor, NJ, Howell) hit sophomore wide receiver Devon Levesque (Hanover, NH, Valley Forge) with a 31-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter as Montclair State picked up its first victory of the season with a 7-6 win over Salve Regina on Saturday.

Junior linebacker Michael Tenpenny (Iselin, NJ, John F. Kennedy) posted a team-best 13 tackles as the Red Hawks (1-1) defeated the Seahawks (1-1) in a one-point game for the second straight season. MSU edged Salve Regina 17-16 last season at Sprague Field as Eric Gargiulo (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) batted away a two-point conversion attempt with two seconds remaining.

Early on the Montclair State defense held against the Seahawks as Salve moved the ball to the MSU 19 on its opening drive before coming up short on a fourth down.  Later in the quarter, a 25-yard punt return by Pat Caggiano (Cedar Grove, NJ, Cedar Grove) put MSU near midfield and the Red Hawks got the ball down to the Salve 26 before a fumble turned the ball over with 2:22 remaining.

The turnover would help set up Salve's only score of the game as it went 74 yards in eight plays. Quarterback Steve Wilken completed passes of 12 and 15 yards respectively moving the ball to the MSU 38 before connecting with Matt Traynor on a 17-yard strike for a touchdown with 14:54 left in the second. The extra-point attempt was blocked by Kevin Bless (Edgewater, NJ, Paramus Catholic), a play that would ultimately prove to be the difference in the game. It was the second straight week Bless came up with a blocked kick as he batted away a field goal attempt versus Delaware Valley.

Later in the second, Montclair State took advantage of three penalties by the Seahawks, getting the ball down to the Salve 16 however a 32-yard field goal attempt went wide as the score remained 6-0 into halftime.

The defensive battle continued until late in the third when Montclair State came up with its go-ahead score. Taking over as the Salve  45, Davies hit Zach Liguori (Toms River, NJ, Toms River South) for 13 yards to the 32. Two plays later, Davies found Levesque up the seam on the right side for the touchdown. John Schubert converted the PAT putting MSU in front 7-6 with 3:56 remaining in the third.

The Red Hawks held on to the lead when Salve threatened in the fourth quarter. Wilken converted a 3rd-and-6 with an 18-yard completion down to the Montclair 32. But the MSU defense held with three incompletions and the Seahawks decided to go for it on fourth down. Wilken, looking to the right side, was picked off by C.J. Conway (Folsom, NJ, Hammonton) at the MSU 10. Conway returned the ball to the Salve 25 ending the drive.

But Montclair couldn't take advantage of the momentum shift as a 43-yard field goal attempt was blocked. However the Red Hawk defense came up big again as Michael Klimek (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) intercepted Wilken three plays later returning it to the Seahawks 39 with 7:15 to go.

From that point, Montclair played field position pinning Salve inside its own 20 yardline on the next two possessions. The last came with 2:49 as Salve took over at its own 17 and got out to the 31 before senior Joe Koonce batted down a fourth-down pass with 1:53 left.

Montclair closed out the game with a first down before kneeling on it twice to preserve the win.

Tenpenny also had a sack while Conway, Bill Shimko (Manahawkin, NJ, Southern Regional) and Byron Blake (Ramsey, NJ, Ramsey) each had seven tackles for Montclair State. Koonce and Enrique Tiburcio (HIllsdale, NJ, Pascack Valley) had two pass breakups apiece. Davies was 16-of-26 for 119 yards with Malcolm Robinson (Bayonne, NJ, Bayonne) finishing with eight receptions for 53 yards. Levesque also had 53 yards receiving on four catches.

Punter Joe Janovic (Montvale, NJ, St. Joseph's (Montvale)) set a new Montclair State single-game record with six punts inside the opponents 20 yard line.

The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, September 20 returning to Sprague Field for a 1:00 pm matchup with Division II Lincoln University.