Buena Vista, VA - The Montclair State defense forced three turnovers and limited Southern Virginia to just 200 yards of offense as the Red Hawks picked up their first victory of the season with a 24-0 victory in their NJAC opener on Saturday.

Sophomore quarterback RYAN ADZIMA tossed three touchdown passes as the Red Hawks (1-0 NJAC) evened their record at 1-1. Montclair also improved to 4-0 all-time against the Knights (0-3, 0-3 NJAC), including shutouts in each of the last three meetings.

For the second straight game, Montclair State scored on its first possession of the game moving 58 yards in 12 plays while chewing up the first 5:40 of the contest. Jack Castiglia returned the opening kickoff 26 yards out to the MSU 41. Adzima kept the drive going with a 27-yard completion on 3^rd-and-4 to ANTONIO NATALE down the SVU 16. The drive would stall at the 1 and Montclair put points on the board as HUNTER DALY connected from 18-yards out for a 3-0 lead with 9:20 left.

The Red Hawks extended the lead to 10-0 on its next touch with a 12-play, 68 yard drive that took over six minutes. Running backs ANTHONY TRAVISANO accounted for a large chunk of the yardage on the ground with 42 yards that placed the ball at the Knights' 7. Adzima then found JOE SCHULTZ for the touchdown giving MSU a 10-0 lead.

Senior cornerback JABARI RAY GARVIN set up Montclair's touchdown in the second intercepting a pass that gave the Red Hawks the ball at the SVU 15. A penalty against the Red Hawks pushed the ball back out to the 25 however two plays later Adzima connected with ZAHIR WILDER for a 24-yard touchdown extending the lead to 17-0.

Another interception by the Red Hawks led to the final score. DYLAN ELLIOTT picked off a pass and brought it back to the Knights' 26. Three plays after the turnover, Adzima hit BRIAN KOWALCZYK for a 14-yard TD toss making the score 24-0 with 11:53 left in the third.   

Travisano led the Montclair ground game with 63 yards on 21 carries. MICHAEL STRADFORD led the Red Hawks with 10 tackles while linebacker MAURO ALTAMURA recorded eight tackles.

Montclair State returns to action next Saturday, September 23 with its home opener at Sprague Field against Christopher Newport University. Kickoff of the NJAC contest is set for 1:00 pm.