Montclair, NJ - After playing six of its first eight games on the road, Montclair State will get a taste of "home cooking" over the final two contests starting with this week's matchup with William Paterson on Saturday.

The Red Hawks enter the game off a come-from-behind 24-17 victory at Rowan last week. Montclair trailed 17-7 in the second quarter but scored the final 17 points. JA'QUILL BURCH threw three touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score with 5:31 to play on a 38-yard strike to CARSEN JOHNSON. Linebacker SEAMUS NELSON, who finished with nine tackles, came up with a huge defensive play registering a sack on fourth down with 34 seconds left to end the Profs' potential game-tying drive deep inside MSU territory.

William Paterson was shut down by Kean University last week dropping a 37-0 decision to the Cougars in Union last Saturday. Senior linebacker Andrew Anthony recorded his fourth double-digit tackles total of the season with 10. Junior linebacker Sean Maldonato ended with eight tackles, while sophomore defensive end Chozen Davis and freshman linebacker Yubir Rojas-Herrera both established new season highs with seven stops each.

This will be the 49th meeting between the two local rivals, who are separated by nine miles along the Route 46 corridor. Montclair State has dominated the series winning 44 of the previous 48 meetings with one tie mixed in. The Red Hawks captured 22 in a row from 1993 through 2015 when the Pioneers broke through with an 18-13 win in 2016. Montclair has won the last two, including a 24-0 triumph in Wayne last season.