Montclair, NJ – With a tied game going late into the fourth quarter, the Montclair State University football team (4-5, 3-3 NJAC) hit a late field goal off the leg of ROGER RUBINETTI to propel them to a 30-27 win on Senior Night and its final home game of the season.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Montclair received the first possession and started the day with a 26-yard run by CHRISTOPHER ARNOLD. JAMEIL CHALMERS also broke a big run of 15 to help get them deep inside Montclair territory. TCNJ held Montclair out of the endzone, and they had to settle for three.
• After forcing a three-and-out, the Red Hawks drove down the field again. TJ KACHALA highlighted the drive with 35 yards of all-purpose yards. Arnold punched in a four-yard score, but a missed two-point conversion kept the game at 9-0.
• A 55-yard kickoff return sparked the Lions' first scoring drive of the day. They got inside the red zone and broke off a 14-yard touchdown scamper to cut the lead to 9-7.  
• In a drive that went into the second quarter, Montclair benefited from two personal foul penalties that helped them get inside the 10. A fumbled snap on third and goal halted another touchdown drive, and they once again had to kick a field goal, and took a 12-9 edge.
• TCNJ responded quickly with a 69-yard touchdown throw right over the middle of the field and took a 13-12 lead with 12:46 remaining in the second quarter.
• The Red Hawks answered right back with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that was capped off by DIANTE WILSON, who ran it in from a yard out, pushing Montclair back out in front, 19-13, a lead they took into the halftime intermission.
• Both offenses stalled on the first drives in the third quarter. TCNJ then finished off a nine-play, 59-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run to take a 20-19 lead into the fourth quarter.
• The Lions extended the lead to 27-19 on a 10-play, 66-yard drive that was capped off with a one-yard touchdown run.
• The Red Hawks did not falter and put together their longest drive of the game of 11 plays. Highlighted by three third-down conversions, Montclair got down to the one-yard line of TCNJ, where Wilson leaped over the pile for the score. They went for two for the tie, and Henrich threw to the right flat for Kachala, and he dove for the pylon and scored to tied the game 27-27.
• A botched snap on a third down for TCNJ forced them to punt deep in their own end, but a 55-yard punt pushed the ball to the Montclair 31. The connection between Henrich and Kachala hit for gains of 13 and 12, and the run game of Wilson got the ball down to the 20-yard line. Rubinetti lined up from his season high of 37 yards with 53 seconds remaining. He came through and gave Montclair the lead, 30-27.
• The defense of the Red Hawks secured the win when sacks by ISAIAH GURLEY and JAMAL WILLIAMS helped run out the clock on TCNJ and capped off a thrilling Senior-Night win.

 
INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Montclair saw its highest sack total of the season with five in the game. ROLLAND AKINGBESOTE led with two sacks.
• ALEX BUCHWALD saw a team-high 10 tackles and saw his fifth double-digit tackle effort of the season.
• Wilson once again led the offense with 101 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. He leads the conference with 15 touchdowns on the season.
• TJ KACHALA led in the receiving game with seven catches for 78 yards.

 
FROM THE FIELD

• "Really hard-fought win for our guys. Very happy for our seniors, who were able to go out with a win on their senior night. Looking forward to next week and finishing strong.

 
UP NEXT

• Montclair State University wraps up the season on the road at NJAC rival William Paterson on Saturday, November 15, at 1:00 p.m.