PITTSBURGH – Monmouth University’s (2-1, 0-0 Big South) comeback attempt fell short to Duquesne (2-2, 0-0 NEC) 30-21 on Saturday, Sept. 20, afternoon at Rooney Field.
After Monmouth took a 7-0 drive on its first drive, Duquesne scored 24 unanswered points, including 17 in the second quarter to take a commanding lead, one it would not relinquish. Monmouth battled back in the second half closing to within six points in the fourth quarter but the Dukes added a late field goal and were able to hold on for the nine point win.
“I didn’t think we played well enough in the first half to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game,” Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan said. “In the second half I was happy the way our players fought back and got themselves back in it. We put ourselves in the position that it was a one score game and we had the ball. If we could have been able to get on the board at that point I think it could have changed the outcome. We didn’t have the ability to make plays when we really needed to today. Duquesne did a good job along the defensive line and we made it difficult for us to find any consistency in the run game. Without being able to run the ball, it made throwing the ball all that more difficult.”
Duke quarterback Dillon Buechel was 29-of-46 for 344 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver Chris King who finished with 10 catches for 124 yards. Brandon Hill was 24-of-42 for 258 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. The Duquesne defense was stout against the run, holding Monmouth’s explosive rushing attack to 38 net yards.
Duquesne racked up 447 yards, including 103 on the ground and 344 in the air. Monmouth had 296 yards and were led by Sterling and Lamar Davenport each had 53-yards receiving. Chaney led MU on the ground with eight carries for 33 yards.
Rahming and King each eclipsed the 100-yard plateau, with Rahming catching 11 passes for 129 yards and King hauling in two scores on 10 catches for 124 yards. Ho led the Dukes on the ground with 13 carries for 43 yards.
Defensively, John Sieczkowski led all players with a career-high 11 tackles. Safety Kevin Butler had a career-high 10 tackles while Mike Basile added eight takedowns.
Monmouth’s opponent is Lehigh at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, in Bethlehem, Pa.
