UNH 31, Monmouth 24
- Updated: November 11, 2023
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.– True freshman Matt Vezza completed the first pass of his career, a fourth-down, 38-yard touchdown to sophomore Myles Thomason, with 2:18 remaining to lift the University of New Hampshire football team to a come-from-behind 31-24 CAA victory against Monmouth on Saturday.
UNH (5-5, 3-4 CAA) erased a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit and outscored Monmouth (4-6, 3-4 CAA) 21-7 in the final frame to snap the Hawks’ three-game home winning streak.
Vezza (1-2, 38 yards, TD), who came off the bench to make his college debut when starting quarterback Max Brosmer sustained an injury on UNH’s final drive, rolled to his left on a fourth-and-three play, threw against the grain, and delivered a strike to Thomason (two catches, 45 yards, TD), who made the game-winning grab, his first career TD reception, despite a pass interference call against MU.
Thomason (five rushes, 47 yards) and junior Isaac Seide (eight rushes, 39 yards, TD) stepped up when senior Dylan Laube, the nation’s leader in all-purpose yards, exited with an apparent injury early in the third quarter.
Brosmer went 28 of 45 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Laube led the Wildcats with eight receptions (for 21 yards), including a three-yard TD catch, and nine rushes (for 47 yards).
Eleven different Wildcats caught passes, with Kyle Lepowski making five catches for a team-leading 71 yards.
Junior Ryan Toscano and junior Duncan Moreland shared team-high honors with seven tackles apiece. Junior Josiah Silver recorded two sacks among his three tackles for loss and five total tackles.
Dymere Miller set Monmouth’s single-game receiving yards record with 11 catches for 333 yards, which surpassed Laube’s 295 receiving yards (Sept. 9 at Central Michigan) as the highest total in the FCS this season. Miller also set Monmouth’s single-season receptions record (85) and single-season receiving yards record (1,243) in the losing cause.
Hawk QB Marquez McCray completed 21 of 32 passes for 402 yards and two TDs, both to Miller. Jaden Shirden, who entered the game as the NCAA’s top rusher, was held to 85 yards on 18 carries.
UP NEXT
- UNH wraps up the regular season Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against Maine at Wildcat Stadium.
- Starter center Osho Omoyeni and starting senior safeties Joe Eichman and Max Oxendine each missed the game due to injury.
- Nick Mazzie improved to 6-for-6 in FGs from 20-29 yards with his 23-yarder that made it 10-7 in the second quarter.
- Shirden was held to 24 yards on seven rushes in the first half.
- The Wildcat defense held Monmouth’s high-powered offense to 1-for-6 on third downs in the first half.
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