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West Long Branch, NJ - The Wagner football team navigated the 45-mile trip to the Jersey Shore to face a familiar local foe as Wagner and Monmouth meet for the 21st time today at 1:00 pm.

The schools have met every season since 1993 and from 1996-2012, the two locked horns as members of the NEC. In 2013, Monmouth was an independent in 2013 and plays its first season as a member of The Big South Conference in 2014. With two straight wins over Wagner, Monmouth has assumed an 11-9 lead in the all-time series.
 
2012 Home Loss to Monmouth Preceded Historic Turnaround
There was plenty of pomp and circumstance to go around when Wagner hosted then NEC-rival Monmouth on September 15, 2012. Optimism and good cheer was in the air, following an opening-season 7-3 loss at FBS member FAU and despite a down-to-the-wire defeat at Georgetown the following week.
 
Prior to the 2012 Wagner-Monmouth tilt, the field at Wagner College Stadium was named "Hameline Field" in honor of the 200-plus winning Seahawk head coach Walt Hameline. A host of family members, friends, past and present Wagner players along with former coaches and administrators were on hand to feat the Seahawk head coach who has just entered his 32nd season at the helm of the good ship Seahawk. Some three hours later, Hameline addresses and thanked a large contingent of friendly faces during a reception in the Spiro Center's VIP Room, which included a cadre of members of the Seahawks' 1987 NCAA Division III National Championship Team, which was honored at halftime that day on the 25th anniversary of their memorable season.
 
At that moment, with Wagner saddled with an 0-3 record following a 38-17 thrashing at the hands of Monmouth, and Hameline's close friend, and former assistant Kevin Callahan, there was little glimpse of what good fortune lay ahead for the Seahawks.
 
"We had a veteran team in 2012 and we thought we had a chance to be pretty good, but at 0-3, we were obviously not feeling too good about ourselves."
 
The spark Wagner was seeking came the following week at Central Connecticut. In a game televised on the night of September 22 as the NEC Game of the Week, the season appeared to take a turn thanks to the mighty right leg of kicker David Lopez. With the Seahawks holding a scant 7-6 lead, Lopez sailed a 51-yard field goal through the uprights as the first-half gun sounded, extending Wagner's lead to 10-6. Wagner went on to outscore the Blue Devils 21-7 in the second half to fashion its first win of the season by a 31-13 count.
 
One win became two, then three….when the dust finally settled, the Seahawks' accomplishments included a nine-game winning streak, its first-ever NEC football title, the NEC's first-ever NCAA FCS victory, a 31-20 win over Patriot League champion, and a competitive 29-19 loss at No. 4 Eastern Washington.
 
With heady QB Nick Doscher directing the offense, dynamic running Dominique Williams working his way through the Wagner and NEC record book, to go with the NEC's top defensive outfit headed linebacker C.O. Prime, a current member of the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the 2012 Seahawks made history.
 
In 2013, a young roster that saw Wagner employ four different quarterbacks, saw the Seahawks struggle to a 3-8 record and a 2-5 mark in the NEC. Off to a 1-1 start in 2014, following a 21-3 win at Georgetown and a 34-3 loss at FBS member FIU, Wagner continue its search for a bounce-back season with hopes of delivering a bounce-back performance at Monmouth. 
 
About the Monmouth Hawks
The Hawks opened the 2014 season with a dominating 52-21 home victory over Delaware State on August 30, rolling up 553 yards. After a close first quarter, the Hawks scored the final 31 points of the game, keeping DSU off the scoreboard for the final 39 minutes of the contest. For the ninth time in school history the Hawks had a pair of backs eclipse the 100-yard plateau when KB Asante and Lavon Chaney combined for 279 yards and five total touchdowns. Asante was named Choice Hotels Big South Offensive Player of the Week, while placekicker Lucas Santangelo earned Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring 14 points in his first game as placekicker. The Hawk defense held the Hornets to 187 yards. Monmouth senior running back Kwabena Asante (Silver Spring, Md./James Hubert Blake/WVU) had a career-high four touchdowns including three on the ground as the MU offensive line led the way for 316 rushing yards. Both Asante and sophomore Lavon Chaney (Edgewater, Md./River Hill) ran for 100-plus yards, while senior Brandon Hill (Audubon, N.J./Audubon) tossed two touchdowns and threw for 218 yards.
 
Connection Between Walt Hameline and Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan
Kevin Callahan is in his 22nd season as Monmouth head coach and is the only head coach in the history of the Hawks' program. Callahan owns a 121-97 career coaching record, all with Monmouth. Callahan is one of 19 active head coaches in the FCS with over 100 career victories and his 120 victories ranks 15th among active FCS coaches. The only coach in Monmouth history, he has led the Blue & White to five conference championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006. Callahan has earned NEC Coach of the Year accolades in 1998, 2003 and 2006. Included in his rise through the coaching ranks was a stop in Staten Island, NY, where he served as Wagner's defensive coordinator under Walt Hameline from 1981 to 1983. During his three seasons on Grymes Hill, the Seahawks, compiled a 25-4-2 record and were ranked in the top 10 in Division III each of his three seasons. In 1983, Wagner reached the quarterfinals of the Division III playoffs.  Callahan's younger sister, the former Ann Marie Carmody, was a standout guard at Wagner from 1980-1984. She is the sister of former Northwestern and Princeton head men's basketball coach Bill Carmody.

Seahawk Jersey Shore Connections
Given its close proximity to the "Jersey Shore," coupled with the high quality of high school football that is played along there, it's no surprise that the Wagner football program has long enjoyed a strong connection to this region. And 2014 is no exception. In addition to Seahawk Athletic Director/Head Coach Walt Hameline, who is a long-time resident of Colts Neck, NJ, the 2014 roster festures six student-athlete who call the Jersey Shore home.

37       Eli Smith      So.       DB   6-0     180    Red Bank, NJ / Middletown South
41       Myles Martin So.       DB   5-9     185    Neptune, NJ / Neptune
44       Jesse Flaherty Fr.        RB   6-1     200    Red Bank, NJ / The Peddie School
58       Phil Faccone  Sr.        LS   5-9     195    Brick, NJ / Brick Memorial
61       Ryan Wytanis Sr.       OL   6-4     280    Freehold, NJ / Freehold
86       Anthony Carrington    Sr.   WR    6-2     195   Toms River, NJ / Toms River North

Walt Hameline - Director of Athletics (AD) / Head Football Coach, Resides in Colts Neck, NJ
 
Wagner Football Now in 85^th Season
Wagner opened its 85th season of intercollegiate football with a 21-3 win at Georgetown on August 31 to improve their all-time record to 43-39-2 in lid-lifters. Head coach Walt Hameline, who is in his 34th season at the helm with a 217-135-2 (.616) record, is 21-11-2 in season-opening contests dating back to 1981.
 
The 2014 Seahawk Captains
The 2014 Seahawks are led by a quartet of fifth-year seniors in cornerback Jarrett Dieudonne (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Dillard), punter  A.J. Firestone (Mercersburg, PA/ Mercersburg Academy), center David Fredrickson (Staten Island, NY/Poly Prep), and inside linebacker Max Wassel (Totowa, NJ/Passaic Valley).
 
Dieudonne is a ball-hawking, sure-tackling Purdue transfer who's on target to be a four-year starter for the Seahawks. He was a First-Team All-NEC choice in 2012, contributing mightily to the Seahawks' NEC Championship run. He enters this week's Monmouth contest with 37 games of experience, including 32 starts, and has totaled 154, including 109 solo stops. He has seven career interceptions, 25 pass breakups and nine forced fumbles.
A strong-legged Penn State transfer who was named First-Team All-NEC in 2013 and is a 2014 Preseason All-NEC selection, Firestone averaged 41.0 yards on 28 punts in 2013, with a long of 52, three punts over 50 yards, and four touchbacks and was also a member of the 2013 NEC Fall All-Academic Roll.
A local product who enters his second straight season as a team captain, Fredrickson earned the starting center spot in 2011 preseason camp to begin a streak that stands at 37 games heading into this week's Monmouth contest. One of the unquestioned leaders of the Seahawk offense, his work in the trenches was recognized when he was named to the 2014 All-NEC Preseason Team.
 
Wassel is a veteran team leader who is looking to build on the breakout season that he enjoyed in 2013 when he gained a starting nod at inside linebacker and finished second on the team in tackles with 62, recording 30 solo stops and assisting on 32 others. He also tied for the team lead with 11 tackles for loss and delivered three consecutive career-high nine-tackle performances last season while being named to the 2013 NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. Tied for the team lead in tackles this season with eight, including a team-high 4.0 tackles for loss (minus 22 yards).
 
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