West Long Branch, NJ – The Wagner College football team will make the short trek down the Jersey Shore on Saturday to face former longtime Northeast Conference (NEC) rival Monmouth in a 1:00 p.m. start at Kessler Field.

Former NEC Rivals To Meet for 24th Time
Saturday's contest will mark the 24th all-time meeting on the gridiron between former Northeast Conference (NEC) rivals Wagner and Monmouth. The schools, which are located just 45 miles from one another, had met for 23 consecutive seasons, from 1993-2015, with all but the first three meetings (1993-95), and the three most recent meetings (2013-15), coming as NEC members. Each school was a founding member of the NEC football conference, which began play in 1996 and they competed for 17 consecutive seasons (1996-2012) league rivals.  In 2013, Monmouth began play as a member of The Big South Conference as the teams met in non-conference matchups from 2013-15. After a two-season hiatus, the rivalry is now renewed.

More on the Series
*Wagner's 44-29 win at Monmouth in 2011 marked the third straight for the Seahawks over the Hawks and gave the Green & White a 10-9 lead in the all-time series. Monmouth has won the last four meetings between the schools and now hold a a 13-10 lead in all-time head-to-head matchups.
*The last time these teams met in West Long Branch, the contest went right down to the wire, with Monmouth pulling out a 21-16 win.
*Wagner fourth-year head coach Jason Houghtaling is 0-1 all-time vs. the Hawks with the lone meeting coaching in Hoss's second game as head coach when, on September 19, 2015, Monmouth came away with a 31-16 win under the lights at Hameline Field on Grymes Hill.

Wagner Head Coach Jason Houghtaling
Former Wagner associate head coach/offensive coordinator Jason Houghtaling (hO - Tail- Ling), was elevated to head football coach on November 25, 2014 and enters his fourth season at the helm of the Seahawk program in 2018. In his three seasons on Grymes Hill, Houghtaling is 7-11 in NEC play an 11-22 overall, highlighted by a 6-5 season in 2016, which included a 4-2 mark in the Northeast Conference (NEC). That season, the Seahawks had the distinction of being the only NEC team to defeat eventual NEC Champion Saint Francis U. Under Houghtaling's tutelage, offensive lineman Greg Senat developed into a sixth-round pick of the 2018 NFL Draft when he went in the sixth round to the Baltimore Ravens, becoming just the third Seahawk in program history to be drafted by the NFL. Houghtaling took over for Walt Hameline, who served in the dual role as Seahawk athletic director and head football coach for 34 years, before announcing that he is stepping down from his role as head coach. Hameline remains as Wagner's athletic director. Prior to his appointment as head coach, Houghtaling spent seven seasons on the Wagner sidelines, serving as offensive coordinator during Wagner's 2012 and 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) title runs, while in-between, spending the 2013 season as offensive coordinator at Cornell.

Hameline and Callahan
One of the stops on Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan's journey to becoming the only head coach in the history of Hawks' football history, was a stint at Wagner under Walt Hameline from 1981-1983. During his three seasons with the Seahawks, where Callahan served as defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator, Wagner compiled a 25-4-2 record and ranked in the top 10 in Division III each of his three seasons. In 1983, the Seahawks  reached the quarterfinals of the Division III playoffs. At Monmouth Callahan has amassed a 144-118 record entering the 2018 season, with those 144 wins ranking 10th among active coaches at the FCS level.

Rocket Ryan
Senior running back Ryan Fulse needs just seven yards rushing to enter the Wagner All-Time Top-10 career rushing list. In 15 career games and with just 12 career starts, after gaining his first start in week 4 last season, Fulse has accumulated 1,966 yards, just 34 yards shy of becoming the ninth 2,000-yard career rusher all time. Currently sitting in the 10th spot is  John Campbell (1998-2001), at 1,973 yards.

Season Superlatives:

• Ranks No. 2 nationally among all FCS rushers with 600 yards
• Coming off a career-high 31-carry, 161-yard effort vs. Sacred Heart
• Named NEC Offensive Player of the Week (9/3) leading the Seahawks to a season-opening 40-23 victory over Division II national power Bowie St. (8/30) where he rushed for an FCS-best 271 yards and 3 TDs
• Also named NEC Offensive Player of the Week by CollegeFootballMadness, as well as honorable mention recognition by StatsFCSFootball and College Football Performance Award (CFPA)
• Had a pair of 71-yard TD runs vs. Bowie State
• Rushed for 47 hard-fought yards on 21 carries vs. Syracuse (9/8)
• Enjoyed a 25-carry, 181-yard, TD game at Montana State (9/15) and was named NEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week
• Also earned honorable mention recognition by StatsFCSFootball and College Football Performance Award (CFPA) for his efforts vs. MSU