Pictured Above: Senior RB
Ikechukwu Ogwuegbu
(photo by Adrienne Terzuoli)
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner football team received a career-high 89-yard rushing effort by senior running back
Ikechukwu Ogwuegbu, and junior defensive back
Ahmad Lyons intercepted a pass in the end zone with 4:02 left to play to temporarily preserve a 14-10 lead, but Monmouth was able to get the ball back and drive 71 yards, punching in the game-winning touchdown with just 23 seconds to play in eking out a 16-14 win at Hameline Field on Saturday.
With the hard-fought Homecoming loss, the Seahawks, who were playing their final non-conference game of the season, fall to 1-5 on the season. Following a bye week, Wagner will take its 1-0 Northeast Conference (NEC) record into the first of six season-closing league games when the Seahawks host Robert Morris on October 19.
In surviving this defensive struggle, the Big South member Hawks improve to 3-2 on the season.
With Wagner clinging to that 14-10 lead, the game essentially came down to one play as Monmouth faced and 4
th-and-goal at the Seahawk 1 with under 30 seconds to play. On the game-deciding play, MU quarterback Kenji Bahar rolled right hit and hit wide receiver Lonnie Moore in the right flat, and Moore was able to break a tackle on his way into the end zone for the touchdown, as the Hawks escaped with the win.
Monmouth held a 3-0 lead for a long duration of the opening half but with just six seconds left in the opening half, Ogwuegbu, a transfer from the University of Maryland, burst his way into the end zone to give Wagner a 7-3 halftime lead. The TD came following a big Seahawk fumble recovery at the Monmouth 36 yard-line.
That's the way the score stood until Monmouth running back Pete Guerriero scampered for a 16-yard touchdown to put MU on top 10-7 with 1:23 left in the third quarter in this back-and-forth defensive-minded tussle.
Seahawk graduate student quarterback
Christian Alexander-Stevens, who completed 13-of-25 passes for 104 yards with one touchdown, that a 10-yard strike to junior wide receiver
Jeremiah Lorick (4 receptions, 37 yards) with 10:39 remaining, that put the Green & White in front by a 14-10 count.
Graduate student inside linebacker
Santoni Graham led a stout Seahawk defensive effort with a game-tying nine-tackle performance, while junior cornerback
Darrell Malone and sophomore safety
Naseem Barnett finished with six tackles apiece.
For Monmouth, Bahar was 25-of-38 passing for 216 yards, one touchdown and one interception on the night as his favorite target, wide receiver, Zach Tredway, recorded game highs with nine receptions for 74 yards. Guerriero led all rushers on the evening, finishing with 94 yards on 19 carries.
NOTES
With the win, the former longtime NEC rival Hawks improve their record in the all-time series between the schools to 15-10.
During the game, the Wagner 2019 MAAC Water Polo Championship team and the 2019 Seahawk women's lacrosse teams were feted in the field after receiving their championship rings earlier in the day.
Following the game, Ogwuegbu was named the winner of the James Robb Memorial Trophy which goes to the Seahawks top offensive performer in the annual Homecoming game while Graham earned the Nick Lia Memorial Defensive Player of the Game award for the second time in his career.
Earlier in the day, the four members of the 2019 Wagner Hall of Fame class were officially inducted during a mid-afternoon ceremony held at the Spiro Sports Center.
This year's class is comprised of Bob Malizia (Class of 1968, Football), Josh Russell (Class of 2004, Track & Field), Carrie Walker (Class of 2004, Women's Basketball), and Dereck Whittenburg (Men's Basketball Coach/Contributor). The four inductees were also recognized on the playing field during halftime of tonight's contest.
