MU football wins fifth straight contest
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent

ERIC SUCAR staff Monmouth University running back David Sinisi sprints upfield during the second quarter of his team's 30-20 home victory over Central Connecticut State University on Oct. 25.

The Monmouth University football team continues to make its 0-3 start to the season a distant memory. The Hawks overcame a shaky start on Saturday to defeat Northeast Conference rival Central Connecticut State, 30-20, on Homecoming at Kessler Field on Saturday afternoon.

With its fifth win in a row, the Hawks (5-3, 4-0 in NEC play) assured that this coming weekend's showdown at Albany (also 4-0 in NEC play) would determine the top team in the NEC. While MU will walk into Saturday's game as the underdog, it is a role the Hawks have embraced this year. And based on their strong showing against a good CCSU team this past weekend, head coach Kevin Callahan's team seems ready to prove themselves in the season's biggest game to date.

"This was a very good win for us today," said Callahan, following Saturday's win. "This time of year it gets tougher and tougher each week to win, and we were looking at four one-game seasons the rest of the way coming in to today's game."

Against CCSU, Monmouth running back David Sinisi scored four rushing touchdowns and tied former Wagner running back Rick Sarille for the NEC all-time scoring record with 300 career points. Sinisi finished with 194 rushing yards on 29 carries to go along with his four scores.

Bobby Giles added 76 rushing yards on eight carries while quarterback Brett Burke (of Wall) was 8-of-17 throwing the football for 93 yards on a very windy afternoon.

The Blue Devils took the game's initial lead when running back James Mallory scored on a four-yard touchdown to cap a 13-play, 73-yard drive, but Joe Izzo missed the extra point, to make the score 6-0 CCSU with 6:57 remaining in the first quarter. The Hawks responded with four unanswered scoring drives in a row, all capped off by Sinisi rushing touchdowns.

Sinisi's first score of the afternoon gave MU a 7-6 lead with 3:32 left in the first quarter. The senior's second score, which came from 17 yards out, gave the Hawks a 14-6 lead with less than a minute left in the opening quarter.

The second quarter began the same way the first one ended with Sinisi scoring from three yards out to push the lead to 21-6, which was the score at halftime. The Hawks then scored the second half's first touchdown when Sinisi rumbled in from 30 yards out.

Mallory scored his second touchdown of the afternoon to cut the lead to 27-13 with 3:02 left in the third quarter, but MU responded with a Eric McCutcheon (a J.P. Stevens graduate from Edison) 24-yard field goal, the sophomore's first of his career. The scoring concludedwhenMallory scored his third and final touchdown to make the final 30-20 score with 7:01 left in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks outgained CCSU 380-316, including 287-254 on the ground. John Nalbone hauled in three passes for 58 yards while Point Pleasant's Chris Kiley caught three passes for 13 yards.

"Overall, this was a great effort on both sides of the ball," said Callahan. "Each side of the ball made some big plays to help the other side out and this was a complete team effort."

Mallory ended the game with 134 rushing yards while quarterback Aubrey Norris added 49 yards on the ground. Joe Valenti paced the MU defense with seven tackles, including a half a tackle for loss. Jackson's Joe Arneth added six tackles, including five solo stops while Chris Mastrangelo contributed six stops. David Kennedy added a sack and four tackles and Kenny Amsel added two tackles, his teamleading third interception of the season and two pass break-ups.

Monmouth returns to action next Saturday when they travel to take on fellow NEC unbeatenAlbany at 1:00 p.m. at University Field.

Vinny Esposito threw two first-half touchdown passes, and tailback David Mc- Carty scored twice in leading Albany to a 27-3 Northeast Conference victory over Saint Francis, Pa. on Saturday. If MU is to post an upset on Saturday, they will need to find a way to slow McCarty, who rushed for 122 yards on 31 carries against St. Francis, and has reached the century mark in 13 of his last 14 starts.

From there, the Hawks have two conference games on their schedule, including next week's home finale against Sacred Heart, and a Nov. 15 affair at Duquesne. However, the Hawks will have all of their attention on the task at hand this week - and that means beating an Albany team that has won nine in a row against league opponents.

Accolades keep rolling in for Sinisi

Even before his record-setting performance this past weekend, David Sinisi was being recognized for his excellence.

The talented junior was recently added to the Walter Payton Award watch list.

The winner of the 22nd Walter Payton Award, symbolic of the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) will be announced at the annual Sports Network Awards banquet on Dec. 18 in Chattanooga, TN. at the Marriott Hotel. The Eddie Robinson Award, which goes to the top coach in FCS, and the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top FCS defensive player, will also be awarded the night before the NCAA Division I football championship game.

Sinisi's nomination was well-deserved, according to Callahan, who gave his player the ultimate praise.

"Dave Sinisi is possibly the most complete football player that I have seen in my more than 30 years of college coaching," the coach said. "Dave's individual performances over the last three seasons have contributed to our team's success more than any other factor."

Sinisi leads the nation in rushing yards with 1,295 yards, while averaging over 160 yards per game, which is third among all FCS backs. The Cedar Grove native has scored 17 touchdowns, and has recorded at least 100 yards rushing in seven of eight games this season, including his school record-setting performance of 247 yards in a win over Saint Francis.

Last season he set the FCS record for consecutive games with a touchdown, scoring in his first 20 games for the Blue & White.

Sinisi has started every game for the Hawks since his redshirt freshman year, scoring in 28 out of the 30 contests. In just two-plus years, he owns every career rushing record at Monmouth, including rushing touchdowns, rushing yards, 100-yard rushing performances, and surpassed current Dallas Cowboy Miles Austin for the top spot in scoring at Monmouth.