WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - Monmouth University (3-3, 2-1 CAA) registered its second consecutive win with a dominating performance against Coastal Athletic Association foe Hampton (3-3, 1-2 CAA), 61-10.

The Hawks set a number of records in the contest including longest kickoff touchdown return, most team rushing touchdowns and most points at home. Jaden Shirden averaged 17.2 yards per carry, finishing with 276 yards and a career-high four touchdowns on 16 carries. After Hampton took a 3-0 lead on the opening drive, Monmouth scored the next 41 points while forcing a pair of turnovers.

Monmouth built a 21-3 lead after the first 15 minutes, with the ground game doing the damage offensively. Sone Ntoh piled in from the four to put the Hawks up 7-3 before Jaden Shirden scored on back to back drives to give the Hawks an 18-point lead. Shirden's first touchdown came on a nine-yard direct snap and his 63-yarder with four seconds left in the quarter put him over 100 yards for the 14th time in his career.

Explosive plays set up the next Monmouth score, with Eddie Morales III intercepting the first play of the second quarter and quarterback Marquez McCray connecting with Assanti Kearney for a 57-yard strike down to the Hampton 24. Six plays later Ntoh scored his second TD of the game to put MU ahead 28-3 with 11:05 left in the half. Monmouth pushed the lead to 35-3 at halftime after McCray connected with tight end Ashanti Caviness for a 31-yard touchdown with nine seconds remaining.

TJ Speight opened up the third quarter with the longest kickoff return in school history, racing 98 yards for a touchdown, putting the Hawks up 41-3.  Shirden broke back-to-back runs to put the Hawks up 54-10 with 4:35 left in the third. Monmouth reserve quarterback Frankie Savino finished the scoring with 13:51 left in the game on an eight-yard run.

QUOTES & NOTES
Head Coach Kevin Callahan Opening Statement
"Obviously, very happy with the outcome today. I thought our team was well prepared. Our staff did a really good job over the last two weeks, including the bye, of getting the team ready to play and our guys came out with a great deal of focus, a lot of energy, and we're really intent on putting our best foot forward as a football team. There are always things that we can build on and things that we can improve and probably do even better than we did today. That's the objective moving forward, and I'm very happy with the result questions."

Safety TJ Kamara on Hampton's First Drive
"Bend but don't break. They might drive down field, but they don't get in that end zone.  They are not getting those six points. We'll take the three next drive try to get a three-and-out."

• Shirden recorded his fifth 200-yard rushing performance of his career, tying him with Pete Guerriero for the most in school history
• Four rushing touchdowns is a career-high for Shirden
• TJ Kamara had seven tackles in the contest, including 1.5 for a loss
• The Monmouth offense set a program record with seven rushing touchdowns (previous record of six set against Lehigh in 2017 and Sacred Heart in 1998)
• First time the Monmouth Hawks scored 50+ points since the Oct. 2, 2021 vs Gardner-Webb
• Speight's kickoff return is the first from a Monmouth player since Lonnie Moore's return in 2019 against JMU. He finished with two returns for 167 yards
• Shirden ran for 100+ yards for the fourth time this season, with runs of 52, 63 and 72 yards on the afternoon
• The Hawks forced a pair of first half turnovers with Ryan Moran recovering a fumble and Morales intercepting a deep pass
• Freshman Deuce Lee made his second consecutive start at safety for the Hawks, tying for first on the team with seven stops

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• The 61 points is most scored at home in the 31-year history of the program and the second most points in team history
• Monmouth has scored 110 points in the last two games
• The Hawks tied a program record with touchdowns scored with nine
• The defense allowed 81 yards in the first quarter and then allowed a total of 118 yards in the final three quarters
• Monmouth rolled up 493 yards of total offense
• Eddie Morales III recorded his eighth career interception

UP NEXT
Monmouth will head to Elon next Saturday for the first meeting between the Hawks and Phoenix.