Hawks Picked Second In Pre-Season Poll

Monmouth University was picked to finish second in the 2018 Big South Preseason Football Poll while eight Hawk players were named to preseason all-conference teams.

Monmouth was 9-3 last season and finished second in the conference (4-1) behind Kennesaw State and it’s no surprise the same two teams are picked 1-2 again.  The Owls received 17 of the possible 18 first place votes and 107 points while the Hawks got the other first place vote and finished with 82 points.  Charleston Southern was third followed by Gardner-Webb, Campbell and Presbyterian.

Six Hawks were selected to the preseason all-conference first-team, five of them on offense.  Leading that group are fifth-year seniors Reggie White Jr. (WR), Ryan Wetzel (OL-Colts Neck HS) and Russ Clayton (OL) along with sophomore running back Pete Guerriero and senior right end Jake Powell.  Guerriero was also selected as the top pick returner in the conference.  Junior cornerback Tymere Berry from Toms River South was the lone Monmouth player tabbed on the defensive side of the ball.

Earning honorable mention honors were junior quarterback Kenji Bahar and senior linebacker Diego Zubieta.

Monmouth opens the season on August 31 at Eastern Michigan (6:30pm) and will the game will air on ESPN+ and the radio home of the Hawks, 1160 & 1310AM and shoresportsnetwork.com.