Box score

Eric Hamilton - The Road to 200 victories

Danbury, CT … Head coach Eric Hamilton won his 200th career game as The College of New Jersey football team defeated Western Connecticut State University 22-16 on Saturday.

Hamilton, who has been the head coach of the Lions program since 1977, becomes the 12th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach the milestone and ranks third amongst active coaches in career wins.

In a game that was littered with turnovers and penalties, the Lions did enough to win their third straight and fourth this season, reaching the .500 mark at 4-4, 4-3 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

Senior captain Matthew Kreider (Delran, NJ/Delran) came up big for his head coach (and team), returning a punt for a 74-yard touchdown and snaring two interceptions. Special teams and defense also made big plays, stopping the Colonials on their final drive in Lions' territory to seal the victory.

TCNJ got on the board first with 5:36 remaining in the opening period when their special teams provided its first spark of the game. A high snap didn't allow the Colonials' James Campbell to get the punt off as sophomore Joe Laferlita (Lincroft, NJ/Ocean Township) neutralized the punter. Junior Brett Ressler (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) recovered the fumble on the one-yard line, giving the Lions life after being stopped three times from the one on their opening drive. Junior Joe Falco (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township) barreled through traffic to give TCNJ a 6-0 lead.

The Lions pushed the lead to 12-0 on another huge special teams play. Kreider a punt 74 yards for his first career touchdown. Kreider ran back to his left to get blockers, dodged two tackles, and then split the gap, racing across the field to right side of the end zone for his first career touchdown.

TCNJ played flawless defense in the opening quarter, allowing just nine offensive plays in WestConn's first three drives.

The second quarter told a different story as the Lions fumbled a punt and the Colonials capitalized immediately. Freshman quarterback Kevin Smolensky (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurs) hit Dave Plaskon (Milford, CT/Sacred Heart University) with a 51-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 12-7.

The Lions caught a break late in the second quarter when Kevin Allgood (Chatham, NJ/Chatham) forced a fumble at the Colonial 42 yard-line that was recovered by junior Shawn Brown (Long Branch, NJ/Long Branch). Falco carried twice for 34 yards before quarterback Jay Donoghue (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) hit sophomore Brian Mills (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) with a nine-yard scoring strike. Mills tipped the ball and then came down with it clean as he fell out of bounds for his first collegiate touchdown.

Donoghue was 6-for-7 passing in the first half for 76 yards in the first half.

After a pair of series to start the second half, freshman linebacker Nick Bricker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) knocked the ball from Smolensky's hand deep in Lions' territory and classmate Patrick Kimball (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) pounced on the loose ball. Sophomore Tyler Olsson (Kendall Park, NJ/South Brunswick) booted a 24-yard field goal to push the lead to 22-7.

WestConn would not go down easily as they drove 64 yards on four plays, capped by a 26-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore Tequan Boyd (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow). They missed right on the point after, but sliced the lead to 22-13 with 6:46 remaining in the third. Four minutes later, a 31-yard field goal by Campbell made it a six-point lead.

That would be all the scoring as TCNJ held on, giving coach Hamilton the celebratory Gatorade splash as the clock ticked to zero.

Hamilton's tenure with the Lions began as a player for Trenton State College from 1971 through 1974. He earned All-American honors as a center and won 16 games on the field. Hamilton was a graduate assistant of the program under Carmen Piccone for two years, before accepting the head coaching position in 1977. At age 23, he was the youngest head football coach in the country.

In his 34 years as head coach at the College, Hamilton has compiled an overall record of 200-134-6. The Lions have won eight conference championships (two as a member of the New Jersey State Athletic Conference), received bids for six appearances in the NCAA Championship tournaments, and two ECAC Championship tournaments. He's been named New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year six times, and East Region Coach of the Year in 2007.