Montclair, NJ ….. The College of New Jersey football team ran into the league's toughest defense on its Homecoming Day and suffered a 28-7 loss at Montclair State University on Saturday night.
 
The Red Hawks improved to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while the Lions dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the NJAC.
 
MSU put on an impressive performance on defense, holding their opponent to 15 points or fewer for the fifth straight game. They dominated the time of possession, handling the football for 47:55 of the contest.
 
TCNJ freshman Khani Glover (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) scored his fourth touchdown of the season and his third in three games late in the fourth quarter. He took a handoff from quarterback Michael Marchesano (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) and ran 33 yards to the end zone to deny the Red Hawks their first shutout of the season.
 
The Red Hawks got on the board just 4:31 into the game. A costly penalty by the Lions on fourth down allowed the MSU drive to continue at the TCNJ 34. Five plays later, quarterback Ryan Davies hit Aaron Williams up top in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass.
 
Late in the first quarter, the Lions sustained their best drive of the half. Marchesano completed three passes to senior tight end Ryan Baranowsky (Moorestown, NJ/Bishop Eustace) and running back Brad Young (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) rushed for a big first down, gaining six yards on third-and-six to the Montclair eight-yard line. The top-ranked defense in the conference responded, however, sacking Marchesano on three straight plays to end the drive on downs at the Montclair 23.
 
Another TCNJ penalty resulted in additional Red Hawk points. On a 29-yard field goal attempt for MSU, the Lions were called for roughing the kicker. That gave Montclair a first down and Denzel Nieves ran it from six yards out for his 11^th rushing touchdown of the season.
 
With 32 seconds remaining in the half, Pat Caggiano delivered a back-breaking play to the Lions just prior to intermission. He fielded a 44-yard punt from Evan Costello (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) and raced 64 yards for a touchdown and 21-0 MSU lead.
 
In the second half, TCNJ's defense thwarted a steady Red Hawk drive with a stop on third-and-four from TCNJ's six-yard line. On the field goal attempt, senior Matthew Fleck (East Rutherford, NJ/Becton) blocked the kick and the Lions took over at the 20.
 
TCNJ was forced to punt on their next series and returned the favor in stopping MSU on five plays. But an 8-yard punt by Red Hawks Josh Schubert pinned TCNJ at its own three-yard line. Two plays later, Michael Tenpenny forced a fumble that was recovered by Joshua Betts in the end zone for a touchdown.
 
The Red Hawks controlled the clock for the remainder of the game. On the final drive for the Lions, Marchesano hit Conor Mulholland (North Wall, NJ/Wall) with a pair of completions before Glover finished off the 55-yard scoring drive with his rushing TD.
 
Glover finished with 68 rushing yards and Baranowsky compiled five catches for 97 yards.
 
On defense for the Lions, Jeffrey Skomsky (Maple Shade, NJ/Paul VI) finished with a team-high eight tackles. Junior Sean Kley (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) produced seven takedowns and junior Zack Vasilenko (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) added six tackles. Freshman Dan Naples (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) registered a sack for a loss of six yards.
 
TCNJ returns to Lions Stadium for Homecoming this Saturday, October 25. They host William Paterson University at 1 p.m.