EWING, N.J. – Last time out, the TCNJ football team whatever it wanted on offense, and came up short.
 
In Saturday's NJAC opener against Montclair State, the Lions showed they can win in many different fashions.
 
Despite its elite offense struggling to get untracked just two weeks after putting up nearly 700 yards of offense in a shootout loss at Muhlenberg, TCNJ used a terrific defensive performance – and got plenty of help from a heavily penalized visiting squad – to stave a late Red Hawks rally for a 20-13 victory on a picture-perfect afternoon at Lions Stadium.
 
Brandon Kuse and Jameson Sessa each notched a pair of sacks, Dave Giulian racked up a career-high 13 tackles and forced a crucial fumble, and the Lions defense did enough to offset some uncharacteristic inefficiency from a TCNJ attack that came in leading Division III in passing offense and 8^th in total offense.
 
Thomas Burke was the best weapon for TCNJ, the fifth-year tight end hauling in five passes – giving him an even 100 for his career – for 125 yards and a touchdown, a 65-yard catch-and-run that put the hosts up 17-3 late in the third quarter.
 
TCNJ took full advantage of a Montclair squad that committed a whopping 19 penalties for 183 yards, including eight flags that resulted in first downs for the Lions. One of those came on the first drive for the Lions, who extended a drive with a roughing-the-passer penalty on a third-down incompletion and picked up two more third downs before Jayson Schmidt plunged in from inches outside the goal line for the opening score.
 
Tim Willever's 30-yard field goal capped the second possession and gave TCNJ a 10-0 lead, but the hosts were stuck there for a wide swath of game time. In between, the defense ensured the Lions never had their lead threatened.
 
Montclair drove down to the TCNJ 8-yard line before a 5-yard tackle for loss by Giulian and a sack by Sessa forced the Red Hawks to settle for a field goal.
 
The score stayed right there until well into the third. MSU had a 4^th-and-1 at the Lions' 39, but Giulian came up with a fumble to take the ball back.
 
After the teams traded punts, TCNJ was scuffling with a 3^rd-and-8, but Bopp found Burke wide open down the left side, and the big tight end broke a tackle around the Red Hawks' 10 before waltzing into the end zone for a game-turning score.
 
The Red Hawks marched right down the field with a 13-play drive, but Amir Vick tipped a pass into the air and Kurc came down with it in the end zone to preserve the two-score advantage.
 
Willever's 31-yard field goal made it 20-3 with 9:39 to go, but the visitors weren't going away. The Red Hawks picked up two fourth downs and scored on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Aidan McLaughlin to Alex DiMaulo to make it 20-10 with 2:36 left. Schmidt fumbled on the next play, and MSU moved down to the TCNJ 4-yard line before kicking a field goal with 1:00 to play.
 
Burke fell on the ensuing onside kick, but the Lions still had to convert a 4^th-and-1 to ice it. Bopp faked a handoff before lobbing an easy completion to Matt Harbison coming across the formation for a game-sealing first down.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Montclair outgained the Lions, 329-258, but the exorbitant penalty count negated some of those gains
• TCNJ managed just 24 yards on 24 rush attempts
• McLaughlin was 25-of-46 for 251 yards and a touchdown, with Anthony Roige catching eight passes for 90 yards
• Bopp completed 17 of his 40 passes for 234 yards and the one touchdown, also throwing two interceptions
• Malin Jasinski, the nation's leader in catches and receiving yards, was held in check for the first time this season with five receptions for 42 yards, though he was ruled down inches shy of the goal line before Schmidt's first-quarter TD
• Bill Westerby made a formidable linebacking tandem with Giulian, racking up a career-high dozen stops
• Kurc had four pass breakups in addition to his interception

NOTES

• TCNJ avenged a 42-7 loss in Montclair a year ago and has two straight at home in the series
• Schmidt eclipsed 1,500 rushing yards for his career and scored his 14^th career rushing TD
• Burke crossed 1,300 receiving yards for his career and caught his 12^th TD
• Bopp is now one completion shy of 400 for his career
• Kuse upped his team-leading sack total to 4.5
• Sessa's two sacks were is first of the season
• Willever remains perfect on the season, 4-for-4 on field goals and 15-of-15 on extra points

UP NEXT

• TCNJ heads to Rowan next Saturday