WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth University put the finishing touches on its most significant spring practice session in recent memory with their annual Blue/White Showcase Saturday at Kessler Stadium.
Thirty players, including 13 starters, from last season have moved on, so you could say that Saturday's scrimmage was a showcase for players to make a statement and their last chance of the spring to catch their coaches' eye.
The cupboard, however, is far from bare for Monmouth as they return nine starters, including four All-Big South selections, along with two All-Big South picks from the 2021 spring season who returns after missing all of last season with injuries.
With all said and done, Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan is pleased with the way spring practice went. "I'm very happy. It was a great ending to a very productive spring," said Callahan. "Number one, I wanted to come out of it healthy and we did. We've had a couple nicks here and there but nothing that's going to keep anybody out of anything."
"Not only did we take steps as a team in terms of playing football, but I think leadership on the team is starting to come to the surface. When you have 30 seniors leaving after last season developing leadership from guys who haven't had to lead in the past is really important," Callahan added. "And I thought we showed significant improvement in a lot of areas. We have a lot of young players who haven't been on the field before so I think it was important that we had that growth as a team. We're not ultimately where we want or need to be, but I think we created a really good foundation that we can easily build on."
Of added importance this spring and at the forefront of everyone's mind is that Monmouth is making a move from the Big South to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). This will present the Hawks with a superior level of competition and the opportunity to build regional rivalries with most of the schools the Hawks will be playing situated in the Northeast.
"As a program, and that's coaches, players and every aspect of everything we do, we all have to take a step forward," said Callahan of the move to the CAA. "We're going into one of the elite FCS conferences in the country. There's three elite conferences and the CAA is right up there at the top with the Missouri Valley and the Big Sky. That's where we're playing now and we better make sure that we're ready, so we all have to step our games up because in that conference it's week after week of quality opponents."
Saturday's controlled scrimmage was entertaining, to say the least, with some really physical play on both sides of the ball, some explosive hits by the defense that could be heard up in the press box and some big-play execution out of the offense.
On the game's second possession, true freshman quarterback Enzo Arjona found sophomore wide receiver T.J. Speight on a fade in the back corner of the end zone on a perfectly executed play by both players.
Arjona led Northern Highlands to the North Jersey Group IV championship last season and was a first-team All-State selection after passing for 2,429 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior. Speight was one of the wide receivers starting quarterback Tony Muskett mentioned as someone to watch.
On the drive, sophomore running back Jaden Shirden flashed his speed, breaking a run for 30 yards before being hauled down by sophomore defensive back John England. Shirden was banged up and held out of the scrimmage after unofficially rushing for 44 yards on three carries.
"Shirden got dinged up a little bit so we took him out," Callahan said. "But he's had an incredibly impressive spring."
Including Shirden, Monmouth boasts three running backs that could each start at any other FCS program. Starter Juwon Farri was a 2021 first-team All-Big South selection after rushing for 714 yards and eight touchdowns on 153 carries, while graduate student Owen Wright added 382 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Junior Jamir Barnes has had a good spring and will look for some carries in the crowded backfield.
On Saturday, Farri unofficially rushed for 62 yards on 12 carries and looked primed for another huge season. In comparison, Wright had a spectacular day unofficially rushing for 164 yards on 15 attempts and closed out the scrimmage with a 60-yard touchdown run where he burst through the line of scrimmage went virtually untouched into the end zone.
"We know what we got in Owen, he's a veteran player," said Callahan.
"He's another guy who came to us as a grad transfer a year ago and he's gives us an excellent one-two punch at the back. He's a physical runner and bigger than Juwan is and shows the ability to run through tackles."
Wright deflected any praise coming his way, instead wanting to talk about how the team is coming together.
"We've all been putting in a lot of work and working on patience and jelling with the line and their blocks," said Wright. "So I'm just blessed just to be a part of it and to be able to come out here and really show what we all can do. All of our backs are very, very confident running the ball and we all push each other, I can't wait to see what we all can do during the season."
While the running back group is loaded, the Hawks graduated their top three wideouts from a year ago, including two All-Big South selections, who accounted for 146 receptions for 1,705 yards and 13 touchdowns. But Muskett has total confidence in his current group of receivers and expects big things out of them.
"They've been great," said Muskett. "Obviously, we're going to have Dymere Miller (20-267-1) in the slot and he's got crazy speed and I've known him since we got recruited together. Then there's Alex Bryant and T.J. Speight also in the slot who are two guys with ridiculous speed that I don't think we've had a that level before. Then on the outside there's Assanti Kearny (4-53-1), who's having a breakout spring and making plays all over the field. And we have Joey Alderelli (16-185-5) who's been through everything and we also have guys like Dre Tucker and Jordan Grey who can make plays and then we have two transfers coming in (Darrion Carrington Yale/Toms River North) and Ugo Obasi (Virginia/Milford Academy which produced Monmouth star Reggie White Jr.). So I think that's a really talented group and our chemistry in going to be crazy."
Miller sat out the scrimmage, but Muskett is really high on him.
Later in the scrimmage, Muskett connected with Speight over the middle, and the speedy wideout broke a tackle and raced 36 yards for a touchdown – his second of the day.
The play of the day might've been turned in by Tucker, a senior wide receiver, who made a spectacular leaping one-hand grab of a Muskett pass for 30 yards.
The rebuilt offensive line was impressive, with veteran Justin Szuba making his first appearance since missing all of last season with a torn pectoral muscle. Szuba was a spring 2021 All-Big South selection and is primed for a big comeback season.
Starting right tackle Oliver Jervis also returns to the line and has helped stabilize the rest of the unit that is made up of three newcomers. "That group (offensive line) really came together and showed that not only not only are they working together as a unit, but we've also created some depth there," said Callahan.
Sophomore Vincenzo Rea (Manalapan High School) cemented his job as the Hawk's placekicker after putting on an impressive display Saturday, booting field goals of 42, 47, and 52 yards. The program record is 49 yards, last accomplished by Middletown South product Matt Mosquera.
Both the offense and defense had their moments Saturday, which is what you're looking for in an inter-squad scrimmage.
Defensively, it was a welcomed sight seeing middle linebacker Da'Quan Grimes back on the field after missing all of last season with a torn Achilles. Having the two-time first-team All-Big South selection back is a huge boost to the linebacking corps, especially with the departure of first-team All-Big South linebacker Eddie Hahn.
"It felt amazing," Grimes said on his return to the field. "Honestly I didn't know how much I was going to do coming into spring ball but I've been going full speed pretty much all camp getting a re-feel for the game. I'm still getting over a few humps but I've been moving really well and I'm expecting to be 100 percent by the fall."
Tyler Delgado, Ryan Moran, Caleb Dennis, Matt Griffin, Remi Johnson, Isaish Bishop, Ben Joseph, and Dale Sieczkowski are all in the hunt for playing time at linebacker.
Bishop chipped in with a TFL Saturday.
The secondary must replace first-team All-Big South Anthony Budd and key contributor cornerback Justin Terry. However, first-team All-Big South cornerback Eddie Morales and second-team strong safety Tyrese Wright are back and both had strong showings in Saturday's scrimmage.
Each had a pass breakup and was dominant in run support, laying the wood on the ball carrier more than a few times.
"It's a physical group," said Callahan referencing his secondary. "Tyrese is a very physical player, Davis Smith is a physical player, all the guys back there are doing a good job and we were down two guys, Jason Antwi and Justin Bennin, who were both having really good springs."
Smith played as a freshman but missed a couple of years and is impressing coaches this spring since he's been back.
Sophomore cornerback Jalen Dotson had a big hit for a tackle for loss, as did Kadeem McKnight.
Junior Thomas Joe-Kamara, a transfer from Temple, had an impressive debut and is vying for a starting spot. At the same time, cornerback Mike Reid looks to have one of the cornerback spots locked up with safety Jabril Shakur in the mix at safety.
As a senior, Joe-Kamara was a three-star recruit out of South Brunswick High School and All-State selection.
"As a team we tried to emphasize tackling today with our shoulders bringing them down hard," Morales III said of his secondary's hard hits. "Quite honestly, I think our secondary is going to have its best season yet. We had some guys leave but we also have guys who have been playing for three of four years and are coming back with experience. We have a new coach in coach Bishop (Bishop Neal), who's pushing us and we've been gravitating towards him very well. We're doing very well as a group right now and we're excited for the summer."
Senior defensive lineman Chance Smith batted down a pass and combined on a sack with Syracuse transfer Joe Rondi. Rondi, a three-star recruit and second-team All-State at Wayne Hills as a senior, also had a tackle for loss and looks to be a key contributor this season.
Junior defensive end Sheku Tonkara added a sack, while junior defensive end Justin O'Bannon had several pressures and grabbed an interception off a tipped pass.
Fifth-year defensive tackle Dominick Spano made his presence felt and will take on a more prominent role this season, as will senior defensive end Pat Hayden.
Graduate defensive end Nick Shoemaker sat out the scrimmage. However, he will anchor the defensive line this season and Howard transfer Zamon Robinson, who flashed big-time potential last season, also sat out. Much is expected of Robinson as he takes over for All-Big South performer Erik Massey at the rush position.
"We did okay," said Monmouth defensive coordinator Andy Bobik. "Guys had good energy and played hard. We gave ourselves a chance to do something right and that's important. I liked the way the front four came after the quarterback, we had some good pressure. I don't think we let them hold it very long and guys did a good job in coverage, so anytime they tried to throw it, it was an iffy proposition. That was good to see but we have to do some run work. We got better each day this spring and that's all I can ask."
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