FOOTBALL HOSTS HAMPTON SATURDAY N HOME OPENER

Hampton Pirates (1-0) at Monmouth Hawks (0-1, 0-0 Big South) Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018; 3:05 p.m. Kessler Stadium, West Long Branch, N.J. A LOOK AT TODAY'S GAME

• Monmouth comes into today's contest with the Pirates looking for its first win of the 2018 season after falling to FBS opponent Eastern Michigan last Friday night.

• The Hawks come into today's game with a five-game home win streak. Last year Monmouth opened Kessler Stadium with a perfect 5-0 record, outscoring opponents 216-113 and averaging 43.2 ppg.

• Today's game will be second contest between Monmouth and Hampton and the last non-conference game against the two teams. Hampton will join the Big South in football next season.

• Hampton, which is an independent this season, opened its season with a convincing 38-10 win over Shaw, allowing the Bears just nine rushing yards.

• Today's contest is Military and First Responders Appreciation Day at Kessler Stadium. All active and retired personnel will be admitted to the game for free with a valid ID.

THE COACHING MATCHUP Kevin Callahan is in his 26th season at Monmouth as the Hawks' head coach. Callahan owns a 144-119 career coaching record, all with Monmouth. Coming into the season, Callahan's 144 victories ranks him 10th among active coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision. The only coach in Monmouth history, he has led the Blue & White to five conference championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006 and its first at-large playoff berth in 2017. Callahan has earned conference coach of the year accolades in 1998, 2003 and 2006 and was named as an Eddie Robinson Award finalist in 2017, finishing 10th in the voting. Prior to arriving in West Long Branch, Callahan served as defensive coordinator at Colgate for eight seasons and at Wagner for three years. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Albany (1977-79) and Syracuse (1980) before becoming a Seahawk assistant in 1981. Robert Prunty, a coaching veteran with more than 30 years of football experience as a player and coach and a four-time conference recruiter-of-the-year honoree with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs, was named the 21st head coach of the Hampton Pirates on Dec. 8, 2017. Prunty served last season as East Carolina University's associate head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Prior to that, he served four years as the University of Cincinnati's associate head coach and defensive ends coach and three years as co-defensive coordinator. Before impacting the Bearcat program, Prunty spent three seasons under Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech, 2010-2012, directing the Red Raiders' defensive ends. INSIDE THE MU-HAMPTON SERIES Second Overall Meeting Overall Record: MU 1-0 West Long Branch: --- Hampton, VA: MU 1-0 First Meeting: Sep. 23, 2018 Last Meeting: Sep. 23, 2018 Longest MU Win Streak: 1 gm Longest HU Win Streak: --- Largest MU W Margin: 7 points Largest HU W Margin: --- Smallest MU W Margin: 7 points Smallest HU W Margin: --- Shutouts: --- Overtime Games: MU 1-0 INSIDE THE MONMOUTH-HAMPTON SERIES n Monmouth took the first game in the series last year, 30-23 in overtime on a 25 yard Eric Zokouri run. n In that contest, then-redshirt senior safety Marcus Leslie was lost for the season with an ankle injury. Leslie returned for his sixth season with the Hawks, one of three veterans to see regular playing time in what is otherwise a young backfield. n After falling behind 16-14 at halftime, the Hawks roared back to take the lead but Hampton quarterback Delmon Williams led the Pirates back to tie the score with a 34 yard strike to Ronald Bell with 23 seconds remaining. n Zokouri took a handoff on the first play of overtime and raced through the middle of the field breaking one tackle and getting to the corner of the endzone. n The MU defense held strong on OT allowing just two yards before forcing a fourth down pass that missed its mark sealing the win for the Hawks JUWON FARRI EARNS BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS n Farri broke out in his first collegiate game, rushing 13 times for 111 yards against FBS foe Eastern Michigan. n The Northwest High School (MD) product averaged a whopping 8.5 yards per rush against what is considered one of the best defensive fronts in the Mid-American Conference. n In the fourth quarter, facing a third and four from the EMU 38 the true freshman burst up the middle of the line of scrimmage, broke a tackle and raced to the endzone for his first collegiate TD. n Farri had five rushes of nine or more yards and also had one reception in the contest. n He is the third Hawk running back to earn FOTW honors in the past two years, with Pete Guerriero and Eric Zokouriearning the honor last season. JAKE POWELL CLIMBING THE BIG SOUTH RANKINGS Senior tight end Jake Powell is tied for eighth in Big South annals for most career catches among tight ends with 40, and is 10 receptions away of becoming the fi fth with 50. He is also 10th on the tight end career ledger with 487 receiving yards.