Colonials Comb Over the Seahawks, 28-7.
RMU holds sole possession of first place in the NEC after opening up with a conference win on the road in Staten Island. Everything seemed to be against them early- a Wagner team that was expected to improve on both sides of the ball and the surprising stat that RMU hadn’t won an opener on the road since 2003 (Buffalo State).
You can put the latter to bed. There’s plenty of time for the Seahawks, but RMU has now won their first road opener in over 20 years. Obviously, that’s always a challenge in the NEC, but to do it with a conference win is going to make the road home from Staten Island that much smoother.
RMU struck first, capitalizing on some high snaps to the punter to block a punt. Sophomore WR Galen Combs blocked the punt, scooped up the loose rock and took it to the house. The only other score of the drive was a Jaqai Carter touchdown catch (we’ll see more of those this season) to put the Colonials up 14-0.
Combs wasn’t done, though, and he has immediately put himself on the short list for players to watch in the NEC this season. He caught two touchdown passes in the second half- one for 64 yards and one for 15. Both were delivered by new starting QB Carson Haggard, who had transferred in from Abilene Christian after a stint at Tulane. He certainly looks like he’s got the arm to lead the colonials with his three touchdown passes on the day.
He did throw two interceptions, one of which was a pick six from Wagner DB / track athlete Julio Tatis. That would be Wagner’s only points on the day. The Seahawks did try QB Benjamin Newman, but Newman was unable to get the offense going against what appears to be a strong unit for RMU.
We learned a lot about the Colonials here. Among them, we saw HB J’Kharri Thomas emerge as the workhorse back. He had his work cut out for him against a tremendous Wagner DL, though, and the Seahawks were actually able to hold the Colonials as a whole to just 2.5 yards per carry. The offensive line did shine for RMU, though, as Haggard was not sacked once on the day.
The identity for Bobby Mo is obviously evolving here, but you have to like that they’re showing at least three receivers who can get open. We’ll get familiar with former WVU Mountaineer Tyler Evans, as we already have with Jaqai Carter. When you add Combs into the mix, though, you’ve got what was already a solid WR room last year- one of the best in the league- and there’s a chance that they’ve maybe evolved into a three headed monster downfield.
On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks ran Matt Morad 10 times and Sekou Kamau 4 times but had to put the ball in the air due to trailing for much of the game. While Galen Combs will get the headlines and the NEC Player of the Week awards with 4 catches, 104 yards, and 3 total TDs, Zion Fowler-El emerged as yet another target for Wagner’s QB corps.
David Johnson and Khalil hunter each had 1.5 sacks for the Colonials, with Tyreke Jinks and Asher Wilson each adding one. Bobby Mo surrendered under 100 yards defensively on the day. The third straight year with a different defensive coordinator is obviously no problem for RMU. That’s to be expected with Coach Clark at the helm.
Shamar Williams had the other interception for Wagner.
RMU’s receivers included Jaqai Carter and his touchdown on 5 receptions, but Tyler Evans added 4 and Tyreke Jinks had 2 catches. In total, Haggard threw for 206 yards to this group.
The conference race is in its infancy, but it has started now. And for the moment, RMU finds itself all alone in first.
