Upper Montclair, NJ (10/25/03) -- Junior running back Eugene Vick (Newark, NJ/Hillside) rushed for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Montclair State held off a furious rally by Buffalo State in the fourth quarter for a 34-26 win at Sprague Field in NCAA Division III action on Saturday afternoon.

John DiGirolamo (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns as the Red Hawks (6-1) stopped the Bengals at the one-yardline on the final play to preserve their sixth straight win. Curtis Hathcock (Buffalo, NY/Bennett) ran for 141 yards and a touchdown for the Bengals (1-6), who rallied from 34-10 down in the final period, but fell short and now trail the series with MSU, 3-2.

Down 24 points midway through the final period, the Buffalo State quickly closed the gap as Marc Hoppy (Lancaster, NY/Depew) hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass from Mike Mikolaichik (Hilton, NY/Hilton) and Hathcock ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 34-18. MSU recovered the Bengals on-side kick attempt, but could not move the ball and punted giving Buffalo State the ball at its own 20. The Bengals then drove to the MSU44, but Mikolaichik was intercepted by Shaun Murray (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) at the MSU 17. However, MSU was again stymied and forced to punt from its own end zone. Bill Christopher's (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) kick was then blocked and recovered by John Lesure (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) for a touchdown. Mikolaichik then hit TJ Cottrell (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville South) for the two-point conversion cutting the deficit to 34-26 with 1:31 to play.

Things then got worse for Montclair State as BSC's Josh Hostuttler (Little Valley, NY/Salamanca) recovered the on-side kick giving the Bengals, who were out of timeouts, a last opportunity at its own 43. After a sack and incompletion, Mikolaichik hit HT Williams (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers) on a 48-yard pass down to the MSU 14. Hoppy then hauled in an 11-yard pass to the three with 22 seconds left. Hathcock then ran off left tackle to the one. Then with the clock ticking Mikolaichik tried to sneak over for the touchdown, but was met by Montclair's Ray Meyer (Hasbrouck Heights, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights) who made the tackle ending the Buffalo State comeback attempt.

Prior to the comeback effort, MSU held control most of the game as Vick posted his fourth 100-yard game of the year. His 27-yard score in the first gave MSU a 10-0 lead and he later added a 13-yard run in the second put the Red Hawks up 27-10 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Montclair defense came up with a fourth-down stand and the Red Hawks then turned that into a score as DiGirolamo connected with Jasper Hankins (Union, NJ/Union) for the second time in the game, this time on a 33-yard score to give Montclair a 34-10 advantage with 3:37 left in the third.

Hathcock carried 24 times and scored on a 65-yard run late in the second quarter to bring Buffalo State within 20-10 left before halftime. However, MSU responded on the ensuing possession marching 65 yards in six plays, capped off by the Vick 13-yard touchdown.

DiGirolamo completed 14-of-21 passes, incuding five to Hankins, who finished the game with 92 yards. Mikolaichik was 10-of-24 for 186 yards, but was intercepted twice. The Bengals also had another interception when Hathcock's option pass in the second quarter was intercepted by Murray in the end zone. Hoppy had four receptions for 102 yards.

Murray had three pass breakups to go along with two INT's, while Meyer led the MSU defense with eight tackles. Linebackers Brian DiCarlo (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) and John Lennox (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) had seven and five tackles, respectively. Nick Columbo (Sanborn, NY/Starpoint) had seven tackles and three sacks for the Bengals while Michael Holbok (Williamsville, NY/St. Joe's) had two sacks.

MSU outgained Buffalo State 343-333 and held the ball for over 36 minutes in the contest.