With over 6000 ‘Red Hot’ Seawolves fans and alumni on hand, the Stony Brook football team won its homecoming game by rolling past the Presbyterian College Blue Hose Saturday afternoon, 52-14.
The Seawolves, who never trailed, turned a tight first half game into a blowout in the second, tacking 29 unanswered points on the scoreboard. While winning their Big South Conference opener, they also notched season highs in both points scored and total offensive yards, with the latter tallying 623.
In a game that senior running back Conte Cuttino (Uniondale, NY) described as ‘definitely a must win,’ the Seawolves put on their best performance of the season, and the team clicked on all cylinders.
Despite battling a slight injury, sophomore running back Edwin Gowins (Bellport, NY) led Stony Brook’s offensive rushing attack by picking up a touchdown and collecting 138 yards, a new season high. Sophomore quarterback Michael Coulter (Yorba Linda, CA) also put on a stellar offensive performance by totaling a career high 321 passing yards. This included two deep touchdown heaves to junior wide receiver Donald Porter (Charles Town, W.VA), who picked up a game-high 156 receiving yards. Stony Brook’s 52 points were the most against Presbyterian College all season.
As the offense ran like a well-oiled machine, the Seawolves defense provided the fuel. Three different Stony Brook players collected interceptions, with senior Benji Clemens (Glen Burnie, MD) grabbing two. One of the four Seawolves’ steals, an acrobatic pick from senior defensive back Cory Giddings (Ocean, NJ), was returned for 63 yards and a touchdown. Stony Brook held the Blue Hose to just 240 total yards and forced seven turnovers, each earning a loud roar from the sea of red at LaValle Stadium.
‘We hit some big plays in terms of yardage,’ said Head Coach Chuck Priore. ‘We had those in the game plan,’ he continued, ‘And when you execute your game plan, they work sometimes.’
The plan seemed to work from kickoff. The Seawolves started the game with a 6-play scoring drive, capped off by Cuttino’s five-yard touchdown run that gave the home team a 7-0 lead. But the Blue Hose managed to get even late in the first period, and the teams headed into the second quarter all tied up at seven.
But Gowins didn’t wait too long to untie it. On the first play of the second, the team leader in rushing yards eluded Blue Hose defenders for a 44-yard dash into the end zone. Leading by a touchdown, the Seawolves looked for more and they got it from the Coulter-Porter duo. The quarterback found a streaking Porter near midfield, who then carried it into the big ‘Seawolves’ logo in the end zone to complete the 59-yard touchdown pass. Despite the missed extra point, Stony Brook still had a comfortable 20-7 lead midway through the period.
But Presbyterian sliced the lead a couple of minutes later on a 13-yard touchdown pass, bringing them within striking distance at 20-14. But the score would never get any closer.
After a freshman Wesley Skiffington (Brandon, FL) field goal stretched the Seawolves’ lead to 23-14 right before half time, the home team returned for the third period determined to not release its command.
They came out in the third playing with an energy and hunger that would make it hard to believe that they were winning comfortably. The Seawolves used the third and fourth quarters to put on the show that made coaches pick them to finish second in the conference in preseason polls.
The Stony Brook defense was wreaked havoc time and time again, even forcing a string of seven straight turnovers from the Blue Hose. These eventually turned into points for the Seawolves. After senior defensive lineman Ryan Sollazzo (Tampa, FL) forced a fumble by sacking PC quarterback Brandon Miley, the Seawolves recovered and eventually scored again, this time on a Coulter dive over the goal line.
This built a 35-14 advantage and the Seawolves were not finished. They would add two more touchdowns and another field goal in the fourth to fully dismiss any hopes of a Blue Hose comeback. Giddings’ touchdown with a little over 12 minutes remaining put the home team up 52-14, which held as the final score.
Besides Coulter’s career night, and Gowins’s second 100-yard rushing game this season, the Seawolves got help from a variety of players. The team leader in receptions and reception yards, Porter only needed 4 catches to tally 156 yards on the day. Also, Clemens added a team high 7 take-downs to his 2 interceptions.
The win is a momentum builder for a Stony Brook team that has not found itself in the win column since the home opener against Brown a little over two weeks ago. Sitting at 2-3, the Seawolves will try to even their record on Saturday as they visit the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.
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