After nearly two years of waiting, the Stony Brook football team is finally back in the win column.
The Seawolves (1-1) returned to Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium for their home opener against the Stonehill Skyhawks (0-1) on Saturday. Despite having its season start off the same way the last two finished, Stony Brook displayed a short memory and rode a hot start to a 37-10 victory — its first of the Billy Cosh era and his first as a collegiate head coach.
“I’m more excited for the guys,” Cosh said in a postgame press conference. “Good for them to get their win. It’s been 672 days, that’s a long time. We brought some guys in to help change our culture and the guys that were here developed, brought the new guys in and they became a team. I’m just really proud of our continuity and the culture we’re creating.”
From the get go, the Seawolves came out firing on all cylinders, as they pieced together a six-play, 75-yard opening drive to jump out to a 7-0 just 1:55 into the game. A 30-yard, catch-and-run connection between quarterback Malachi Marshall and wide receiver R.J. Lamarre brought Stony Brook into Stonehill’s end of the field, allowing running back Roland Dempster to go to work. After a six-yard run up the middle, Dempster bounced to the left on his next carry and rushed into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown.
On the Skyhawks’ first possession of the game, the Seawolves’ defense was suffocating, forcing a quick three-and-out to give its offense a short field to work with. From Stonehill’s 30-yard line, Dempster fought through contact and carried defenders with him on a 15-yard run up the gut. Immediately after, Dempster found a hole on the left side of the field once again and notched his second touchdown of the contest on another 15-yard rush to make it 14-0.
Despite matching his touchdown total from last season (three) in just his second game of the year, Dempster attributed his dominant day to Cosh and his offensive line.
“I just listen to my coach,” Dempster said. “Just doing my job, staying flat on the handoff if I have to and stuff like that. The [offensive] line was blocking really beautifully.”
Following another three-and-out for the Skyhawks, Stony Brook expanded to make it three straight scoring drives to begin the game. Working with a short field yet again, the Seawolves worked the ball up to Stonehill’s 23-yard line to put kicker Enda Kirby in position to drive home a 40-yard field goal, giving them a 17-0 lead that they carried into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, everything continued to go Stony Brook’s way. The Skyhawks’ most dangerous scoring threat in the first half came during their first possession of the frame. Despite putting together a 15-play, 75-yard drive, Stonehill came up empty, as the drive culminated in kicker Danny Hurley banging a 35-yard field goal off the left upright and out.
Though the Seawolves were held scoreless through most of the second quarter, they added another score with 2:10 remaining in the first half. With the ball at its own 37-yard line, Stony Brook ran a play-action play that resulted in Marshall hitting tight end Cole Bunicci — who was wide open beyond the secondary — for a 63-yard touchdown pass. Kirby’s extra-point attempt was blocked, but the team still brought a 23-0 lead into the half.
In the early goings of the second half, the Skyhawks finally broke up the shutout, as Hurley chipped in a 21-yard field goal after a goal-line stand by the Seawolves. However, any momentum that Stonehill created was quickly halted.
During Stony Brook’s first drive of the second half, Dempster put on his hard hat again. After opening the possession with a long, 54-yard gain, Dempster eventually secured the hat trick by capping off the sequence with a three-yard touchdown run.
Looking to chip away at the Seawolves’ lead on the ensuing drive, Stonehill quarterback Ashur Carraha was stripped of the ball and sacked by defensive tackle Taylor Bolesta. Though there was initially confusion over whether it was a fumble, defensive tackle Sebastian Regis scooped it up and took it to the house for a 69-yard score — the first of his collegiate career — to stretch Stony Brook’s advantage to 37-3.
With 4:04 remaining in the third frame, Carraha found Stonehill tight end Cole Clarke in the end zone for a short, three-yard touchdown pass to cut their deficit to 37-10. However, that was the last time the Skyhawks got on the board, as cornerback Rudy Silvera picked off a Carraha pass in the end zone with 7:32 left in the game to put the final nail in the coffin.
Silvera — who collected a pair of pass breakups and two tackles along with his interception — was thrilled to make an impact in his first home game as a Seawolf and credited Cosh for his success.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Silvera said. “[Cosh] stays on me on the sidelines, he’s always talking to me all day. Just knowing that every play, [Cosh] believes in me and is giving me another chance to do this, that’s all I need.”
Dempster led the way for Stony Brook, racking up a single-game, career-high 160 yards on the ground on 19 carries in addition to his three touchdowns, which also set a single-game, career high.
“I was telling my teammates that [winning] felt really good after the game,” Dempster said. “The last two years have been hard. We’ve been working but weren’t seeing results. We weren’t doing something right. We’re just happy to have coach Cosh here and we have a boatload of energy when we come into a practice or a game.”
In his first collegiate start, Marshall captured both his first-collegiate win and touchdown pass. The true freshman completed nine of his 16 passes (56.3%) for 161 yards.
On the defensive side, linebacker A.J. Roberts led the Seawolves with nine total tackles. Bolesta and Regis each recorded a sack and the team combined for five tackles for loss. Cornerback Jaxon Witherspoon added an interception to end the game, as well.
One player missing on Saturday was wide receiver Chance Knox, who Cosh labeled as being week-to-week after sustaining an injury last week against Marshall.
Stony Brook will be back in action next Saturday when it heads to the Bronx with hopes of ruining the Fordham Rams’ homecoming. The Rams are 0-2 and are coming off a 33-3 loss to Central Connecticut State University. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
