While playing on the road against a conference rival, the No. 16/17 Stony Brook football team’s chances at the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) automatic bid into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs died.
The Seawolves (8-3, 5-2 CAA) were at Wildcat Stadium in Durham, N.H. on Saturday for a matinee matchup with the New Hampshire Wildcats (7-4, 5-2 CAA). Despite being up by 20 points at the start of the fourth quarter, Stony Brook imploded and fell 31-30.
With both teams off to slow starts offensively, the Seawolves’ defense stepped up to make a play. At his own 20-yard line, New Hampshire quarterback Seth Morgan unleashed a throw that was tipped by linebacker Chayce Chalmers at the line of scrimmage, allowing safety Shamoun Duncan-Niusulu to pick it off at the 25.
Despite failing to get into the end zone, kicker Enda Kirby converted on a 24-yard field goal with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter to put Stony Brook ahead 3-0.
On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats’ offense made another error. Just prior to midfield, Morgan dropped back to pass and was met by defensive end Rodney Faulk, who strip sacked him. With the ball free, linebacker A.J. Roberts scooped it up and brought it all the way down to New Hampshire’s eight-yard line.
For a second consecutive drive, the Wildcats delivered a defensive stand. Running back Roland Dempster was stuffed on three straight plays to close out the opening quarter, setting the stage for Kirby to drill a 22-yard field goal to begin the second.
Down 6-0, New Hampshire’s offense began to turn it on. Upon breaking into Stony Brook’s territory, wide receiver Logan Tomlinson took over. After reeling in seven- and 21-yard receptions to bring his team to the five-yard line, he beat cornerback Rudy Silvera on a goal-line fade on the left side of the end zone to give the Wildcats a 7-6 lead.
With the ball back in their possession, the Seawolves quickly responded. After a six-yard completion, quarterback Tyler Knoop scrambled for 24 yards down to New Hampshire’s 45-yard line. After making a 15-yard grab, wide receiver Jayce Freeman broke free down the right sideline and snuck the ball over the pylon while taking a big hit for a 30-yard score, putting Stony Brook back on top 13-7.
Immediately after, Morgan led the Wildcats into the red zone. Following a pass breakup by safety Jordan Jackson that prevented a touchdown, New Hampshire kicker Nick Mazzie missed a 38-yard field goal wide right with 3:12 to go until halftime.
Nonetheless, the Wildcats wound up going into the second half down 13-10. After Morgan connected with tight end Colby Ramshaw for a 28-yard gain that brought New Hampshire to the Seawolves’ six-yard line, the drive stalled, leading to a 22-yard field goal by Mazzie with 31 seconds left in the first half.
To start the second half, Stony Brook pieced together a scoring drive that was led by tight end Cal Redman. On third down, Knoop sent a pass to Dempster that he could not corral, but the ball caromed right into Redman’s arms for a first down to keep the drive going. A few plays later, Knoop found Redman wide open on the right side of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown snag.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Seawolves continued to tack on points, as Kirby capped off a 10-play, 41-yard drive with a 37-yard field goal to make it 23-10.
During the final possession of the third quarter, an 18-yard reception by Redman and bruising runs from Dempster and fellow running back Johnny Martin helped Stony Brook march into the red zone. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Knoop connected with tight end Cole Bunicci up the seam for a 13-yard house call.
Despite being down big in the final quarter, all the momentum shifted to the Wildcats’ side following Bunicci’s score. On a fourth-and-six play at Stony Brook’s 24-yard line, Morgan made something out of nothing and scrambled his way into the end zone to cut New Hampshire’s deficit to 13 points.
With the ball back in Knoop’s hands, he was strip sacked by New Hampshire defensive end Flex Ruiz — who got home three times throughout the day — allowing defensive tackle Jacoby Sherard to return it to the Seawolves’ 13-yard line. Stony Brook appeared to have the Wildcats’ stopped on a fourth-and-long try, but cornerback Deshawn Jones Jr. was called for pass interference at the goal line, setting up running back Denzell Gibson for a two-yard touchdown run.
On the ensuing drive, disaster struck for the Seawolves, as Knoop was momentarily knocked out of the game after a hard hit by New Hampshire cornerback Caleb Mead. With quarterback Malachi Marshall now under center and the ball past midfield, he fumbled a high snap that safety Zedane Williams pounced on.
Two plays after a tightly-contested, 33-yard catch by wide receiver Caleb Burke brought New Hampshire into the red zone, wide receiver Joey Corcoran fought through Jones Jr.’s coverage near the right pylon for a 15-yard touchdown nab, giving the Wildcats a 31-30 lead with 6:15 to go in the game.
Although Knoop returned, Stony Brook failed to muster anything up on offense, as the game ended with New Hampshire in victory formation.
“We made too many mistakes to win that game as an organization,” head coach Billy Cosh said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “We didn’t execute well late in the game. [New Hampshire] made plays and capitalized on it. When you’re on the road, up 20 and you lose by one point late in the fourth quarter, there’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up and get better.”
Offensively, the Seawolves shot themselves in the foot. Knoop completed 17 of his 27 passes (63.0%) for three touchdowns and 194 yards but had a costly fumble. In his lone play of the afternoon, Marshall fumbled en route to the Wildcats’ game-winning touchdown drive.
From the backfield, Dempster had his three-game touchdown streak snapped and without many holes to work with, he rushed for 85 yards on 21 carries. Dempster also caught just three passes for nine yards. Excluding New Hampshire’s four sacks, Knoop gained 47 yards on the ground.
Redman led the team with five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Freeman also scored a touchdown and racked up 55 yards on his three receptions, making it five straight games with a touchdown and six in that span. Wide receiver Jasiah Williams made four catches for 42 yards while Bunicci’s only catch was for a touchdown.
Defensively, Stony Brook allowed just 63 rushing yards, but Morgan accumulated 263 passing yards.
Linebacker Anthony Ferrelli led the team with eight total tackles while Duncan-Niusulu followed with seven and an interception. Faulk paced the rest with two sacks, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Roberts recovered a fumble and made six tackles.
Chalmers notched a sack with defensive end Kris Caine and Silvera sharing another. Silvera and Jones Jr. tallied two and three pass breakups, respectively.
The Seawolves will continue their playoff push next Saturday when they will take on the Monmouth Hawks at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium for their regular-season finale. The Hawks are 5-6 this season and 3-4 in CAA play. They are coming off a 40-33 win over No. 8/9 Villanova. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
