Stony Brook steamrolled past VMI 42-14 yesterday at Foster Stadium, where they picked up their fourth win in a row after starting the season 0-3.
The first half of the game was primarily focused on the Seawolves’ defense, which had a strong outing. Stony Brook’s Junior Solice, Andrew Nelson and Roosevelt Kirk all recorded sacks in the game. The defense only allowed VMI to come up with 267 yards of offense and forced the Virginia team to punt 11 times.
“We played a solid first half,” head coach Chuck Priore said in a press release after the game. “Our defense and special teams keyed us early, and then we turned it on offensively in the second half. We moved our tight ends to take them out of their blitzes, and that allowed Kyle to be effective out of the pocket.”
The numbers spoke for themselves after the first half, where Stony Brook dominated VMI. Kyle Essington seems to have situated himself quite perfectly in the starting quarterback position. Essington was 18/23 with 244 yards, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, which gives him his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
Essington’s 1-yard rushing touchdown came with 21 seconds left in the first half, giving Stony Brook a 7-0 lead before halftime.
Stony Brook took over in the third quarter and scored on four of its five possessions. Essington passed to wide receiver Kevin Norrell for a 31-yard touchdown, giving Stony Brook a 14-0 lead. Norrell finished the game with 129 yards and a touchdown. Running back Brock Jackolski scored a seven-yard rushing touchdown shortly thereafter, giving Stony Brook a 21-0 lead.
On the next kick-off following Jackolski’s touchdown, linebacker Jawara Dudley crushed VMI’s kick returner, leading to a fumble recovery by Stony Brook linebacker Grant Nakwaasah, who ran the ball into the end zone for 28 yards, giving Stony Brook a prevailing 28-0 lead.
VMI scored its first touchdown with 4:08 left in the third quarter when wide receiver Aaron Lewis caught an 81-yard pass from quarterback Adam Morgan. It would be VMI’s only score in the first three quarters of the game.
Wide receiver Jordan Gush and running back Miguel Maysonet scored a little more than a minute apart to start off the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Gush caught an 8-yard pass from Essington, and shortly thereafter, Maysonet found his team-leading sixth rushing touchdown of the season after jetting 60 yards into the end zone with 12:09 left to go in the fourth.
This gave Stony Brook a 42-7 lead and sealed the deal for the Seawolves.
Maysonet ended the game with 15 carries and 141 yards.
VMI scored the last touchdown of the game with 5:13 to go when running back Chaz Jones ran into the end zone for three yards, but the score was inconsequential.
With the win against VMI, Stony Brook now has a 2-0 record in the Big South conference.
The first half gave Stony Brook a chance to show off its defensive talent, but in the second half it scored 35 of 42 points, showing off their offensive domination. The Seawolves finished with 482 total yards in the game.
Stony Brook returns home to LaValle Stadium on October 29 at 4PM where they will take on Coastal Carolina. Game coverage will be covered on ESPN3.com and 90.1 FM WUSB Radio.
