On a night when the Seawolves ran wild over Colgate’s porous run defense, two new additions and a familiar face led the offensive charge.
Freshman running back Edwin Gowins ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns in his Stony Brook debut, while junior Conte Cuttino also hit the century mark with 107 yards and a scored on 14 carries. Senior Brandon Mason also had a touchdown to go along with 22 yards.
‘It’s a nice 1-2-3 punch,’ Gowins said. ‘We have three good backs.’
Red shirt freshman quarterback Dayne Hoffman did enough to manage the offense, going 8-16 for 174 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Although the Seawolves first drive ended with the interception, Hoffman persevered.
Stony Brook’s final scoring drive exemplified the kind of explosive offensive weapons the Seawolves have on their roster this year. Hoffman and junior wide receiver Donald Lee hooked up on a 49 yard pass down the middle of the field, which ended with Lee fully extending and diving to make the spectacular grab. On the next play Gowins covered the remainder of the field scoring his second touchdown from 20 yards out.
The defense, which played well in the first half also made some timely plays after halftime. ‘We made some big stops in the third and fourth quarter,’ Head Coach Chuck Priore said after the game.
The biggest was midway through the fourth quarter. Colgate had crept back within 16 points, and was about to cross over midfield and into Stony Brook territory. But quarterback Greg Sullivan was sacked by red shirt freshman Ryan Haber for a twelve yard loss. On the next play Sullivan was picked off by Chris Richards, who also had an interception in the first quarter.
‘I got beat a couple times deep,’ Richards said. ‘But coach always talks about staying disciplined.’ Richards also finished with four tackles to go along with his two interceptions.
Not everything was positive on this night for the Seawolves. Several players were taken off the field with injuries, and when asked after the game Priore said, ‘We’re probably dealing with a couple of season ending injuries.’
Hindering the Colgate offense was the absence of star running back Jordan Scott, who was a Sporting News preseason FCS All-America team member. Freshman Jordan McCord shouldered the load for the Raiders, and ran for 90 yards on 21 carries.
‘Regardless of who’s on the field, it’s all about the team who executes,’ Coach Priore said. ‘We got the job done, but we have room for improvement.’
