The new faces of Stony Brook Football took the field on Saturday in the annual Spring Game, an intrasquad scrimmage that signals the end of spring practice.
The red team, which was the offensive team, defeated the black team, which was the defensive team, 17-13.
“I saw kids having fun which is good,” coach Chuck Priore said after the game.
The defense was able to score points by getting stops, and they did that very well in the beginning of the game.
The first drive saw junior kicker Graham Ball miss a 33-yard field goal, giving the black team an early 1-0 lead.
The red team, led by junior quarterback Conor Bednarski, would able to drive back into field goal range on the second drive.
This time it was Ben Solis taking the 20-yard kick, and he would drill it to put the red team ahead 3-1.
That score was set up by one of the two big plays in the game, a 56-yard run right up the middle by redshirt freshman Stacey Bedell.
“The line did a great job blocking up front and I saw the space,” Bedell said. “I shouldn’t have looked back and he got me.”
The “he” is Quinton Littlejohn, who is by far the fastest player on the team according to Priore.
“(Bedell’s) been caught twice this spring, both by the same person,” Priore added. Littlejohn should be on the field on a regular basis come August when the Seawolves start their preseason.
The defensive black team would buckle down after that run though, holding the red team to just three. That defensive momentum would carry into the next three drives.
After a Tyler Fredericks run of 15 yards off the right side, the offense would stall on the next three plays and get stopped in their own territory.
This gave the black team two points and tied the game at three.
The next drive, Bednarski would take two sacks.
The first of the sacks came from Allen Singleton and the other from Victor Ochi, yielding another three-and-out and another two points for the black team.
The defensive line dominated this game, forcing Bednarski to roll out on a lot of his snaps with pressure up the middle.
“We find success when we control the lines,” Priore said.
The red team would stall again, giving two more points to the black team before they would get anything going.
The offense got going early in the second quarter, as Bednarski completed two passes of 15 and 17 yards to Adrian Coxson and Jahrie Level respectively.
A few plays later, Bednarski would throw an incomplete pass intended for newly-named captain Will Tye, bringing up fourth and 15 at the Black 34-yard line.
Instead of sending on the special teams, which were less than impressive throughout the day, the red team’s offense stayed on the field.
Bednarski would make the most of the opportunity, rolling to his left and finding Level, a junior, for the first touchdown of the game.
After Ball’s extra point, it was 10-7 Red with 8:59 to play in the second quarter.
The red team would then stall again, as they were held scoreless for the final four drives of the half.
Bednarski would play only half of the third and final quarter of the game.
He led the red team down to the black team’s 30-yard line, where freshman A.J. Otranto would take over.
Bednarski finished the game going 16-for-29, throwing for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Otranto would lead his team the rest of the way, giving the ball to James Kenner on the final play for a four-yard touchdown, giving Red a 17-13 advantage.
Level would finish the day hauling in six passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Coxson also had a productive day, finishing with five receptions for 35 yards.
The Seawolves start practice on Aug. 1 and will have 28 days to get ready for the Thursday night season opener at home against the Bryant Bulldogs.
A marquee matchup on the schedule would be the Skirmish on the Sound, when the team plays in East Hartford against the UConn Huskies on Sept. 6.