The losing apparently never ends as the Stony Brook Seawolves Football team still cannot find a way to win on the gridiron as they were beat down by Conference Rival New Hampshire in a 45-14 defeat on Saturday.
This week’s loss was historic as Stony Brook now has set a new school record as this is now the worst start they have gotten off to since becoming a Division 1 school as they are now 0-7 and 0-5 against CAA opponents.
On the opening drive of the game, Stony Brook looked like a completely different team than in years past as quarterback Casey Case drove the Seawolves’ offense into the red zone on just two plays into the game.
On first and 10 from New Hampshire’s 19-yard line, Case threw to a wide open tight end Cole Bunicci over the middle, who would’ve given the Seawolves a 7-0 lead as he could’ve walked in for the walk-in touchdown. However, Bunicci dropped the ball and the pass fell incomplete. The opening drive stalled and kicker Spencer Biscoe’s 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked by New Hampshire defensive tackle Nate Kapongo to keep points off the board.
It would only get worse for the Seawolves as New Hampshire quarterback Max Brosmer hit wide receiver Joey Corcoran over the middle, who then broke a tackle and took it 54 yards for the touchdown that gave New Hampshire an early 7-0 lead.
New Hampshire’s offensive scheming was apparently the difference in this one as the Stony Brook defense was constantly getting trashed and was unable to get the Wildcats off the field.
“They’ve obviously got a bunch of good players,” Stony Brook Linebacker De’Aundre Cruz said in a postgame press conference. “Watching film going into this week, they do a lot of different formations [and] a lot of stuff like that to mess with our eyes.”
Stony Brook would answer back as Casey Case led the team down the field quickly on the back of a 37-yard pass to wide receiver Anthony Johnson.
Unlike the previous drive, the Seawolves punched it in with a seven-yard rushing touchdown by running back Roland Dempster to tie the game at seven.
The lead lasted just as long as Mecole Hardman’s tenure as a New York Jet as Brosmer and running back Dylan Laube immediately led the Wildcats down to Stony Brook’s 27-yard line to set up a scoring opportunity. New Hampshire kicker Nick Mazzie made a 44-yard field goal to give his team a 10-7 lead that the Wildcats would never give up.
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| Jayce Freeman running down the sideline for a 98 yard touchdown SBU Athletics |
The Seawolves would get seven of those points back in the second quarter as the offense would make a bit of positive program history as Casey Case hit wide receiver Jayce Freeman in the flat to the left on a pass play from the Seawolves own two yard line. Freeman then broke a tackle from New Hampshire cornerback Randall Harris and he stayed in bounds along the left sideline for a 98 yard touchdown, breaking the record for longest pass in program history while cutting the New Hampshire lead to 14 points.
“My thought was just ‘Don’t go out of bounds, don’t get caught,” Freeman said to the Statesman over the weekend about the play. “I just kept the ball in my hand because I didn’t even want to break my stride, so I was just trying to score.”
New Hampshire never let this phase them as they used a fake field goal attempt with 24 seconds left and Brosmer – who was in as the holder – scampered into the end zone for a Wildcats touchdown right before the half.
The Seawolves never recovered from their 31-14 deficit. The Wildcats poured it on in the third quarter, with Brosmer firing a 57-yard bomb down the field for a touchdown to wide receiver Caleb Burke to make it 38-14. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Laube plunged one in off the left side from seven yards out to put on the game’s finishing touches as the Wildcats would win 45-14.
After the game, Stony Brook Football coach Chuck Piore gave props to his opponents as he knew the Seawolves defense would have a hard time against one of the best offenses in Division one FCS Football.
“New Hampshire was going to throw for 350 yards against whoever they played against,” Priore said. “That is not a Stony Brook problem, that is a fact.”
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| Shane Briscoe kicking off the ball SBU Athletics |
“Offensively we needed to score points,” Priore said. “We had a couple of opportunities… and we didn’t score the points to keep the game [at] bay. At the end of the day, those things fall on my shoulders and we will fix them.”
Stony Brook will now turn their attention to another ranked team as they will look to pull a massive upset against #22 Villanova in their next matchup.