By Robinson Rodriguez
The Stony Brook Seawolves football team couldn’t overcome their own mistakes in their 31-13 game against the New Hampshire Wildcats on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we made some mistakes that allowed the score to be lopsided,” said head coach Chuck Priore. “Certainly, we competed, but we needed to get better.”
The Seawolves got off to a 3-0 lead, after a near seven-minute, 71-yard drive, capped off with a 21-yard field goal by junior kicker Graham Ball, but it went down from there for the Seawolves.
On their next possession, freshman long snapper Kevin Fannell snapped the ball over senior kicker Nick Ferrara and past the endzone for a safety. The Wildcats then went out on a 9-3 lead after a 23-yard touchdown by quarterback Sean Goldrich to receiver Justin Mello.
The Seawolves special team’s issues would continue in the second quarter after Ferrara’s punt was partially blocked by running back Chris Setian. The Wildcats took advantage of the field position and came out ahead 16-3 with a 1-yard touchdown run by Setian.
On the Seawolves next possession, senior quarterback Lyle Negron was intercepted for the first of two times of the day. Negron struggled, completing 9-of-24 passes for 124 yards.
Before the half, the Seawolves cut the Wildcats lead down to 16-6, after a 39-yard field goal by Ball.
Despite the Seawolves rough play, they were still able to make it a one possession game late in the third quarter. Negron connected to junior tight end Will Tye for an eight-yard touchdown, which put the Seawolves down 19-13.
The Wildcats responded back to the Seawolves with a 15-yard touchdown to end the quarter from Goldrich to Mello, which put the Wildcats up 25-13.
“You want to put a drive together and get the momentum back for your team,” Priore said. “That’s what they did.”
The Wildcats were able to put the Seawolves away in the fourth after Goldrich, once again, connected to Mello for a 36-yard touchdown. This put the Wildcats up 31-13.
James Kenner, junior running back, had a career game with a personal best of 113 yards on 26 carries.
“We [were] very successful due to our o-line, they did an awesome job,” Kenner said. “We did everything that we pretty much could, executing [and] driving down the field.”
The Seawolves defense kept them in the game for most of it, as they kept the Wildcats down to 336 total offense yards, the fewest the Wildcast have been held to all season.
“We can’t make mistakes, that is what is killing us,” said Reggie Francklin, senior linebacker. “We have to handle our business and stop making mistakes.”
Another positive for the Seawolves is that they were able to pressure Goldrich. They sacked him four times, a season high for the Seawolves.
“I think we came out and played a tough physical game, like we always want to,” said Kevin Hauter, junior defensive lineman. “We just [got to] keep trucking, no matter what diversity we are put through.”
The Wildcats improve to 4-3, 3-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Mello had a huge game for the Wildcats as he caught 3 touchdowns on 110 yards.
The Seawolves (3-4, 1-3 CAA) will next head to face the Maine Black Bears (7-1, 4-0), ranked 11 in the country. The Seawolves are fighting for their playoff lives, as they will need to win out their final four games of the season in order to make the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.