“Battle for the Butter"

By Najib Aminy

            In what ESPN’s radio program Mike and Mike named the “Battle for the Butter,” the Stony Brook men’s football team fell to the Black Bears of Maine, just one week after a drowning loss, 30-20, in tropical storm conditions against Elon Univeristy. Despite an impressive start in their home opener, in which they defeated Colgate University 42-26, the Seawolves have lost two consecutive games.

            With a recorded seven sacks, red-shirted freshman Stony Brook quarterback Dayne Hoffman (Ada, Michigan) had a 50% passing completion rate, throwing a total of 38 times with 19 completions, of which two were picked off by Maine. Hoffman totaled 199 passing yards and one touchdown when connecting with freshman Melaquan Saffold (Syracuse, NY). Hoffman’s rushing stats were tainted with a rushing net yardage of negative 34 yards. Junior Conte Cuttino led the team in rushing with a net yardage of 75 yards but failed to produce a score leaving one to wonder about the strength of the offensive line. Senior kicker Luke Gaddis (East Patchogue, NY) was two for two in field goal attempts with a 32-yard kick early in the second quarter followed by a 22-yarder in the middle of the third.  

            With a lack-luster performance by the offense, Stony Brook’s defense was unable to stop Maine’s aerial attack in the first half of the game. Maine’s quarterback, sophomore Adam Farkes (Boston, Mass) threw for 148 yards but connected with three receivers scoring four touchdowns, two by sophomore receiver Tyrell Jones (Gaithersburg, Md.). Junior Carl Teague (St. Petersburg, Fla.) recorded Stony Brook’s solo sack of the game for a loss of nine yards along with four tackles of his own. Junior Tyler Santucci (New Kesington, Pa.) had a team high of five recorded tackles, which netted a total of eight yards lost. Stony Brook was successful in stopping Maine’s run game, and essentially held Maine from scoring again the in the second half. However the Seawolves failed to produce any sort of a comeback with four turnovers, one in red-zone territory.

            Though scoring the first touchdown of the game late in the first quarter, Stony Brook was outscored 28-10 in the first half. The Seawolves would nibble at their differential by three with a field goal in the third, making the final score of the game, 28-13. Maine improve their record to 2-1 while Stony Brook has staggered from an impressive start to a 1-2 season.

            Tired of hyping up games such as Saturday night’s match up between USC and the Ohio State University, ESPN’s Mike and Mike radio program challenged their audience come up with the most creative name for the Stony Brook vs. Maine game. Names such as “Slaughter at the Sea,” “Laughingstock at the Lighthouse,” “The Rock Lobster Bowl,” “The Bore on the Shore,” and “Commotion by the Ocean” were offended. Yet, the winner was “The Battle for the Butter,” and the winning coach would be interviewed. Despite the loss, Stony Brook is up for a difficult schedule traveling to Providence, RI next week to face Brown University in their season opener on September 20, at 12:30 p.m. Following Brown, Stony Brook is to face Hofstra University for the clash of Long Island supremacy at home on Friday, September 26, at 7 p.m.