After opening their Big South schedule with an impressive home victory over Charleston Southern, the Stony Brook Seawolves traveled to Conway, South Carolina to play the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina University.
Coastal Carolina received the opening kickoff and drove to the Stony Brook 24-yard line. There, the home team scored the first points of the afternoon on a touchdown pass from quarterback Aramis Hillary to wide receiver DeMario Bennett.
The Seawolves would respond on the ensuing possession. After marching to the Coastal Carolina 10-yard line, the visitors tied the game at seven on a touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Essington to wide receiver Jordan Gush.
On the next possession, the Chanticleers drove to the Seawolves’ 36-yard line where they faced a fourth and seven. In “no man’s land,” Coastal Carolina decided to go for the first down. Here, the Stony Brook defense came up huge. Lineman Victor Ochi sacked Hillary for an 8-yard loss, and the Seawolves took over at the 44-yard line. They proceeded to drive all the way to the Coastal Carolina 9-yard line. However, kicker Wesley Skiffington missed a 26-yard field goal attempt, and the game remained tied.
Off the missed field goal, Coastal Carolina drove down the field and took a 14-7 lead on a 26-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Height with 11:03 remaining in the first half. Unfazed, Stony Brook responded once again. On the first play of the drive, Essington completed a 40-yard pass to Gush. After two strong runs by Marcus Coker, the Seawolves scored their second touchdown of the game on an 18-yard strike from Essington to wide receiver Kevin Norrell.
Stony Brook started the second half on offense and drove into the red zone. With 8:43 remaining in the third quarter, the Seawolves took their first lead of the game on a 2-yard
touchdown run by Miguel Maysonet.
After forcing a Coastal Carolina punt, Stony Brook drove down the field. The drive stalled, and Skiffington came on to attempt a 39-yard field goal. Unfortunately for the Seawolves, he missed his second kick of the game, and their lead remained only seven points.
Coastal Carolina capitalized on its opportunity, driving right down the field and tying the game 21-21 on a 3-yard touchdown run by Height. They received more good fortune on the ensuing kickoff when an illegal block in the back penalty pinned Stony Brook at its own 9-yard line.
The Seawolves broke out of their bad field position with two bangs, a 64-yard burst by Maysonet and a 16-yard run by Coker. Maysonet capped-off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. However, Skiffington missed the extra point, and Stony Brook’s lead was only six points, 27-21.
After the teams exchanged punts, Coastal Carolina was moving the ball when Stony Brook’s Dominick Reyes recovered a fumble by receiver Matt Hazel at the Seawolf 21-yard line. The home team forced a punt and had one more chance to drive for the winning score. However, the Stony Brook defense got the clinching stop, forcing four consecutive incomplete passes by
Hillary.
For the second consecutive week, Essington and Norrell had strong games. Essington was 10 of 13 passing for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. Norrell had 127 yards receiving and one
touchdown. Off his historic game at Lavalle Stadium, Maysonet was also outstanding with 233 rushing yards.
With its 27-21 victory, Stony Brook improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in Big South play on the season. They continue their conference schedule against Gardner Webb at Lavalle Stadium, Saturday October 20.
