With 8:57 left in the third quarter, Kyle Essington knew he had to make a play. The quarterback put the ball up for a leaping Miguel Maysonet, who caught the ball despite being sandwiched between two Presbyterian defenders. The play looked like one that a seasoned veteran would make, not someone who was making his starting debut. "I just put the ball up and let the playmaker go get it," Essington said.
Essington made his first career start one to remember, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for another as Stony Brook defeated Presbyterian College, 42-24, Saturday night in its Big South Conference opener at LaValle Stadium.
Essington was starting in place of Michael Coulter, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. The junior went 17-for-27 for 292 yards and four touchdowns.
Essington began making his impact on the opening drive of the game, going 3-for-3 through the air and scoring on an 18-yard bootleg through the middle of the Presbyterian defense.
After Presbyterian answered with a field goal, the junior signal-caller led his team on another scoring drive. This time, he hit senior wideout Matt Brevi on a play-action pass for a 44-yard touchdown. "The receivers and I were all on the same page," Essington said. "We really connected well tonight."
Both defenses held strong from that point on until Presbyterian's Michael Ruff broke free on an end-around for a 54-yard touchdown with 3:56 remaining in the second quarter.
Stony Brook was given one last chance to score at the end of the half, thanks to two defensive penalties as time expired. With no time left on the clock and a first down on the Presbyterian 40, Essington threw into the end zone, and Brevi came up with the ball for the improbable score. "Sometimes you just have to take a chance," Essington said.
Presbyterian came out strong to open the third quarter as Brandon Miley threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Ruff.
But a 44-yard return by Brock Jackolski then set up Essington's 22-yard touchdown strike to a leaping Maysonet. "Everybody normally makes fun of my hands," said Maysonet, who also rushed for 50 yards on 16 carries. "Kyle just put it up there and I went up and made a play."
After Presbyterian punted, Essington engineered an 80-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown dive by Jackolski. An interception by Stony Brook's Donald Porter gave the Seawolves the ball back, and Essington responded with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Norrell.
Presbyterian backup Ryan Singer threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, but the Blue Hose comeback failed as the Seawolves' defense held.
Brevi led the Seawolves with five catches for 126 yards and two scores. Jackolski was the team's leading rusher, carrying the ball 18 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Seawolves coach Chuck Priore said that the passing game helped early, when Presbyterian was able to shut down the Seawolves' rushing attack. "They're an athletic team, and they challenged us," Priore said. "But we were able to throw the ball efficiently, and we found a way to win."
