Charleston, S.C. - Stony Brook overcame a 10-point third quarter deficit to tie the game, but Charleston Southern got a 43-yard field goal in the first overtime to take a 30-27 Big South football win this afternoon in Charleston. The loss dropped Stony Brook to 5-5 overall and gave the Seawolves their first conference loss of the season. SBU, 4-1 in the Big South, will have a chance to gain a share of the conference championship next Saturday at home against Liberty.
"I think we gave them about 14 points during the game," said Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore. "But I am happy that we were in it at the end. We played hard and came back, but we gave them those points we should not have. We do not like losing, but we hung tough and I am proud of our guys."
Charleston Southern struck quickly when Deon Lee returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a score. After stalling on its first drive of the day, Stony Brook took advantage of a Buccaneer miscue to put its first points on the board. Senior Tyler Santucci (New Kensington, Pa.) intercepted an A.J. Toscano pass on CSU's next possession, setting up SBU at the CSU 26-yard line. Senior Conte Cuttino (Uniondale, N.Y.) took a direct snap 20 yards down to the six and then took it in the rest of the way on the next play, tying the game at 7-7 at the 10:17 mark.
Charleston Southern took advantage of the ensuing kickoff going out of bounds and drove 60 yards in just five plays to retake the lead. Toscano found Josh Atkinson for the 29-yard score that put the Buccaneers back on top.
Stony Brook came back to tie the contest again on its next drive, mixing the pass and run nicely to put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive that consumed nearly five minutes. Sophomore Ed Gowins (Bellport, N.Y.) took it up the middle for 23 -yards on the scoring play, knotting the score at 14-all with 2:54 left in the first quarter.
 |
In the second quarter Stony Brook held Charleston Southern to a pair of field goals by John Paglia, one from a CSU school record 51 yards, with both coming in the first five minutes of the quarter as the Buccaneers took a 20-14 lead. Redshirt freshman Wesley Skiffington (Brandon, Fla.) answered for the Seawolves, booting a 27-yard field goal with 8:26 showing on the clock that was set up by a 65-yard run by Gowins, to pull SBU within three. Stony Brook then drove down the field in the final minutes of the half, getting down to the CSU 13-yard line, but on a third down play sophomore Michael Coulter's (Yorba Linda, Calif.) pass was intercepted in the end zone by Chris Kuzdale with 16 second left on the clock. For the half the Seawolves out gained Charleston Southern, 251 yards to 168 for the Bucs, with Gowins going for 105 on just six carries.
On its first dive of the second half Stony Brook moved out to midfield before being forced to punt. The Seawolves were handed a golden opportunity when the Bucs muffed the punt and junior Arin West (Toms River, N.J.) jumped on the ball at the 16, his second straight game with a fumble recovery. SBU lost yardage on each of its next three plays, however, and Skiffington's 40-yard attempt fell short, keeping CSU on top by three.
Charleston Southern then came up with a big play on defense when Charles James stepped in front of a Coulter pass and returned it 51 yards for the score that put the Buccaneers up 27-17 midway through the third. Stony Brook used its ground attack on its next possession to get back into the game as Cuttino broke a 43 yard run and Gowins took it in from 14 yards out with 5:42 left to make it 27-24 in favor of CSU. Gowins' run took him over the 2,000-yard mark for his career, making him the sixth SBU back to reach that mark.
Stony Brook's defense then came up with a big play of its own. With CSU driving and in SBU territory, the Buccaneers fumbled on a pitch play and junior Joseph Kirkpatrick (Athens, Texas) scooped up the ball and rumbled 56 yards down the sideline to the CSU 14. The Seawolves could not get it in the end zone, but Skiffington's second field goal of the day tied it at 27-27 with 12:46 left.
Both teams challenged over the final minutes of regulation, but both defenses came up with the plays to keep the game tied and forced the overtime. Stony Brook started on offense, but on the first play Coulter was intercepted to halt the drive. The Seawolves' defense actually pushed the CSU offense back a yard on its three plays, but Paglia finished the game off with his boot.
Stony Brook finished with 422 yards of offense, 340 of which came on the ground. Gowins finished with 177 yards and a pair of scores, with Cuttino running for 163 yards and one score. For both backs it was a season-high in rushing yards. Charleston Southern totaled 293 yards, with Toscano completing 19 of 32 for 214 yards and a score to lead the Buccaneers.
Stony Brook is still within reach of a tie for the Big South championship and will host first place Liberty on Saturday, November 21 at 1:00 p.m. A win by the Seawolves over the Flames would give SBU a share of the title with Liberty.
