Sept. 16, 2000

Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Elliot Hulse scored two touchdowns and the St. John's defense held its opponent to negative yards rushing for the second consecutive week to post a convincing 28-6 win over Stony Brook Saturday afternoon at Seawolves Field. With the win, St. John's improves to 2-0, 2-0 in Northeast Conference play, while Stony Brook falls to 1-1 on the year, 0-1 in the conference.

After a scoreless first quarter, it was the Red Storm's special teams unit that helped set up the first score of the game midway through the second quarter. Stony Brook punter Michael Soto mishandled the snap and Danny Kelskey fell on the fumble for the Red Storm at the Stony Brook 10-yard line. Three plays later, Josh Krapf hit Elliot Hulse out of the backfield with a three-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good and St. John's led 7-0.

Later in the quarter, the Red Storm put together an eight-play, 62-yard drive culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Krapf to Alicio Metelius with 3:17 to go and the Red Storm took a 14-0 advantage into halftime.

After the break, St. John's took its second possession of the half and marched 80 yards on 12 plays, highlighted by a 40-yard catch and run by Derek Jones from the SJU 20. Faced with a fourth-and-one from the Stony Brook 10, St. John's went for it and got the first down when Krapf hit Eddie Romano with a one-yard pass. Three plays later, Krapf hooked up with Romano again when he threw a fade pattern to the back of the end zone and Romano outjumped Seawolves defensive back Chad King for the touchdown grab and St. John's was in control, 21-0.

The St. John's defense was the story all afternoon long, racking up seven sacks and leaving Stony Brook in 14 third-and-long situations. Stony Brook converted only 2 of 19 third down chances on the day in totaling 131 yards of offense on 82 plays. The Seawolves rushing game managed only -4 yards of rushing on 38 attempts as St. John's limited an opponent to negative yards rushing for the second straight week. SJU held St. Francis (Pa.) to -19 yards rushing last week in a 23-0 win.

Josiah Mooney and Rich Hosein led the Red Storm defense with 11 tackles apiece. Hosein, Shawn Oliver and Joe Maietta each had two sacks to their credit.

Stony Brook averted the shutout late in the fourth quarter when it took advantage of the Red Storm's only turnover of the day. Linebacker John Phelan fell on a fumble by Gavin Luckman at the St. John's two-yard line and two plays later, Brian Stanley hit Phil Lombardi with a two-yard touchdown pass with 2:33 left. The two-point conversion failed and the score was 28-6.

Stony Brook is back in action next week when it travels to St. Francis (Pa.) for another NEC matchup. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m.