Aug. 31, 2006

Final Stats

STONY BROOK, N.Y. In the season opener for both teams, Hofstra outlasted Stony Brook, 17-8, before a raucous crowd of 5,626 screaming fans at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Thursday night. Shaine Smith proved to be the difference as he hauled in 12 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown to lift the Pride to victory. The game marked the first contest for Chuck Priore as head coach of the Seawolves.

After a scoreless first half, Hofstra put together an 84-yard scoring drive on the opening possession of the second half. Hofstra quarterback Anton Clarkson's 39-yard completion to Smith helped set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Kareem Huggins. The extra point by Rob Zarilli gave the Pride the 7-0 advantage.

After forcing the Seawolves to punt two possessions later, Huggins returned Sean McGinty's punt 17 yards, giving the Pride good field position on their own 44 yard line. On the first play of the drive, Clarkson again connected with Smith on a 47-yard strike down to the Stony Brook nine. Two plays later Clarkson found Smith on an 11-yard fade to give Hofstra a 13-0 lead. Zarilli connected on the extra point and Hofstra led 14-0 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Stony Brook clawed back into the game. After forcing Hofstra to a three-and-out, Dwayne Eley returned a Chris Hanly punt 31 yards which helped set up the Seawolves with a first-and-goal from the three. On first down, Josh Dudash found Mike Cosentino in the right-side of the end zone for the touchdown. On the extra point try, Steve Austin handled a bad snap and scrambled to the left before finding Kevin Halonski for the two-point conversion, cutting the Hofstra lead to 14-8.

On the following possession, Hofstra was forced into a third-and-two on its own 40. Clarkson rolled right and had his pass batted back into his hands by Adam Soivilien. Clarkson scrambled for eight yards and a key first down to keep the Hofstra drive going. Eight plays later Zarilli booted a 26-yard field goal, giving Hofstra a 17-8 lead with 5:28 left in the game.

Dudash finished the game 11-for-21 for 84 yards and a touchdown. Cosentino led the Stony Brook receiving corps with six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Adam Cooper and Chris Merkle anchored the Stony Brook defense, as each tallied seven tackles on the game. Hasan Stewart finished the game with six tackles and two passes broken up and Richie Richards totaled five tackles and one sack.

Clarkson completed 19-of-31 pass attempts for 240 yards and one touchdown. Smith led all receivers with 12 catches for 195 yards and a touchdown while Huggins picked up 33 yards on the ground to go along with one rushing touchdown.

Tom Daddino led the Hofstra defense with nine tackles. David Darby pitched in with eight tackles and Shemiah LeGrande added six tackles and a sack.

The Seawolves return to action on Saturday, September 9 when they hit the road to take on Georgetown. Kick-off is scheduled for a 1:00 P.M. start.