Sept. 29, 2007

Final Stats

Hempstead, N.Y. - In a game that was not decided until the final play, #14 Hofstra held off Stony Brook by a 33-28 score in the battle between Long Island's two Division I football teams. The Pride led 19-7 at the half, but a pair of second half touchdown passes from senior quarterback Josh Dudash (Beachwood, N.J.) helped put the Seawolves back into the game that saw SBU gain possession of the ball in the final minute to give it a chance to win.

"We played hard," remarked head coach Chuck Priore. "I'm proud of the fact that we did not let down. But we have a lot of work to do to get better. We competed hard; I will like that part of the film but I will not like the final score part. I think that both teams have improved at the things that you would think that they would improve at. Coaching staffs are in their second year, players are responding better, there is better execution and better team play on both sides."

Stony Brook (3-2) got off to a quick start in the contest when sophomore Cory Giddings (Ocean, N.J.) intercepted Bryan Savage's pass on the second play of the game and returned it 41 yards to the Hofstra 11. Two plays later the Seawolves turned the Pride miscue into points when senior Kevin Halonski (Budd Lake, N.J.) hauled in his third TD pass of the season, an eight-yard toss from Dudash.

Stony Brook's lead did not last long, however, when Hofstra's Kareem Huggins took the hand off on the Pride's first play after the kickoff and burst through the line for a 58-yard touchdown that tied the game just seconds after Stony Brook had taken the lead. Less than two minutes later the Pride took the lead when the snap on Stony Brook's first punt attempt in the game was high. The ball ended up going out of the back of the end zone for a safety, putting Hofstra (4-0) up by two.

For the remainder of the half the Stony Brook offense had trouble getting on track against the Hofstra defense, gaining only a total of 72 yards in the half. Junior Mike McCoy (Los Angeles, Calif.) picked off another Savage pass that stopped a scoring drive, but the Pride put up 255 yards of offense on the board in the first half, with Huggins gaining 103 of that on the ground. Hofstra added a Huggins seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter and a 22-yard field goal that gave it a 19-7 halftime advantage.

Stony Brook got its offense going in the second half, scoring a TD on its second possession. Dudash converted two third and long plays to keep the drive alive and then found junior Dwayne Eley (Bowie, Md.) open for a 20-yard scoring strike and the Seawolves had closed to within five at 19-14.

McCoy picked off his second pass of the night to halt a Hofstra scoring threat, but SBU could not move the ball and was forced to punt from its own six. The Prided took over at the SBU 38 and needed just three plays to take advantage of the field position, scoring on a 21-yard pass from Savage to Everette Benjamin.

Stony Brook came right back down the field on its next drive, with Dudash hitting Eley for a 49-yard completion down to the Hofstra one-yard line on the final play of the third quarter. Sophomore Conte Cuttino (Uniondale, N.Y.) completed the drive on the first play of the fourth quarter, pulling the Seawolves back to within five at 26-21.

Just like it did at the beginning of the game Hofstra answered quickly, needing just three plays to score. Savage found Ottis Lewis open down the left sideline and he out raced the SBU defense for a 63-yard score.

With less than nine minutes left Stony Brook was driving again, but faced a fourth and 10 on the Hofstra 13. The Seawolves went for it, but Dudash was sacked for a four-yard loss, and the ball went over to the Pride on downs. On Hofstra's first play Huggins ran for a 14-yard gain, but coughed up the ball, which freshman Stephen Schwicke (East Patchogue, N.Y.) pounced on at the 14. Three straight runs by Cuttino took the ball down to the four where SBU had a first and goal. On third and goal from the two Dudash found senior J.J. Cox (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) open in the end zone for his first score of the year and Stony Brook was again back within five.

The Stony Brook defense held on Hofstra's next drive, and the Seawolves got the ball back on their own 23 with 3:36 to go. SBU picked up one first down, but Dudash's pass down the right sideline came up short and was intercepted by Stephen Tate. The Stony Brook defense held again, forcing Hofstra to a three and out that gave SBU the ball back at its own 33 with 24 seconds to go.

Dudash's first two pass attempts fell incomplete, however, and on the final play of the game he was sacked to snuff out the last Seawolf hope.

Dudash finished with 244 yards, completing 22 of his 48 attempts with three scores and a pair of interceptions. Suggs led the receiving corps, catching 10 balls for 132 yards. Cuttino finished with a team-high 68 yards on the ground. Savage completed 20 of 33 attempts for 256 yards for Hofstra, with Huggins finishing with 141 yards on the ground for the Pride. Stony Brook's 28 points was the most it has ever scored in the 11-games series with Hofstra.