Nov. 8, 2008

Final Stats

New Rochelle, N.Y. - It was a record setting day for the Stony Brook football team as the Seawolves unleashed a running attack that Iona could not stop as they rolled to a 68-9 victory on a rainy afternoon at Mazzella Field. Stony Brook ground out a school record 635 yards on the ground, with freshman Edwin Gowins (Bellport, N.Y.) and junior Conte Cuttino (Uniondale, N.Y.) each going over the 200-yard mark, setting another school record, and scoring three times each. The win was Stony Brook's third over the last four games.

"We have matured as an offense," said Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore. "We had some young kids that had to step up and play and we have figured out our identity. We made some decisions that we were going to set our personality as an offense with our run game. Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have proven that."

Stony Brook (4-6) could not be stopped in the first half as it scored touchdowns on all six of its possessions. The Seawolves took the opening kickoff and drove 74 yards in seven plays. Four of the plays were runs of at least 13 yards, with Cuttino finishing it off with an 18-yard jaunt. Stony Brook's defense then held Iona to a three and out on its first possession and got the ball back at its own 42. After an incomplete pass, Gowns broke off a 21-yard run that sparked the drive and then finished it off with a three-yard effort that made it 14-0 midway through the opening quarter.

Iona (3-7) drove into Stony Brook's end of the field on its next drive, getting down to the SBU 28 where it faced a 2nd and 10. Gael's quarterback Warren Smith lofted a pass towards the SBU end-zone, but junior Chris Richards (Quartz Hills, Calif.) picked it off near the goal-line to bring a halt to the drive.

It was all Stony Brook after that. Senior Dwayne Eley (Bowie, Md.) took it in from seven yards out less than a minute into the second quarter to make it 21-0. Iona never threatened the rest of the half, with the Seawolves holding the Gaels to just 58 total yards in the first 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Stony Brook broke the school record for rushing in a game in just the first half, rolling up 426 yards on the ground, including a 71-yard scamper for a score by Cuttino that was a career-long run. By halftime Stony Brook had put 40 points on the board. Iona did put points on the board, but it was a special teams play when the Gaels blocked a PAT attempt and saw Joseph Garcia pick up the ball and race to the other end of the field for a two-point play.

Gowins kept the ground game humming on Stony Brook's first possession of the second half, out-racing the Iona defense to the end-zone on a 62-yard run that made it 47-2. Near the end of the third Iona finally found the end-zone when Smith found Tim Mastrino down the middle of the field where he grabbed the ball and then out-raced the SBU defense to the end-zone for a 74-yard score that made it 47-9.

On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore Donald Porter (Charles Town, W.Va.) returned the kick 76 yards all the way to the Iona six-yard line. Cuttino took it in from there for his third score of the day and the Seawolves went on to score two more TDs in the fourth quarter, one on a 42-yard interception return by senior Paul Ferrari (Novato, Calif.) and the other on a 30-yard run from junior Tarrent Anderson (Englewood, N.J.) to close out the scoring.

Stony Brook's ground game was so dominant that the Seawolves attempted just six passes in the game. The final total of 635 yards on the ground set not only a school record, but established a new season-high in rushing by any Division I school in 2008, either at the FCS (formally I-AA) or FBS levels. Gowins finished with a career-high 278 yards, while Cuttino added 205, the second time in his career he has passed the 200-yard mark. Gowins' total put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season at 1,060, making him just the fourth back in Stony Brook history to reach 1,000 yards in a season. Anderson made it three backs over the 100-yard mark, finishing with 110 yards and two scores.

Stony Brook's total of 668 yards of total offense established another school record while the 68 points the Seawolves scored was two short of the school mark.

Stony Brook will finish the 2008 season on Nov. 15 at home when it entertains VMI in a Big South game in LaValle Stadium starting at 3:30 p.m.