STONY BROOK, N.Y. – One play, 99 yards. That's all it took for the Stony Brook University football team (2-5, 1-3 CAA) to set the tone on its opening drive on Saturday as redshirt junior running back
Ty Son Lawton broke a 99-yard touchdown run on the team's first play from scrimmage en route to a 34-17 victory over No. 14/15 Delaware (3-3, 2-2 CAA).
The 99-yard touchdown run was the longest play from scrimmage in program history for the Seawolves. Their previous longest rush was 95 yards by Oliver Bridges on November 16, 1991, at Pace. Stony Brook's longest pass play still stands at 91 yards, which happened twice in history. Lawton rushed for a new career-high 192 yards and two touchdowns as he added to his CAA-leading rushing and touchdown totals.
The Seawolves used the momentum from that play to carry them through the first half. Stony Brook punched in its second score of the game to make it 13-0 with 13:00 to play in the second quarter. The Seawolves put together a 14-play, 84-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Lawton.
Graduate quarterback
Tyquell Fields guided Stony Brook down the field and hit redshirt sophomore wide receiver
Shawn Harris Jr. for a 22-yard gain to Delaware's one-yard line, which setup Lawton's one-yard touchdown.
The Blue Hens responded by scoring 10 unanswered points to close out the first half, but the Seawolves still controlled a 13-10 advantage. Stony Brook's energy carried over into the second half of play as it went on to outscore Delaware, 21-7, over the final 30 minutes as it sealed its first conference win of the season by the final score of 34-17.
After the teams traded the first two possessions in the second half, the Seawolves struck as Fields found redshirt senior wide receiver
Khalil Newton for a 26-yard touchdown connection to go up, 20-10. The Blue Hens responded by scoring a touchdown on the next drive as Zach Gwynn found Thyrick Pitts for a 28-yard touchdown to make it 20-17.
With 6:24 to go in the game, Stony Brook forced its first turnover when redshirt junior
Makye Smith recorded a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by graduate defensive lineman
Brandon Lopez and returned to the Delaware one-yard line. On the ensuing play, Fields' number was called and he rushed it in from one-yard out to extend the lead to 27-17.
Stony Brook added to its advantage when Delaware's Jourdan Townsend muffed a punt that was recovered by redshirt senior defensive back
Randy Pringle in the end zone for a touchdown. Pringle's touchdown recovery clinched the ball game for the Seawolves as they went over the 30-point plateau for the first time this season.
Stony Brook's defensive tenacity was on display all game long as the Seawolves were flying all over the field to make tackles, disrupt passes, and pressure the quarterback. Redshirt freshman
Tyler King, redshirt senior
Reidgee Dimanche, and redshirt senior
Makye Smith anchored the defensive effort. King racked up a career-high tying 12 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss, Dimanche notched six tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss, and Smith totaled five tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and 1.0 sack.
STATS AND NOTES
- Lawton rushed for a new career-high 192 yards and two touchdowns. His 99-yard touchdown run was the longest play from scrimmage in program history, tied for the longest play in CAA history, longest rush in all of FCS, and tied for the longest play from scrimmage in all of FCS this season. It was just the third 90-plus yard offensive play in program history and the first since November 23, 2013. Lawton rushed for over 100 yards for the third-straight game, it was his second consecutive multi-touchdown game, and the third game in a row that he found the end zone. It is the second time in his career that he has recorded 100 or more rushing yards in three consecutive games (also rushed for 100-plus yards in three-straight from Oct. 5-26, 2019).
- Fields went 13-18 for 135 yards and touchdown through the air and ran for 19 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown pass was his fourth of the season and the touchdown run was his fifth of the season. Fields ranks second on the team and tied for third in the CAA in rushing touchdowns.
- Newton caught two passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown catch was his second of the season and first since Week 1 against New Hampshire.
- The CAA tackling leader, Tyler King accounted for a career-high tying 12 tackles (six solo, six assists) and a career-high tying 3.0 tackles for loss. He has recorded back-to-back 10-plus tackle games and has totaled three games of 10 or more tackles this season. His 62 total tackles and 35 solo tackles lead the CAA.
- Dimanche finished with six tackles (five solo, one assist) and 1.0 tackles for loss in the win. Smith registered five tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and 1.0 sacks for the Seawolves. Smith leads the team in sacks with 4.0 and is tied for fourth in the CAA.
- Pringle's touchdown recovery on special teams was the first of his career. Over the last two weeks, he has blocked a field goal at Towson and recovered a muffed punt for a touchdown vs. Delaware on special teams.
- Graduate punter Mitchell Wright averaged 45.57 yards per punt on seven punts, which included a career-long boot of 66 yards. Wright registered three punts of 50-plus yards (66 yards, 54 yards, 50 yards) and tallied one punt inside the 20-yard line.
- The Seawolves rushed for over 100 yards as a team for the ninth game in a row dating back to March 20, 2021, at Maine.
- Since the start of the 2011 season, Stony Brook has compiled a 48-6 record when scoring 24 or more points in a game
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"We are really proud of our guys' resiliency from the Rhode Island game, to the Towson game, to today. They came out this week feeling good about having a home game, and prepared correctly. I am just proud of them; the credit goes out to the boys on the field – 100 percent," said head coach
Chuck Priore.
"We had a number of big plays on both sides of the ball, a number of great hits defensively, a big sack, a fumble recovery, a fumble recovery off a punt. We are going to enjoy tonight and tomorrow. Richmond is a good team, so it'll be a fun game next week," said coach Priore.
NEXT UP
The Seawolves are back in action on Saturday, October 23, at 3:30 p.m., when they host Richmond on Homecoming. The game is set to air on
FloFootball. Be sure to
purchase tickets now to be a part of the action!
For an inside look at the Seawolves football program, be sure to follow them on
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