BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Stony Brook football never trailed en route to its third straight victory, taking down Campbell, 24-17, in the 2024 CAA opener on Saturday night in North Carolina.
The Seawolves used a huge, 227-yard showing on the ground, including 179 yards from
Roland Dempster to go along with three rushing touchdowns. The Seawolves improved to 3-1 on the year and picked up their first win over a CAA foe since 2022.
Dempster led all Seawolves rushers with 179 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, averaging 5 yards per carry. Malachi Marshall finished with 157 yards through the air, completing passes to six different Seawolves' receivers. The rookie quarterback added 24 yards on the ground.
Cole Bunicci, paced all of Stony Brook's receivers in yardage, catching two passes for 35 yards. Dez Williams reeled in a team-leading four catches, totaling 27 yards. Jayden Cook and RJ Lamarre were efficient as well, finishing with more than 30 yards receiving.
The Seawolves won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while avoiding any giveaways. Stony Brook turned those takeaways into seven points. Jayson Allen and Nick Capazzola recovered fumbles and Kris Caine had 1.0 TFL and a sack in the win. Jordan Jackson secured a team-high five solo tackles, totaling six tackles. Shamoun Duncan-Niusulu and Anthony Ferrelli added five tackles while AJ Roberts and Chayce Chalmers racked up four apiece.
The Stony Brook offense did a good job extending drives, converting on 57.1 percent of third-down attempts and finishing 12-for-21. The Seawolves were also successful on their lone fourth down conversion attempt. The Seawolves took care of business in the red zone, scoring three times on three trips inside Campbell's 20-yard line.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Stony Brook scored first and opened up a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game. The Seawolves opened up the game with an 11-play, 75-yard drive bookended by a two-yard rushing touchdown by Dempster.
- Campbell fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting up Stony Brook's offense inside the 10-yard line. Dempster scored again, this time from three yards out, to put Stony Brook ahead 14-0 less than five minutes into the contest.
- Stony Brook's defense recovered a fumble and forced a pair of punts to keep Campbell off the scoreboard in the first quarter.
- The Seawolves extended their lead to 21-0 with 10:10 left in the second quarter on a Johnny Martin touchdown from a yard out. Stony Brook went 57 yards in 4:35 over the span of 10 plays to make it a three-possession game in the first half.
- Campbell got on the board with 6:06 remaining in the first half, but the Seawolves would carry a 21-7 lead into the locker room.
- The Camels scored on their first drive of the second half to make it a one-possession game.
- Stony Brook forced a three-and-out on Campbell's next possession and two more punts after that before adding to the lead late in the fourth quarter.
- The Seawolves chewed more than four minutes off the clock, ending another double-digit play drive with an Enda Kirby field goal from 39 yards out to go ahead 24-14 with 2:06 to play.
- Campbell converted on a 30-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining in the contest, but Bunicci recovered the ensuing onside kick to help secure the Seawolves third straight victory and move to 1-0 in CAA play.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook out-gained Campbell 384-336, including a 227-158 advantage on the ground.
- Stony Brook finished plus-two in the turnover battle, recovering two fumbles.
- The Seawolves scored twice in the opening five minutes of action and never trailed in the 24-17 road win over Campbell.
- Stony Brook converted 12-of-21 third downs while Campbell was successful on 4-of-10. The Seawolves also finished a perfect 1-for-1 on fourth down.
- Stony Brook won the time of possession battle, 36:39 - 23:21.
- Dempster led the way with two touchdowns and a career-high 179 yards on a career-best 36 carries. He is now tied for second in the FCS in touchdowns (6) and leads the CAA in rushing touchdowns and rushing yards per game (106.8).
- Martin tallied his first touchdown of the season.
- J. Jackson paced the defense with a team-high six tackles, one shy of his career-high.
- Duncan-Nisulu and Ferrelli each tallied five tackles in the victory.
- Capazzola and Allen both recorded their first-career fumble recoveries this evening.
- This is the best start for the Stony Brook football team since they started the 2018 season 4-1.
- This marks the first CAA victory for Stony Brook since they defeated Maine on Oct. 22, 2022.
- Stony Brook moves to 1-0 all-time against Campbell.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"First and foremost, I'm proud of our guys for getting a tough win on the road against a really good team in Campbell. We had momentum early in the game, but lost it midway through and then we found a way to finish the game. We're learning how to win close games, which I'm proud of," head coach Billy Cosh said. "We ran the ball well and controlled the game by running the ball today, which was awesome and I'm proud of that. Our defense stepped up in critical moments; they had some lapses, but they finished and played hard. I was really proud of our special teams... we had a lot of big plays in that game on special teams. I'm really proud of our team overall."
"Huge game; Morgan State is really good so we better prepare right. We need a 12th man, we need to have our fans there. We need our fan base for us to win at home here [on Saturday]," Cosh said postgame about the upcoming matchup against Morgan State at LaValle Stadium on Saturday, September 28.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook returns home to host Morgan State on Saturday, September 28. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. from LaValle Stadium with the contest streaming live on FloFootball. To purchase season, single game, mini plans or group tickets, click here or call 631-632-WOLF (9653) or email seawolvestickets@stonybrook.edu.
For an inside look at the Seawolves football program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
