STONY BROOK, N.Y. - The Stony Brook football team stormed back from a 22-7 deficit at halftime and outscored Lindenwood 29-10 in the second half to take down the Lions, 36-32, at home this evening.
Quarterback
Quinn Boyd paced the offense, tossing for 298 yards on 27-of-35 passing with two touchdowns through the air. He also ran for 18 yards and a touchdown in the victory.
Wide receiver
Seth Sweitzer caught 12 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown in his first game on Long Island.
Keiden Gutierrez caught a touchdown for the second straight game,
Rayden Aphayvong made his presence felt at tight end with two catches for 35 yards, while
DJ Linkins caught four passes for 24 yards. Nine different players had a reception in the victory.
Joseph Garcia led the way on the defensive side, finishing with a team-high 13 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss.
Anthony Ferrelli registered nine tackles, while
Lance Byndon had 3.0 tackles for loss. Twenty-four different Seawolves recorded a tackle this evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Lindenwood received the ball to start the game this evening. The road team went down the field on nine plays for 73 yards before the Seawolves held the Lions at the two-yard line with a tackle by Bueno, keeping the road team to a 3-0 advantage with 10:14 left in the first quarter.
- Hester had six yards rushing on the first drive before Stony Brook was forced to punt on a three-and-out.
- The Lions used a 56-yard punt return to start with the ball at the Stony Brook 25-yard line on their next possession. On the second play of the drive, Lindenwood rushed in for a 24-yard touchdown to take a 10-0 lead.
- Boyd gave the Seawolves their first first down of the night with a 13-yard rush to start the drive with less than eight minutes left in the quarter. A few plays later, Boyd connected with Gutierrez for a 28-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 10-7.
- Lindenwood started the second quarter with a 26-yard rushing touchdown, taking a 17-7 advantage.
- After a punt by Stony Brook, Lindenwood started its next drive on its own 35-yard line with 10:55 left in the half. The Lions connected on a 50-yard field goal to take a 20-7 lead and went up 22-7 on the Seawolves' next drive after a mishandled snap on a punt allowed Lindenwood to secure a safety with 5:00 left in the half.
- Both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the first half, keeping the score at 22-7 heading into the second half.
- Crawford began the second half with a 43-yard punt return, putting the ball at midfield. However, a penalty by the Seawolves pushed the ball back to the 43-yard line and ultimately forced Stony Brook to punt at 13:23 in the third quarter.
- Beginning their next drive at their own 25-yard line, Lindenwood got the ball to its 48-yard line before a pass breakup on third and long by Clinckscales forced the Lions to punt the ball away to the Stony Brook 18-yard line.
- Stony Brook got a seven-yard rush by Hester, followed by a nine-yard pass to Dely for a first down. Back-to-back 15-yard penalties on the Lions advanced the ball to Lindenwood's 29-yard line. Boyd and Sweitzer capped off the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass to cut the score to 22-14.
- The Lions completed a 40-yard pass that put the ball at the Stony Brook 35-yard line on their ensuing drive. The road team would complete the drive with a 38-yard field goal, taking a 25-14 lead.
- Crawford again set the Seawolves up with great field position as he returned a kickoff 53 yards to the Lindenwood 35-yard line. On the first play of the drive with less than five minutes left in the third, Boyd connected with Coney for 17 yards to put Stony Brook in the red zone. However, the Seawolves were held to a 33-yard field goal by Mannino to make the score 25-17 in favor of Lindenwood with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter.
- The Seawolves defense went right back to work and forced a three-and-out to get the ball at the 33-yard line.
- Following back-to-back first downs by Stony Brook that pushed the ball to the 48-yard line, the home team came out to start the fourth quarter with a 52-yard rushing touchdown by Hester to cut the score to 25-23. The Seawolves were unsuccessful on the two-point try, leaving it a two-point game.
- Lindenwood responded with a five-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in the Lions taking a 32-23 lead with less than 13 minutes remaining.
- Sweitzer and Boyd connected for 55 yards on the first play of the next drive, and Hester rushed in for a five-yard touchdown to make the score 32-30.
- The Stony Brook defense got a three-and-out on its next turn on the field, giving Stony Brook the ball back with 9:13 on the clock. Boyd was dealing to start the drive, connecting with Sweitzer and Linkins for a combined 25 yards that brought the ball to Lindenwood's 33-yard line. On fourth and five at the 37-yard line, Boyd connected with Aphayvong for a first down before Boyd ran into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown that gave the Seawolves a 36-32 lead.
- The Stony Brook defense came up with a crucial fourth-down stop at the SBU 30-yard line following a tackle for loss by Barrett to give the ball back to Stony Brook with 4:24 remaining.
- Stony Brook wasted the clock on its next drive, leaving Lindenwood with just 1:03 left at its own two-yard line. The Seawolves got a sack and back-to-back pass breakups to secure the victory at home.
STATS AND NOTES
- Boyd had 298 yards through the air and 18 yards on the ground, accumulating three touchdowns total. In his first two games, Boyd has thrown for 621 yards with five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.
- Hester had two rushing touchdowns this evening, moving his total for the season to three. He posted 95 yards on 14 carries, marking his second consecutive game to start the season with at least 90 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
- Sweitzer becomes the 21st player in program history to reach 150 receiving yards, catching 12 passes for 157 yards. He also grabbed a touchdown, his second of the season.
- Gutierrez had his second consecutive game with a touchdown, finishing with two catches for 29 yards.
- Garcia posted a career-high 13 tackles in the victory.
- Crawford had three kick returns for 130 yards, averaging 43 yards per kick with a long of 53 yards.
- Mannino made his first field goal of the season, connecting from 33 yards.
- Stony Brook had 298 passing yards compared to 209 by Lindenwood this evening.
- The Stony Brook defense recorded 83 tackles, including 12 for loss, while Lindenwood tallied 59 tackles and just three for loss.
- The Seawolves overcame a 22-7 deficit at halftime.
- Stony Brook owns a 7-6 record in its last 13 home openers, dating back to 2014.
- The Seawolves are 6-1 at home dating back to last season, winning six straight.
- The Seawolves are 10-3 at LaValle Stadium during the Cosh era.
- Stony Brook is now 1-1 all-time against Lindenwood.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
UP NEXT
The Stony Brook football team is back on the road next weekend as they head to Indianapolis to battle Ball State University. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
