LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 14, 2006) – Two costly turnovers and a blocked kick cost the Saint Francis football team in its return to DeGol Field on Saturday afternoon as Stony Brook scored 16 points off those three plays to defeat the Red Flash 30-20 in Northeast Conference action.
Saint Francis (1-6, 0-3 NEC) held the Seawolves scoreless for the entire third quarter, and pulled to within 16-13 on an Anthony Doria (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton La Salle) 23-yard touchdown pass to Antoine Rivera (Willingboro, N.J. / Willingboro) with 6:28 left in the third quarter.
However, Stony Brook (3-4, 3-0 NEC) scored the game’s next 14 points to pull away, before the Red Flash scored a touchdown with 21 seconds remaining. An onside kick attempt was recovered by the Seawolves to seal Saint Francis’ fate.
Doria had another strong day for the Red Flash, completing 21-of-34 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the second straight game he has passed for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns since beginning the season without doing so in the team’s first five contests.
Senior wide receiver Michael Caputo (Bethel Park, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) caught 10 passes for 87 yards and a score. He now has 222 career catches, one shy of teammate Luke Palko (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) for the Saint Francis and Northeast Conference all-time record.
Senior running back Todd Harris (Duquesne, Pa. / Duquesne) carried the ball 31 times for 107 yards and a score. It was the fourth 100-yard game of the season for Harris, and 12th of his career. Freshman wide receiver Jared Colmer (Duncansville, Pa. / Hollidaysburg) had the first four catches of his career for a total of 45 yards.
For the Seawolves, Josh Dudash connected on 22-of-27 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns. He hit Dwayne Eley with eight passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. The Red Flash held Stony Brook’s offense to just 108 yards on the ground.
The Seawolves took the opening kickoff and marched to the Red Flash 48-yard line, but Saint Francis came up with a big third down stop to force a punt.
However, the Red Flash would fumble the ball at their own 32-yard line, setting up Stony Brook’s first touchdown of the game for a 7-0 deficit with 10:15 left in the first quarter.
Both offenses sputtered for the next 19 minutes until the Seawolves connected on a Dudash to Eley 34-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead with 6:02 remaining in the first half.
Doria and the Saint Francis offense responded with a 9-play, 73-yard scoring drive that wrapped up with a 3-yard run by Harris. However, junior placekicker Adam Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic) had his extra point attempt blocked and returned for a safety to give Stony Brook a 16-6 edge heading into halftime. It was the first missed extra point of Sciulli’s career after hitting the first 69.
The Red Flash opened thed. second half scoring with Doria’s 23-yard strike to Rivera with 6:28 to play in the third quarter, making it 16-13 Stony Brook.
But the Seawolves defense buckled down and kept Saint Francis off the scoreboard, while building a 30-14 lead.
Doria connected with Caputo with a seven-yard touchdown strike with 21 seconds remaining to end the scoring at 30-20.
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