Can’t wait another week? Here’s a look back at the Top 7 plays from 2017
Do you have a guess what the #1 play will be?
Do you hear that? Off in the distance? That’s the sound of the 2018 Seawolves football season kicking off in Colorado next weekend.
We’re a week away from Stony Brook’s first game of the season against Air Force, and even though the day is close at hand, waiting an entire week to enjoy Seawolves football seems unnecessarily burdensome.
Fear not! Brookland’s here 4 u with a rundown of the seven biggest plays from last year that you can enjoy over and over again until the boys get to work on some brand new highlight reel moments.
#7: Week 11 vs. Wagner
A football field is by definition 100 yards from end zone to end zone. And yet Darin Peart found himself rushing about 125 yards on a kickoff return after Wagner scored an early field goal to go up 3–0.
Peart fielded the ball near the Stony Brook 15 yard line, broke towards the Stony Brook sideline, only to double back towards the opposite end of the field after encountering heavy traffic. By the time he made any forward progress, he had already run maybe 40 yards, and he was far from done.
He found a seam and sprinted up field, pushed out of bounds at the Wagner 14 yard line after understandably losing steam in the final few feet. Naturally, Stony Brook would take the lead moments later en route their 8th win of the season, enough to secure a playoff berth.
#6: Week 5 at William & Mary
Coming into the 2017 season, the Seawolves had at least one victory over every team in the CAA, save for one: the Tribe of William & Mary.
Stony Brook’s futility against the Tribe was especially galling given how close they had come in the past. A last second touchdown at home — during Homecoming no less — two years prior was still stuck in the craw of many Seawolves fans.
After jumping out to an early 7–0 lead, Travon Reid-Segure made sure the momentum stayed on the side of the Seawolves with a diving one-handed interception that earned him a spot on that night’s ESPN Top Plays.
#5: Week 1 at South Florida
In hindsight, the very first scoring play of the year for Stony Brook offered a promising omen of the season that was to follow.
The Seawolves played their first-ever game against a ranked FBS opponent last year, and they put the fear of god into South Florida, tying the game at 17 midway through the fourth quarter. But it was the opening minutes of this one that provided the biggest moment for the Seawolves.
After the defense kept dynamic USF quarterback Quinton Flowers pinned inside his own red zone, Andrew Trent delivered a monster block on the ensuing punt, and Auggie Contressa fell on the ball in the end zone to put the Seawolves up 7–0. That play, along with the rest of that game, effectively jump-started Stony Brook’s season.
#4: Week 10 vs. Albany
No matter how the rest of the season is going, Stony Brook’s rivalry game with Albany always adds a bit of tension to the season.
In 2017, the Seawolves welcomed Albany to LaValle in search of their 7th win of the season, an important milestone for any team hoping for a bid to the FCS playoffs. Albany, meanwhile, was sputtering despite a few big early season wins.
Fittingly, it took more than 60 minutes to decide a winner after Albany erased a 21–7 deficit with a game-tying touchdown with less than 2 minutes to play in regulation. But rather than concede the momentum to the Danes, Carbone and Jackson orchestrated a perfect drive on the opening possession of overtime to retake a 28–21 lead, and Gavin Heslop sealed the win with a deflection of a 4th down pass attempt on Albany’s subsequent drive.
#3: Week 9 at Richmond
The Seawolves jumped out to a quick 7–0 lead after recovering a botched punt return in the opening minutes of this one, but the game nevertheless was a back and forth affair for most of the afternoon.
With the lead down to 3 early in the second quarter and the offense pushing into Richmond territory, Carbone handed off the football to Stacey Bedell, who found a crease and burst downfield, dragging two Spiders defenders a full 10 yards as he bulldozed for a first down, setting up another touchdown to push the lead to 20–10.
#2: FCS Playoffs Round 1 vs. Lehigh
Stony Brook were the heavy favorites coming into their first-round game against the winners of the Patriot League, but the Mountain Hawks kept it close through much of the first half.
But even with the score knotted at 7 midway through the second quarter, Seawolves fans—to say nothing of the players themselves— regained their confidence after this play by Carbone, Nick Anderson, and Harrison Jackson.
Stony Brook would settle for a field goal on the drive, but they raced out to a 59–29 win.
#1: Week 12, at Maine
Of course it was going to be the Hail Mary.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Seawolves, sitting at 8–2, appeared to have enough of a resume already to earn an at large bid to the FCS playoffs. Still, a win would cement their place back in the postseason for the first time since 2012, and almost guarantee them a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
But for the first 58 minutes of the game, Stony Brook looked to be in a funk. The Black Bears had them on their heels for most of the afternoon, and they jumped out to a 12–0 lead in the first quarter.
Still, the Seawolves did just enough to keep Maine within arm’s reach, and on their final drive of the game, Stony Brook trailed by just 5 points with one final play to try and punch their ticket to the postseason.
Enter Joe Carbone and Harrison Jackson.
