After jumping out to an early 10-0 lead, the Stony Brook football team allowed 17 unanswered points as No. 8/9 Rhode Island came back to defeat the Seawolves, 31-17, at the first home game of the season at LaValle Stadium on Sept. 6.
Roland Dempster led the Seawolves’ offense, recording 201 total yards. He rushed for 167 yards on 28 carries, averaging six yards per carry, and added a touchdown. He also caught two passes for 34 yards. Quarterback Chris Zellous made his first start for the Seawolves and completed 12-of-20 passes for 137 yards, while also rushing for 83 yards on 20 carries and scoring his first career touchdown with the team.
Cole Bunicci paced the receiving corps with two catches for 55 yards, including a 48-yard reception—the longest play of the season for Stony Brook. Marqeese Dietz led the team with four receptions for 28 yards, while Dez Williams added three catches for 19 yards. Jayden Flood-Brown also recorded his first career reception.
Defensively, Franco Milano recorded a key field goal block. Chayce Chalmers tallied a team-high 10 tackles, with linebackers Aidan Kaler and Anthony Ferrelli each recording eight. In the secondary, Alhaji Kamara and Bryson Parker each totaled five tackles and a pass breakup.
On special teams, punter Clayton Taylor recorded four punts for 158 yards, averaging 39.5 yards per punt and placing one inside the 20-yard line. Enda Kirby connected on his first field goal of the season from 22 yards, tying for fourth-most in program history alongside Michael Soto. The Seawolves also missed a field goal attempt and had a muffed snap on another attempt.
Head coach Billy Cosh was clearly disappointed. “We lost the game — we didn’t play good enough, didn’t coach good enough and it starts with our coaching. We have a lot of things to clean up. We have to play better, our standards have to better and we’ll improve from here,” he said in a postgame interview.
The Seawolves are back in action next weekend as they return to LaValle Stadium to host the Fordham Rams at 3:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on FloCollege and admission is free to all undergraduate students. Stony Brook will also be celebrating its Kids Day/High School Band Day.
