FINAL STATS
Fairfield, CT – Wagner drove 80 yards for a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half to draw to within 21-20 with 8:21 left in the third quarter but Sacred Heart responded with three scores of its own to pull away for a 42-20 win.
With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 8-1 on the season, 4-1 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Seahawks fall to 3-6 on the year, 1-4 in the NEC.
Both offenses were sharp in the first half. Sacred Heart took the opening kickoff and drove 62 yards on 11 plays with QB Dale Fink hitting WR Jared Kemp on a three-yard TD pass to give the Pioneers a 7-0 lead. Wagner responded with a 10-play, 67-yard drive, culminating in a 25-yard field goal by senior Eric Ortiz (Oceanside, CA/ Vista) to make it 7-3.
Fink, who entered the game completing better than 70% of his passes, then engineered a nine-play, 68-yard march, capped by a 13-yard TD toss to WR Steve Tedesco to put the Pioneers up 14-3. A 41-yard return on the ensuing kickoff by sophomore Tyrone Collins (Geneva, NY/ Geneva) gave Wagner the ball at midfield. Junior QB Adam Farnsworth (North Ogden, UT/ Univ. of Iowa) then guided Wagner on a crisp seven-play, 50-yard drive that took just 2:42 and culminated in a 20-yard TD strike from junior Farnsworth to sophomore TE Morgan Mizell (New Rochelle, NY/ Fordham Prep) that made it 14-10.
With 7:28 left in the half, Ortiz drilled a 33-yard field goal to draw the Seahawks to within 14-13. Fink then marched the Pioneers 70 yards on 10 plays, hitting Tedesco on a one-yard TD pass with just 25 seconds left in the half. Giving Sacred Heart a 21-13 halftime lead. Wagner then drew first blood in the second half, with junior RB Shane Smith (Susquehanna, PA/ Milford) taking it over from the one-yard line to cap the 80-yard march which made it a 21-20 win.
After Sacred Heart went up 28-20 on a 21-yard connection from Fink to WR Tony Patterson, the Pioneers broke the game open when DB Rishard Brown intercepted a Farnsworth path and raced up the left sideline for a 51-yard TD return, staking Sacred Heart to a 35-20 lead, The Seahawk defense then forced three turnovers, on interceptions by sophomore DBs Frantz Placide (Miami, FL/ Archbishop Curly Notre Dame and Ryan Pentz (Sykesville MD/ Century) and a fumble recovery by freshman DL John Kinzel (Red Bank, NJ/ Red Bank Catholic). But the Pioneer defense rose to the occasion each time in limiting Wagner to 134 yards in the second half.
Farnsworth, who was seeing his first action since suffering an injury vs. Central Connecticut St. on Oct. 4, was under duress by Sacred Heart's aggressive defense throughout and wound up 10-of-25 passing for 122 yards, one TD, one INT and was sacked twice. Smith gained 106 yards on 18 carries while freshman RB Prince Young (Neptune, NJ/ Fork Union) added 81 yards on 19 carries.
Defensively, senior LB Jason Haskins (Cliffwood Beach, NJ/ Kean Univ.) had a game-high 13 tackles while junior LB Olatunde Ogunlana (Staten Island, NY/ Tottenville) and sophomore DB Stefen Gage (Syracuse, NY/ Henninger) added nine stops apiece.
For Sacred Heart, senior RB Evin Jones rumbled for 170 yards on 29 carries while Fink was 19-of-31 passing for just 136 yards, but did throw for four TDs. The ultra-accurate Fink had not been sacked a single time in Sacred Heart's first eight games but the Seahawk defense was able to get to him two times this evening. Fink's favorite target was Patterson, who snared six balls for 64 yards. Defensively, LBs Rich Marrone and Brian Flumere each recorded eight tackles to pace the Pioneers.
Sacred Heart held a slight 303-299 edge in total yards and held a 23-18 advantage in first downs.
Wagner is next in action on Saturday. November 8 when the Seahawks host Duquesne on Senior Day. Kickoff is set for Nov. 8.
