FINAL STATS

North Easton, MA – The Wagner College football team took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter and led Stonehill virtually the entire game until the Skyhawks mounted a 20-play, 80-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to pull out a 14-13 win in the season opener for both schools at W.B. Mason Stadium. 

The mammoth game-winning drive, which elapsed 10:32 off the clock, was capped by a quarterback sneak by Cruz Parsons with 1:12 left to play. Brendan Gorey's PAT gave Stonehill its first lead of the game and defensive back Stephen Neville sealed the win by intercepting a “Hail Mary” pass by Seahawk QB Adam Farnsworth (North Ogden, UT/Snow Community College) with 10 seconds to play. 

Wagner looked sharp early, marching 53 yards on nine plays in 4:56 in jumping out to the 7-0 lead. Junior RB Shane Smith (Susquehanna, PA/Milford Academy), who began his career at the University of Central Florida, busted his way loose on an impressive 13-yard jaunt on a fourth-and-three situation.
 
Stonehill, a Division II program coached by Staten Island native and Curtis High graduate Robert Talley, countered with 4:31 left in the first half on a 49-yard hook-up from Parsons to RB Eddie Vachon to knot the game at 7-7. However, an uncontested Vachon dove into the end zone while scoring the TD and was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that was enforced on the ensuing kickoff. 

A fine runback from Frantz Placide (Miami, FL/ Archbishop Curley Notre Dame) gave Wagner a first down at the Stonehill 36 yard line. Freshman RB Prince Young (Neptune, NJ/ Fork Union Academy) then scampered 24 yards for a TD to cap the two-play, 36-yard drive but the Seahawks muffed the extra point try, leaving them with a 13-7 lead. Wagner dodged a bullet in the final seconds of the opening half when Stonehill's Torrey Price returned a punt for a TD that was nullified by a blocking in the back penalty.

The second half was a defensive-minded affair as the teams combined for seven punts with the only points scored by either side coming on a Stonehill's game-winning march. In the second half, Wagner's five drives ended with four punts and an interception as the Seahawks did not cross the 50-yard line. 

Bright spots for Wagner included the fine running of its first-year backfield tandem of Young (11 carries, 77 yards) and Smith (15 carries, 70 yards) while Farnsworth was on target early and wound up 13-of-21 for 76 yards. The transfer from the University of Iowa, playing his first game as a Seahawk, was under constant pressure the entire second half and his excellent mobility and awareness allowed him to be sacked on just two occasions. 

Senior LB Jason Haskins (Jackson, NJ/Matawan) led the Seahawk defensive effort with 10 tackles while cornerback Mika Padah (Kamuela, HI /Saddleback College) and safety Tavares Lee (Miami, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) registered nine tackles apiece. Senior DE Robert Brown (Rome, NY/ Rome Free Academy), a third-team All-American last season who was fourth in the nation in sacks (10), picked up where he left off by recording three sacks for minus 13 yards. 

Stonehill RB Jeff Payne rumbled for 144 yards on 29 carries while the scrambling and opportunistic Parsons was 5-of-7 through the air for 80 yards. Stonehill out-gained Wagner 299-224 and, thanks in large measure to the final drive, had a time of possession advantage of 34:33-25:27. 

Wagner had not lost a season opener since 2001, hosts Iona on Homecoming Day on Sat., Sept. 13. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm.