Staten Island, NY – In a wild shoot-out that featured a host of big plays and massive momentum swings, Wagner College (0-1) saw a last-ditch effort come up a tad short as Stonehill (1-1) eked out at 45-42 victory, staving off a frantic Seahawk comeback attempt in hanging on for the win.

With 48 seconds left in the game, Seahawk junior safety Frantz Placide (Miami. FL/ Archibishop Curley Notre Dame) recovered a perfectly executed onsides kick by freshman placekicker David Lopez (Plantation, FL/American Heritage), catching the high-bouncing kick in mid-stride at the Stonehill 48-yard line. Junior QB Tyler Newberry (Germantown, MD/Mercersburg Prep), who came on to replace starter Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic)in the third quarter, then executed his third straight impressive drive, moving Wagner into field goal range.

Faced with a fourth-and two on the Skyhawk 12-yard line and six seconds remaining, Lopez came on to attempt a 29-yard field goal that would have sent the game into overtime. But his attempt, from the left hash mark, missed wide right as Stonehill escaped with the win.

Placide returned the game's opening kickoff 89 yards for a TD, then turned in another brilliant special teams play, blocking a second quarter punt and scooping it up and running 17 yards to help stake Wagner to a 28-14 second quarter lead. But the Skyhawks closed the half with 21 unanswered points on a 91-yard kickoff return by Stephan Neville, a 52-yard TD run by Eddie Vachon, and a 12-yard TD connection from QB Tim Morrison to Oscar Alvarez to a seize a 35-28 halftime lead.

Stonehill scored the first 10 points of the second half to make it 31 straight points in taking a seemingly commanding 45-28 lead with 14:14 left left to play before Newberry led the Seahawks back. He guided Wagner on an eight-play, 45-yard drive capped by a three-yard TD run by RB Shane Smith (Susquehanna, PA/ Milford) with 5:28 left in the game to make it 45-35. Backed up to their own two-yard line, Newberry then marched the Seahawks 98 yards in 10 plays, highlighted by a 50-yard strike to senior WR Lon Woods (St. Petersburg, FL/ J.P. Taravella), who was tripped up at the two-yard line. Newberry then hit rangy 6-3 sophomore WR David Crawford (Carrollton, TX/ Hebron) on a fade route in the back right corner of the end zone to close the gap to 45-42 with 49 seconds left to play, setting up the game's near-dramatic ending.

In building the early 28-14 lead, Doscher connected on six of his first seven pass attempts. He caped a 12-play, 65-yard drive with a five-yard TD run to make it a 14-7 Wagner lead. Seahawk sophomore DE Quintin Anderson (Rochester, NY/ Penfield) then scooped up a fumble and and returned it 15 yards to the Skyhawk two-yard line, setting up two-yard TD plunge by sophomore FB Richard Parker (Carona, NY/ Bayside) to give Wagner a 21-7 lead.

The Seahawks, however, struggled to contain Stonehill's shifty RB Eddie Vachon, particularly in the first half, when he gained 152 yards on 15 carries, en route to a 27-carry, 191-yard afternoon. Morrison was just 5-of-13 through the air for 112 yards but two of his aerials went for TDs.

For Wagner, Newberry finished 10-of-21 passing for 156 yards, one TD and INT. Doscher, the 22-year old freshman who spent four seasons as a catcher in the Kansas City Royals farm system, completed 8-of-14 passes for 68 yards and rished for 27 yards on 10 carries. Woods had four catches for 99 yards while Crawford had four catches for 44 yards. Smith led Wagner on the ground with 34 yards rushing.

Sophomore LB Jeremiah Brown (Brooklyn, NY/ Grand Street Campus) had 14 tackles to pace the Seahawks while junior LB Keith Davis (Harrisburg, PA/ Globe Institute) and freshman LB Nick Vetterlein (Allendale, NJ/ Don Bosco Prep) recorded nine tackles apiece. Senior DT Joseph Harkins (Washington, DC/ St. John's College) had eight stops, one sack and three tackles for loss.

Wagner was without the services of a junior WR Tyrone Collins (Geneva, NY/ Geneva) and junior DB Stefen Gage (Syracuse, NY/ Henninger), each of whom sat out the game with injuries.

The Seahawks have a short turnaround as they travel to SUNY-Maritime for a 7:00 pm start on Thursday, Sept. 10. 

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