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Loretto, PA – Loretto, PA – Senior quarterback Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic) was an efficient 12-of-17 passing for 163 yards and three touchdowns, junior running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Milford Academy) added 93  on 19 carries and the Seahawks never trailed in posting their fourth consecutive win by a 31-24 count over Saint Francis (PA).
 
By winning its fourth straight NEC game, Wagner, a charter member of the NEC Football Conference which was formed in 1996, will now gun for its first-ever five-game conference winning streak. The quest for this milestone will take place on Saturday, October 27 vs. Robert Morris on Homecoming Day. Kickoff at Hameline Field at Wagner College Stadium is set for 1:00 pm.
 
With the victory, Wagner improves to 4-3 overall, 4-1 in the Northeast Conference (NEC), maintaining their stranglehold on second place in the league standings behind 4-0 Albany, which was idle this week. The last time Wagner jumped out to a 4-1 NEC start was in 2009 when the Green & White started 5-1 in the league before dropping their final two NEC contests. The Red Flash, meanwhile, fall to 3-5 overall, 2-3 in NEC play.
 
The current four-game winning streak is Wagner's second four-game skein in its 19-year NEC football history. Wagner also accomplished this feat in 2009 and has, on four occasions, put together three-game NEC winning streaks; in 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2011.
 
The last time Wagner owned a five-game winning streak overall was in 1994. The last time the Seahawks won six or more consecutive games was in 1988. That season, the Seahawks sandwiched eight straight wins in between losing the season opener and dropping the season finale.
 
Neither team committed a turnover on the afternoon in a game that saw the Red Flash out-gain Wagner by a 196-174 margin on the ground and by an overall margin of 353-337.   
 
Saint Francis received a productive day from quarterback John Kelly, a mobile signal-caller in the same mold as Doscher, who rang up 157 yards through the air while adding 109 yards on the ground . Wagner handed the Red Flash their first loss of the season at DeGol Field and their first Nov. 5, 2011 when Saint Francis fell to Monmouth 48-45.
 
Defensively for Wagner, the Seahawks were led by the play of five seniors who recorded seven tackles or more. Strong safety Sidiq Soulemana (Bronx, NY/ Hudson Valley CC) led the way with 12 tackles, including four solo stops while linebacker #C.O. Prime# (Laval, Quebec/ The Kent School) and defensive end Jerome Williams (Burlington, NJ/ Holy Cross/ UConn) had nine and eight tackles, respectively. Finishing with seven tackles apiece were free safety Patrick O'Connor (Leominster, MA/ Leominster) and Torian Phillips (Staten Island, NY/ Port Richmond/ Syracuse).
 
Saint Francis had the ball with 4:28 remaining in regulation and down by just a 31-24 count. But on a critical third-and-seven play, blitzing senior linebacker Theodore Clohessy (Staten Island, NY/ St. Joseph By the Sea) turned in the defensive play of the game, sacking Kelly for an 11-yard loss, forcing the Red Flash  to punt on fourth and 18, Following the punt, Doscher shook loose on a 12-yard first-down run which sealed the win as it allowed the Seahawks to run out the clock.
 
While Wagner was in control afternoon, the feisty Red Flash answered nearly all of the salvos delivered by the Green & White. Wagner jumped on top 7-0 when an 18-yard pass from Doscher to sophomore wide receiver Anthony Carrington (Toms River, NJ/ Toms River South) keyed an 11-play, 69-yard drive that resulted in a 10-yard Williams touchdown jaunt.
 
Following an exchange of punts, Saint Francis (PA) tied it at 7-7 when quarterback John Kelly hit wide receiver A.J. Alexander on a 60-yard score.
 
Wagner struck back quickly, buoyed by a 61-yard kickoff return by sophomore Otis Wright (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Dillard). Originally, the Seahawks were set to take over on their own 15 but an offside penalty on the Red Flash forced a re-kick and Wright, who entered the game ranked seventh in the nation in kickoff return yard average (30.2) and tops in the NEC,  took advantage. Wright's return gave the Seahawks a first down at the Red Flash 28 and Wagner went up top on first down with Doscher hitting senior wide receiver David Crawford (Carrollton, TX/ Hebron) on the first play of the drive, 28-yarder, to make it 14-7.
 
Senior kicker David Lopez (Plantation, FL/ Heritage) would later nail a 34-yard field goal with 1:37 go in half to extend the Seahawk lead to 17-7. Saint Francis, with Kelly executing the two-minute drill to perfect, quickly moved down the field to set up a Josh Thiel 43-yard field goal as time expired in the half to make it a 17-10 lead at halftime.
 
The Green & White came out of the gate hitting on all cylinders in half number two, as Doscher led a crisp seven-play, 73-yard march that he capped by hitting a wide open Williams in the left flat for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead. Once again, Wright was in the middle of the action, this time bursting free on a 31-yard run down to the six which set up the Doscher to Williams score.
 
Undaunted, the Red Flash put together a 10-play, 77-yard drive as Keion Wade finished it off with 6:50 left in the third quarter with a 12-yard TD scamper to make it 24-17.
 
The game's back and forth nature continued as Wagner responded with its longest drive of the season, a mammoth nine-play, 90-yard march that took 5:39 off the clock and resulted in an 12-yard touchdown pass from Doscher to senior wide receiver Darnell Sapps (Syracuse, NY/ Corcoran). In hauling in the first TD of his career, Sapps gave Wagner a 31-17 lead with 1:06 to go in the third.
 
Highlights in the drive included a 20-yard Williams reception followed later by by a 28-yard grab by Crawford. Junior wide receiver Cody Morgan (Boston, MA/ Boston College HS) also got into the act, catching a nine-yard pass over the middle, in traffic, on third-and-five from the Saint Francis 25, which kept the drive alive and made it first and- 10 at the 16. Three plays later, Doscher hit Sapps to make it a two-score game.
 
Trailing 31-17, Kelly and the Red Flash answered back with a 12-play, 81-yard drive that culminated in a seven-yard Kelly run to make it 31-24 with 10:30 left in the gameThe defenses took over from there as the two teams were forced to punt twice over the next four possessions. The final punt of the game was forced on the Clohessy sack with 90 seconds left.
 
NOTES :
Wagner Guns For First-Ever 5-Game NEC Winning Streak
Wagner, a charter member of the NEC in 1996, will gun for its first-ever five-game conference winning streak when the Seahawks play Robert Morris on Saturday, October 27 on Homecoming Day. Kickoff at Hameline Field at Wagner College Stadium is set for 1:00 pm.
 
Hameline 7-3 in Following Bye Weeks
The victory over Saint Francis (PA) improved Wagner's record to 7-3 in games following a bye week during the Walt Hameline era. The only time Wagner had two byes in the same season was during the 1987 team's march to the Division III National Title. The biggest gap between byes is 16 years (between 1989 and 2007). There have been only three times under Hameline when Wagner has had a bye in consecutive weeks (1982-83, 1986-87, 2011, 2012).
 
Wagner Following Bye Weeks Under Walt Hameline
1982    Wagner 16, Springfield 14
1983    St. John's 35, Wagner 29
1986    Wagner 31, Ramapo 3
1987    Wagner 16, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 14
            Wagner 27, Western Connecticut St. 3
1989    C.W. Post 31, Wagner 16
2007    Wagner, 18 Sacred Heart 15
2009    Wagner 49, Sacred Heart 28
2011    Duquesne 37, Wagner 21
2012    Wagner 31, Saint Francis (PA) 24
 
Doscher Continues to Make Mark in Record Book
Against Saint Francis (PA), Nick Doscher became just the second Seahawk to enter the 5,000-yard passing club as has now thrown for 5,153 career yards, second all-time behind Sciarra who amassed a staggering 5,902 passing yards in just two seasons (2004-05) as a Seahawk.
 
Nick Doscher is also second behind Sciarra (473) in career completions with 386. Already far and away the school-record holder in total offense, Doscher annexed the 7,000-yard plateau vs. the Red Flash, upping his career total to 7,131 yards. In his career, Doscher has accounted for 63 touchdowns, 37 by air and another 26 by ground. In addition, his 1,978 yards rushing ranks him ninth all-time.
 
Nick Doscher's three touchdowns passes moves him closer to third place on the Seahawk all-time list. The Staten Island native entered the game in fourth-place on the Wagner career list with 37 TD passes and is now just one behind Aaron Smith, who tossed 38 TD aerials from 1999-2001. Don Cavalli (1958-61) is the Seahawk all-time leader in TD passes with 46, followed by John Sciarra's 40 (2004-05), Smith's 38 and Doscher's 37.
 
Williams Keeps on Chuggin
With his 93 yards on the ground, Dominique Williams increased his season total to 672 yards. Williams entered the game fifth in career rushing and increased his total to 2,652 yards, narrowing the gap between himself and fourth-place Kito Lockwood (1992-95), who gained 3,156 yards. By finishing seven yards shy of the century mark vs. Saint Francis, Williams has now rushed for 100 yards or more in 16-of-26 career games. He also saw his 100-yard streak end at three games. For the season, Williams has eclipsed the 100-yard plateau in four out of seven games.