Box Score FINAL STATS

REPLAY OF GAME

New Britain, CT -  Junior running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Milford Academy) rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns while senior quarterback Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic) added 65 yards on 11 carries to lead Wagner to a convincing 31-13 road victory over Central Connecticut in Northeast Conference (NEC) play.
 
In notching their first victory of the 2012 season, the Seahawks improve to 1-3 on the season while evening their NEC record at 1-1. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, remain winless in falling to 0-4 overall, 0-2 in league play.
 
After being held below 100 yards rushing in consecutive losses to Georgetown (9/8) and Monmouth (9/15), Williams and the Seahawk offensive line returned to form as the 5-9, 200-pound speedster eclipsed the century mark for the 14^th time in 23 games.
 
Senior linebacker C.O. Prime (Laval, Quebec/ Ontario), senior strong safety Sidiq Soulemana (Bronx, NY/ Hudson Valley CC) and senior linebacker Theodore Clohessy (Staten Island, NY/ St. Joseph By the Sea) led the defensive charge with 10 tackles apiece with Soulemana and Clohessy adding an interception and a sack, respectively.

Yet another senior, placekicker David Lopez (Plantation, FL/ American Heritage) also made his mark by booting a 51-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to extend Wagner's lead to 10-6
 
Wagner outgained Central Connecticut 383-330, including a 271-165 advantage on the ground.

The Seahawks got on the board first when Doscher capped a nine-play, 58-yard drive by scrambling over the right side, absorbing a bit hit in the process, in finishing a three-yard touchdown run with 2:49 left in the first half.
 
The game's first scoring drive began on the Seahawk 42 which is where sophomore cornerback Jarrett Dieudonne (Fort Lauderdale/ Dillard) and freshman linebacker Stephon Font-Toomer (Bethlehem, PA/ Liberty) surged into the backfield to combine on a hit on RB Rob Hollomon for a loss of one yard on fourth-and-three.
 
The big defensive play was the second fourth-down stop made by the Seahawk defense in as many possessions. One possession earlier, sophomore DB Anthony Emmanuele (DePew, NY/ DePew) and Clohessy got penetration and stoned CCSU quarterback Andrew Clements for no gain on fourth-and-two at the Wagner 22 after CCSU head coach Jeff McInerney eschewed a 39-yard field goal attempt.
 
Following Doscher's touchdown, the Blue Devils quickly answered when Clements hit WR Deven Williams on a 38-yard bullet over the middle on the first play of the ensuing drive, giving CCSU a first down at the Wagner 38. Three plays later, Clements found WR Anthony Julbes on a 17-yard score.
 
Okoye then got a paw on Juan Duque's extra-point try as Wagner clung to a 7-6 lead.
 
That's the way the score stood until Wagner took over on downs at its own 30 with 49 seconds left in the half. Doscher hit fifth-year senior WR David Crawford (Carrollton, TX/ Hebron) on a 24-yard on the first play of the drive. Facing fourth-and-three at the Blue Devil 39, the Seahawks called a timeout to set up a short dart from Doscher to sophomore TE Bryant Watts (Burlington, NJ/ Florence) for a first down at the Blue Devil 34.
 
With three seconds to go in the half, after each team called a time out, senior placekicker David Lopez (Plantation, FL/ Heritage) calmly drilled a 51-yard field goal, the second-longest of his career, to give Wagner a 10-6 halftime lead.
 
Wagner extended that lead on a Wright 27-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter as the 5-10, 180-pounder shed multiple would-be tacklers. Wright's hard-charging score put a cap on a well-executed 10-play, 75-yard march. Williams built the lead to 24-6 later in the third quarter with a two-yard TD run.

Clements cut the Seahawks' advantage to 24-13 with a two-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter but Williams dashed any hope for a home team comeback less than two minutes later when he took off on a 37-yard dash to paydirt to make it a 31-13 score.

The Seahawks are next in action on Saturday, September 29 when the Green & White host Bryant in a 1:00 pm kickoff on Family Weekend.

NOTES
After being held below 100 yards rushing in consecutive losses to Georgetown (9/8) and Monmouth (9/15), Williams and the Seahawk offensive line returned to form as the 5-9, 200-pound speedster eclipsed the century mark for the 14^th time in 23 career games.
 
FIRST WIN AT CCSU SINCE 2000
Wagner's 31-13 win over Central Connecticut broke a five-game road losing streak to the Blue Devils. The last time the Seahawks posted a victory at Arute Field was on October 14, 2000 when Wagner came away with a 24-7 victory.
 
WRIGHT ON THE BOARD AGAIN
Sophomore running back Otis Wright (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Dillard) scored his first career touchdown  from scrimmage when he broke multiple tackles en route to a 27-yard third quarter jaunt that gave the Seahawks a 17-6 lead. It was the second touchdown in as many weeks as Wright had an 89-yard kickoff return vs. Monmouth last week which helped him garner NEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
 
BEST RUSHING DAY SINCE NOV. 12, 2011
The 271-yard rushing output by Wagner vs. Central Connecticut were a season high and the most by the Seahawks since November 12, 2011 when they rumbled for 272 yards on the ground in a 38-17 win at Robert Morris.
 
Huge third down completion from Doscher to Jr. WR Cody Morgan along the left sideline gave Wagner a first and goal at Central 10. After William gained seven yards up the gut on first and goal, Doscher, on second and goal at the three, scrambled to his right and then tucked it under and barreled into right side of end zone to put Seahawks up 7-0.
 
FIRST-TIME STARTERS: Senior DE Jerome Williams (Burlington, NJ/ Holy Cross), a transfer from UConn, was among the four Wagner players who made their first career starts at Central Connecticut. Also in the starting lineup defensively for the first time was true freshman nose tackle Fidel Okoye (Williamstown, NJ/ Williamstown), who made his presence felt by blocking a first-quarter extra point. On offense, true freshman Brus Palaj (Staten Island, NY/ Monsignor Farrell) made his first career start at right tackle while sophomore RB Otis Wright (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Dillard) started for the first time at halfback.
 
PHILLIPS MAKES DEBUT
 Senior cornerback Torian Phillips (Staten Island, NY/ Port Richmond) saw his first action of the season and got the start at cornerback. The 5-9, 180-pound Syracuse transfer was credited with five tackles, including two solo.
 
HAPPY HOMECOING FOR MASELLA
Associate Head Coach, Staten Island native and former Seahawk standout (1978-81) Tom Masella served as head coach of Central Connecticut for two seasons. In 2004, he guided the Blue Devils to an 8-2 record, tying for first place in the NEC with a 6-1 record. Following that season, Masella was named NEC Coach of the Year. In 2005, he led Central to a 7-4 mark before taking over as head coach at Fordham where he led the Rams from 2006-2011.