Pictured Above: Senior wide receiver/punt return specialist Andre Yevchinecz returns punt 77 yards for a touchdown
(photo by Dave Saffran)

Staten Island Advance Story (By Jim Waggoner; Photo Gallery by Hilton Flores) 

Video Highlights / Post-Game Press Conference / Coach Houghtaling One-on-One Interview (with Pete Mundo)

Staten Island, NY – Wagner excelled in all three phases of the game on a stifling hot afternoon at Hameline Field, as the Seahawks amassed 239 yards through the air, 125, more on the ground, and returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown while allowing Concordia to gain just 116 yards of total offense, en route to a dominating 38-0 victory.
 
In jumping out to the its first 2-0 start since 2006, the Seahawks now have a bye week before traveling to BCS member Boston College on September 24. With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 1-1.
 
Junior quarterback Alex Thomson (Keyport, NJ/ Keyport) completed 18-of-27 passes in accounting for all of Wagner's 239 aerial yards (all career highs) junior running back Denzel Knight (Rochester, NY / Salisbury School) surpassed the century mark for the second straight game in rushing for 112 yards, while senior Andre Yevchinez (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) delivered his first career punt return for a touchdown, a nifty 77-yard effort up the left sideline in the second quarter.
 
Today's 38-0 win is Wagner's first shutout since a 20-0 blanking of Robert Morris on November 8, 2014.
 
Wagner jumped on top quickly in this one when Knight raced 71 yards for a touchdown on the game's second play from scrimmage. That's the way the score stood until Yevchinecz received a punt at the Wagner 33, made several defenders miss early, before ambling his way up the left sideline for the 77-yard score that extended the Seahawks' lead to 14-0 with 7:07 remaining in the first half.

After the Seahawks' defense forced the Cardinals into a three-and-out, Wagner put together a crisp eight-play, 62-yard drive, keyed by a 41-yard completion from Thomson to junior wide receiver John Williams (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township/Lackawanna CC) that gave the Green & White a first-and-goal at the Concordia four-yard line. Two plays later, senior running back Matthias McKinnnon (Albany, NY / Bishop Maginn / Jireh Prep [NC]) bulled his way into the end zone over right tackle in extending the Seahawks' bulge to 21-0.
 
With Concordia backed up deep in its own end following an 11-yard loss on a bad snap, Wagner wisely used all three of its timeouts in trying to preserve time. After taking over at the Cardinals; 28 following a short punt, the Green & White covered the 28 yards in five plays with Thomson delivering a dart to Williams in the end zone on a 15-yard TD strike to with just four seconds left in the half to make it a 28-0 game at the intermission. The Seahawks received a break on this drive when Concordia was called for offside while Wagner was in the process of missing a 37-yard field goal, which gave the drive new life.
 
The only scoring in the third quarter came on a 37-yard field goal by senior James Cooper (Linwood, NJ / Mainland Regional/ Temple) that extended the Seahawks' lead to 31-0. The final score of the game came with 8:25 left to play when Thomson capped a six-play, 65-yard drive with an 11-yard TD toss to sophomore wide receiver Willie Dale (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) which fashioned the final score at 38-0.

"I thought we did some good things in all three areas – offense, defense and special teams," said second-year head coach Jason Houghtaling. "As was the case last week, our guys continue to play hard. Obviously Denzel's (Knight) big run got us off to a good early start. While Alex (Thomson) put up some good numbers, I think if you ask our guys, a lot of them would say they could have done some things better out there. Defensively, we rotated a lot of different guys in there, I think we played six different outside linebackers, and we did some really good things I though on that side of the ball.
 
"Special teams, I think we did a solid job there also," Houghtaling continued. "Of course, Yevy's (Andre Yevchinecz) return was a great play, he received some nice blocking there and did the rest himself. But also, we kicked a field goal, our kickoffs were good and Bryan Rafano did a really nice job punting the ball (45.4-yard average, career-long 62-yarder). So, overall, I'm very pleased heading into the bye week. These guys continue to play for another, complement one another, and are playing hard." 

As he did in last week's 38-16 season-opening win over Saint Anselm, when he had 10 tackles, sophomore linebacker Quintin Hampton (Moultrie, GA / Colquitt County / UCF) paced Wagner this afternoon with seven stops. Recording five tackles apiece for the active and aggressive Seahawks' defense were fifth-year senior linebacker Najee Harris (Norristown, PA/Norristown), sophomore linebacker Santon Graham (Arlington, VA / Bishop O'Connell / Fork Union Military Academy), senior defensive end Jordan Baskerville (West Point, NY / James I. O'Neill / Milford Academy) and senior linebacker D.J. Paul (Dix Hills, NY / Half Hollows East). Recording one sack apiece for the Green & White were Graham, freshman linebacker Cameron Gill (Douglasville, GA / Chapel Hill) and sophomore defensive end Julian McLeod (Miramar, FL / St. Thomas Aquinas).
 
For Concordia, starting quarterback Seth Suida, under duress much of the game, was limited to 5-of-15 passing for 44 yards while being sacked twice. In the rushing department, the Cardinals were led by running back Joe Conner's 34 yards on nine carries. Defensively, Ty Peterson led the way by recording a game-high nine tackles, including a pair of sacks, while Nick Holshoe and Jay Koski contributed seven stops aapiece.
 
NOTES
First Wagner Punt Return for TD Since 2004
While Wagner has had several kickoff returns for touchdowns in recent years, Yevchinecz's 77-yard punt return for a touchdown vs. Concordia today marks the first time a Seahawk has returned a punt for a TD since October 16, 2004 when Al Phillips took one back to the house from 48 yards during a 27-14 victory home win over Iona.

Thomson Finds 10 Different Receivers
After completing passes to nine different receivers on the opening night win over Saint Anselm, Alex Thomson distributed the ball to 10 different receivers vs. Concordia.

Massei Sees First Career Action
Sophomore quarterback Luke Massei (Cary, NC / Green Hope) saw the first action of his career when he took over for Thomson on the game's final possession.

Firsts
*Two Seahawks came up with their first career receptions today in Dale and senior wide receiver senior wide receiver Nour Aly (North Caldwell, NJ / West Essex). 

*True freshman running back Craig Merkle (Nutley, NJ / Nutley) saw the first action of his young career and had 24 yards rushing on six fourth-quarter carries. 

More Firsts
This marked the first time that Wagner had ever faced a schools that competes in the NAIA. Similarly, this also marked the first time that Concordia had ever faced an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) classification. Today's matchup also marked the first time that the Seahawks have ever met a team that hails from the state of Michigan.
 
2016 Seahawk Schedule Offers Cross-Section of Foes
Wagner's  11-game schedule this season features a cross-section of opponents who hail from four different classifications; FBS (Boston College and UMass), Division II (Saint Anselm), NAIA (Concordia) and FCS (Columbia, as well as the six NEC rivals).

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