Post-Game Press Conference
Pictured Above: Senior WR
John Williams (Photo: Dave Saffran)
Staten Island, NY – Junior quarterback
Luke Massei (Cary, NC / Green Hope) completed 27-of-50 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns, senior wide receiver
John Williams (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township/Lackawanna CC) had eight catches for 111 yards and two TDs, and sophomore cornerback
Myron Morris (Miami, FL / Booker T. Washington) came up with two interceptions, including a 39-yard pick six, but in the end Central Connecticut was able to survive in a wild 51-45 four-overtime thriller.
In dropping tonight's back-and-forth Homecoming contest, the Seahawks fall to 2-5 on the season 0-3 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Blue Devils are now 4-3 overall and 2-0 in league.
Wagner overcame a 27-7 second-quarter deficit before holding CCSU scoreless for two and a half quarters and didn't take its first lead of the game until it was 37-34 in overtime.
CCSU running back Cameron Nash rushed 24 times for 104 yards and three touchdowns, with all scores coming in overtime, to lead the Blue Devils to their fourth straight win.
Central took a 3-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal from Frankie Palmer midway through the first quarter. CCSU then blocked a Seahawk punt which led to a one-yard TD run by Enyce Walker to cap a 15-yard drive and extend the lead to 10-0 before the end of the first quarter.
After Palmer kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 13-0, the Seahawks put together a well-executed eight-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a seven-yard TD pass from Massei to Williams which cut the lead to 13-7 with 9:56 left in the second quarter.
Central responded quickly as Jacob Dolegala hit running back Drew Jean-Guillaume on a 43-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 20-7. Wagner was on the move on its next possession when Tymir Hinton picked off a Massei pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards for the score, giving the Blue Devils a 27-7 lead for the Blue Devils with under five minutes to play in the second quarter.
Wagner answered and cut the lead to 27-14 with 3:04 left before halftime on a quick-strike four-play, 66-yard drive in 1:38 capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Massei to freshman wide receiver
Joshua DeCambre (Staten Island, NY / Curtis). Graduate student
James Cooper Linwood, NJ / Mainland Regional/ Temple) then booted a 31-yard field goal to open the third quarter to cut the CCSU lead to 27-17.
The rest of the third quarter was scoreless before Cooper connected again from 37 yards out to make it a 27-20 game with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter. On the next Blue Devil possession , Dolegala threw his second interception of the game, as Morris stepped in front of an CCSU receiver and raced 39 yards up the left sideline to tie it at 27-27.
In the first overtime, the Blue Devils needed just one play as Nash scampered in from 25 yards out to make it 34-27. Wagner answered on a throwback TD pass from Massei to fifth-year senior tight end
Caleb Scepaniak (Endicott, NY / Seton-Catholic/Union-Endicott) from 12 yards to tie it at 34-34 and send the game to a second overtime.
Cooper opened the second OT with his third field goal, a 39-boot to give Wagner its first, and only lead of th game, at 37-34. On CCSU's second OT possession, Palmer kicked his third field goal of the game, this time from 22 yards, to make it 37-37 and send the game to a third overtime.
Nash scored his second touchdown of the game in the third overtime, and the two point conversion pass to WR Jose Garcia was successful to give CCSU a 45-37 lead. Wagner countered with a touchdown on a gadget play as junior wide receiver
D'Erren Wilson (Greeneville, TX / Greeneville/UCF) connected with Williams in the deep right corner of the end zone to make it a 45-43 game. The Seahawks then converted a wild two-point conversion attempt as Massei, under pressure, flipped the ball over his left shoulder to junior wide receiver
Willie Dale (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's), who somehow snatched the deflected toss to tie the game 45-45 and send it to a fourth overtime.
Nash's third touchdown came after the Blue Devils forced an interception on Wagner's possession in the fourth overtime. Jarrod Cann picked off his fourth pass of the season to stop the Seahawk scoring attempt. Nash than ran it in from one-yard out for the game's deciding score.
NOTES
ROBB & LIA TROPHIES
Annually at Homecoming, two Wagner College football players are selected to receive special awards for outstanding play. The James Robb Memorial Trophy is presented to the outstanding offensive player, while the Nick Lia Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Seahawks' outstanding defensive player. Established in 1949, the Robb Trophy was named in memory of James Robb, a Seahawk gridiron star who was killed in action during World War. The Lia Award is named in honor of former Seahawk great and Staten Island native, Nick Lia, who was killed in Vietnam.
This year's winner of the James Robb Offensive MVP Trophy was
Luke Massei while
Myron Morris was named the winner of the Nick Lia Defensive MVP Trophy.
MASSEI FIRST SEAHAWK QB OVER 300 YARDS IN 11 YEARS
In passing for 322 yards tonight, Massei became the first Seahawk quarterback to eclipse the 300-yard plateau since Matt Abbey threw for 305 yards vs. Sacred Heart on September 30, 2006.
FIRST OT GAME SINCE 2014
Tonight''s game marked the first overtime game since
October 11, 2014 when the Seahawks edged Saint Francis U 46-39 in two overtimes.
WAGNER CELEBRATED FOUR OF ITS GREATEST TEAMS TODAY [1967, 1987, 1992, 2012]
Wagner celebrated the achievements of four of the most accomplished teams in the history of the football program in a pre-game tailgate and again in a halftime ceremony. This year marks the 50th anniversary for the undefeated 1967 team and the 30th for the 1987 National Champion Seahawk squad. It also marks the 25-year reunion of the 1992 team while the 2012 team will come together for its five-year reunion. The 1992 Seahawks finished the season as the ECAC Southeast Champions while compiling an 8-2 record. The Green & White of 2012 secured the first Northeast Conference Championship (NEC) in program history and a first-round victory in the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs, which remains the lone playoff win by an NEC team.
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