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Buffalo, NY - Following a shortened two-game spring season, the Wagner College football team under second-year head coach
Tom Masella will open its 2021 fall season on Thursday, September 2 at 7:00 pm, at FBS member Buffalo. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with an exclusive free radio feed also available for Seahawk supporters.
Three Seahawks Earn Spots On NFL 53-Man Rosters
Three former Wagner football players earned spots on their respective NFL team's 53-man rosters on Tuesday. Chris Williams is on the Colts' 53-man roster, as the second-year defensive tackle made the cut for the first time after spending last season on the practice squad. Super Bowl champion outside linebacker Cam Gill returns to the Buccaneers' roster and longtime NFL veteran Julian Stanford will enter his second season with the Panthers.
Former Wagner two-sport standout Greg Senat signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns and competed for a roster spot in Cleveland during training camp, but was placed on the injured reserve list earlier this week.
Leo Earns Preseason Recognition
Senior outside linebacker
Titus Leo has earned multiple preseason honors. Leo was named to the Stats Perform FCS Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented annually to the national defensive player of the year in college football's Division I subdivision (FCS).
The reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year and Preseason All-NEC selection was a finalist for the award following the 2021 spring season and starts the fall on the prestigious watch list, which features 35 defenders from college football's Division I subdivision.
Leo joins CCSU's Tre Jones as the only NEC players on the list and one of just 14 linebackers to receive the recognition, as he continues to follow the footsteps of Super Bowl LV champion and former Seahawk All-American Cam Gill, who started the 2019 season on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List.
Leo was also named a Phil Steele Third Team Preseason FCS All-American and Preseason First Team All-NEC selection.
Despite the shortened spring season, Leo wreaked havoc in opposing backfields, combining for 15 total tackles and two sacks in two games.
Additional Preseason Honors
Apart from Leo, several other Seahawks earned preseason All-NEC honors by Phil Steele. Graduate student offensive lineman
Jeremiah Bolling-Farrar was named a second team selection, while senior offensive lineman
Xavier Bryson and senior running back
Chris Collier earned third team honors.
The Series
Thursday's matchup is the first matchup between the Seahawks and Bulls in the Division I era, but both teams met in 1987. On their way to a Division III national title, the Seahawks defeated Buffalo 20-0.
The greatest day in the long and illustrious gridiron history of Wagner College came on a sunny December 12, 1987 in Phenix City, Alabama when the Seahawks captured the 1987 NCAA Division III National Championship with 19-3 victory over the University of Dayton in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.
Winners of seven straight games and 12 of 13 heading into the championship, the Green & White earned the College's first and only national championship in any sport.
Masella's Fall Debut
After making his head coaching debut at his alma mater in the spring, head coach
Tom Masella will coach his first fall football game as the Seahawks' head coach. After being hired in December 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic limited Masella to just two games in the spring of 2021.
A member of the Wagner Athletics Hall of Fame and Staten Island native, Masella's rich coaching background includes a stint as the associate head coach for Wagner during the historic 2012 season, as the Seahawks won their first NEC Football Championship in school history before becoming the first NEC team to post a win in the NCAA FCS Playoffs with a 31-20 victory over Patriot League Champion Colgate.
A proven winner at the highest level, Masella brings over 30 years of collegiate coaching experience back to Wagner, including six seasons at the FBS level, 10 as a head coach, and 15 years as a defensive coordinator at the FBS and FCS level.
Apart from helping the Seahawks to a league title in 2012, Masella was a part of conference championship teams at Boston University (1993), Louisiana Tech (2001), UMass (2003), Central Connecticut (2004, 2005), and Fordham (2007).
Wagner vs. FBS
Wagner will play two FBS opponents for the fourth time in program history in 2021. In 2015, the Seahawks played at Rice and at BYU while in 2016 the Green & White traveled to UMass and Boston College. In 2019, Wagner faced UConn and Florida Atlantic.
The Seahawks nearly pulled off their first upset of an FBS opponent in the 2019 opener against UConn, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Huskies before falling 24-21. Thanks to an interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Myron Morris and two rushing touchdowns by
Dymitri McKenzie, the Seahawks were within striking distance late in the fourth quarter but fell short in the final minutes.
In their first-ever meeting against an 85-scholarship opponent, the 2012 Seahawks dropped a hard-fought 7-3 contest at FAU in Boca Raton. That 2012 Wagner team opened the season 0-3, before reeling off nine straight wins en route to the program's first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) championship and an ensuing NCAA FCS first-round playoff win over Colgate.
The Captains
Head Coach
Tom Masella announced that
Titus Leo and graduate student defensive back
Ahmad Lyons have been selected as captains by their teammates. Leo enters his senior season as the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year, as the outside linebacker looks to continue following the footsteps of former All-American outside linebacker and Super Bowl LV champion Cam Gill.
Lyons, who was also a captain for Wagner's spring season, is a veteran presence and vocal leader in the defensive backfield. The athletic and versatile veteran intercepted one pass in the Seahawks' spring opener against Duquesne. Throughout his Wagner career, Lyons has registered three interceptions, six pass breakups, and 27 total tackles.
The Offense
Compared to the shortened spring season, the Seahawks are returning multiple starters on both sides of the ball. With Bolling-Farrar and seniors Bryson and
Sowande McWhite, Wagner's offensive line will feature multiple experienced players. At running back, Collier returns after scoring the Seahawks' lone touchdown of the spring, while sophomores
Chase Stafford and
Justin Wolf will be the featured tight ends. At quarterback, redshirt-senior
Jaalon Frazier will start after beating out the competition for the starting job in training camp. Frazier will look to get the ball to a number of athletic playmakers on the outside, with juniors
Jayvin Little and
Nicholas Cartwright-Atkins along with fifth-year senior
Jeremiah Lorick and sophomore
Naiem Simmons all returning this fall.
The Defense
Leo and Lyons will lead an athletic group that will feature a mix of seasoned veterans and young talent. In
Andre Crawley,
Tajay Passmore,
Jalin Justice, and
Lennox Lamar, Wagner's front seven features four sophomores who will see their first fall football action at Buffalo. In the secondary, senior
Naseem Barnett and juniors
Keith McLaurin and
Khari Jones are scheduled to join Lyons in the starting lineup.
Scouting The Bulls
Thursday's game will be the head coaching debut for new Bulls head coach Maurice Linquist. Buffalo finished the 2020 season with a 6-1 overall record, losing 38-28 to Ball State in the MAC Championship game before earning a 17-10 victory over Marshall in the Camelia Bowl.
Wagner Breaks Ground On New $3 Million Facility
In a ceremony in June, Wagner College broke ground on a new $3 million athletic facility that is set for completion in the spring of 2022.
Wagner College President Joel W. Martin, CFO John Carrescia, Senior Vice President for Advancement, Enrollment, and Planning Angelo Araimo, Athletic Director
Walt Hameline, and head football coach
Tom Masella joined Staten Island Deputy Borough President Ed Burke and New York State Senator Diane Savino to celebrate the start of construction adjacent to Hameline Field.
The Schedule
Following Thursday's contest at Buffalo, Wagner's home opener will take place on September 11, when the Seahawks take on Central Connecticut, which will also mark the Green and White's first conference game.
Following a road contest at Saint Francis U on September 18, the Seahawks will travel to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to take on Temple University on September 25 for Wagner's second FBS game of the season. This marks the first-ever meeting between the Seahawks and Owls.
On October 2, Wagner is scheduled to host Delaware State for this fall's homecoming game. The final non-conference game of the season will be played on October 9, when the Seahawks travel across New York City to take on Fordham.
Five conference games will round out the 2021 schedule, with home contests against Bryant (October 23), Merrimack (November 6), and Duquesne (November 20), as well as road matchups at LIU (October 30) and Sacred Heart (November 13).
Joe Jilts Golf Outing A Great Success
On Friday, August 27, Wagner hosted the 20
th annual Joe Jilts Golf Classic, with former players coaches, and friends of the program joining head Coach
Tom Masella at Silver Lake Golf Course on Staten Island.
This event is named in honor of former longtime Wagner College equipment manager Joe Jilts, a loyal and dedicated institution on Grymes Hill, who retired in 1993 and passed away in 2003. Since its inception, the "Jilts" has developed into a yearly staple for former Seahawk football letterwinners, alumni, friends and supporters of the program who turn out for a day of golf, laughs, and prizes.
