Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College football team forced three turnovers and led for a majority of the first half, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks fell 38-28 on Saturday at Hameline Field.
Prior to kickoff, the Seahawks honored their senior class, consisting of:
Sowande McWhite,
Nicolas Olivier,
Tre Vallar,
Quincy Guy-Barnes,
Prince Hall, Tahjir Tate,
Cory Joyce,
Branden Barnes,
Brandon Stapleton,
James Eichler,
Jordan Francois,
Shane Quast,
Coby Calvin,
Jayvin Little, and
Nicholas Cartwright-Atkins.
Wagner got on the board early, as senior quarterback
Nick Kargman found junior
Naiem Simmons on a trick play for a 71-yard touchdown strike to open the scoring with 9:54 to play in the first quarter.
The Pioneers answered, but were denied multiple times in the red zone, as freshman
Jayden Brown recorded an end zone interception to preserve the lead.
Trailing 7-3 with eight seconds to play in the first half, Sacred Heart took a 10-7 lead before midway through the third quarter to take a 17-7 advantage.
With two minutes left to play in the third quarter, Kargman connected with junior
Jayvin Little on a four-yard touchdown pass, before senior
John Gioia recorded Wagner's second interception of the game, setting up a close fourth quarter.
After the Pioneers extended the lead back to two possessions, senior
Coby Calvin came up with another big defensive play, returning a fumble 93 yards for the touchdown, with senior
Nicholas Cartwright-Atkins scoring on the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game at 24-21 with 7:51 to play.
Sacred Heart, however, scored the next 14 points to take a 38-21 lead with 4:21 to play. Senior
Quincy Guy-Barnes found
Cory Joyce for a 17-yard touchdown with less than one minute to play, but it wasn't enough, as the Pioneers hung on for the win.
Kargman led Wagner with 215 yards and two touchdowns, with Simmons leading all players with 134 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, the Seahawks were led by Calvin's 10 tackles, while graduate student
Titus Leo and senior Tahjir Tate were both credited with a team-high two tackles for loss.
The Seahawks will conclude their season next Saturday, November 19 at Duquesne, with kickoff set for 12 pm.
