Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College football team earned a 14-0 victory over Saint Francis U at sunny Hameline Field on Saturday afternoon.
The victory marks Wagner's first shutout since the 2016 season-opener against Concordia and first shutout in Northeast Conference (NEC) play since 2012, when Wagner earned a 30-0 victory over Albany.
Wagner's defense combined for eight sacks on the day, the 5
th most by an FCS team in a single game this season. With the win, the Seahawks move to 2-1 in NEC action and 4-4 overall, the most overall victories by the end of October since 2016.
Wagner got on the board with three minutes remaining in the first quarter on a 23-yard connection between graduate students
Jake Cady and
Christian Tait.
The Seahawks doubled their lead less than five minutes into the second quarter, as Cady found graduate student
Chase Stafford, who broke free for the 31-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
Neither team scored for the remainder of the game, as Wagner's defense extended its scoreless streak to six quarters dating back to last week's game against Columbia.
Cady finished the day with 290 passing yards on 24-38 accuracy.
Defensively, senior
Luke Jakubauskas, sophomore
Logan Barnes, and junior
Jorel Liverpool finished with 1.5 sacks apiece, while graduate student
Justin Reilly led the charge with eight total tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack. The Green and White finished with two interceptions on the day, as junior
Jayden Brown and senior
Justin Smith both recorded takeaways.
Wagner held a 337-187 edge in total yards and held the Red Flash to just 23 yards rushing on the day.
Next up, Wagner will play the second game of the season against FBS competition, as the Seahawks travel to UMass on Saturday, October 26, with kickoff set for 3:30 pm.
