Seawolves overcome mistakes to beat Towson

"You can't turn the ball over in the red zone or have a penalty on a touchdown and expect to win."

The speaker was Towson football coach Rob Ambrose, and he was right as far as his team was concerned. But Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore could have said exactly the same thing.

Priore's Seawolves lost a fumble at the one-inch line, threw two interceptions and had a 33-yard touchdown run by James Kenner in the fourth quarter wiped out by a holding penalty. It was like a compilation of all the mistakes that had led to their 1-4 start.

The difference this time was that the Seawolves overcame all of it. Their defense shut down Towson running back Darius Victor and produced one big stop after another, and the undaunted Kenner kept plugging away until he scored on a 2-yard run with 1:24 left to give Stony Brook a 14-3 Colonial Athletic Association victory Saturday at Unitas Stadium.

Kenner carried 14 times for 80 yards, all in the second half, after Stacey Bedell (12 carries for 51 yards) was pulled with a minor knee injury. The Seawolves (2-4, 1-1 CAA) limited Towson to 242 yards of total offense and held the Tigers (2-4, 0-2) to one second-quarter field goal on three trips to the red zone, thanks to an interception by cornerback Davonte Anderson and a blocked field goal by linebacker Julian Quintin.

"It was a great finish in the fourth quarter," Priore said. "We certainly overcame some adversity. I think we've learned from some of the woes we've had, and I think we got over the hump and turned the corner."

The victory came one week after the Seawolves took a 21-14 lead with 1:12 left against nationally ranked William & Mary, only to lose in overtime, 27-21.

Stony Brook got off to a good start when Anderson returned his 14th career interception 52 yards to the Towson 47, leading to a 1-yard touchdown run by Bedell for a 7-0 lead.

Towson appeared to tie it on a 1-yard run by Victor (17 carries, 59 yards), but it was wiped out by a procedure penalty before the Tigers settled for a 26-yard field goal by Sam Hurwitz.

Stony Brook responded with a 70-yard drive to the Towson 1, where Bedell fumbled on third down.

The Tigers had a first down at the Stony Brook 31 just before halftime but lost nine yards on the next four plays, including sacks of quarterback Connor Frazier by Seawolves defensive linemen Victor Ochi and Aaron Thompson.

"That was the turning point for us," Priore said. "We needed to finish something, and our defense finished that and went in the locker room and we said, 'We're going to fight, fight, fight.' "

Early in the fourth quarter, Hurwitz tried a 37-yard field goal that would have made it a one-point game, but Quintin blocked it.

"Our defense was playing lights out and running to the ball," said Quintin, who had seven tackles. "The game was getting close if they made that field goal. We looked at each other and said, 'We got this.' We ran a middle block. It felt amazing."

On the next drive, Kenner's 33-yard TD was called back, but the Seawolves got the ball back at the Towson 49. Kenner carried seven times for 47 yards before scoring to put the game away.

"We believed," he said. "We saw that 'W' and we just wanted to finish."

The win underscored Priore's faith in his team. "Maybe The Guy Upstairs is testing us, but He's testing guys that are strong and passionate and that believe in each other," Priore said of the mistakes. "I said all along I believe in this team.

"Today would have been the day to not come out and play after last week's loss. I think we overcame adversity. To me, that's the mark of a good team."