Stepnoski (259 yards) carries Mercy to victory

Pat Stepnoski's career day carried Mercy to victory. Now maybe the football gods will have a little mercy on him.

In his first game since separating his right shoulder, Stepnoski ran 31 times for a career-high 259 yards and four touchdowns in Mercy's 40-20 win at Stony Brook Friday night. The junior also caught four passes for 73 yards, ran for a pair of two-point conversions and caught another in the Division IV game.

"He's a little tender, but he's a lot stronger than he was," coach Joe Read said. "I think he needed to hit it a little to see it's better."

Stepnoski separated his shoulder on the second play of the second game of the season, a 52-12 loss to Center Moriches, according to Read. He missed three games.

"He took a helmet to his shoulder during a running play and was driven down to the ground on the shoulder, so it was a combo effect," Read said.

In 2009, Stepnoski was hit on the side diving for a fumble during the third game of the season and suffered a lacerated kidney, causing him to miss the rest of the year, according to Read.

But this time he returned, even if he appeared gun shy at first.

"He started out running a little tentative," Read said. "He was trying to take everybody on with his stronger shoulder."

Stepnoski ran 20 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, but the Monarchs (2-4) still found themselves in a 20-16 hole at the half. The junior running back, however, was just warming up.

While the defense limited Stony Brook (0-6) to just four first downs and no scoring in the second half, Stepnoski scored three more times on runs of 23, 7 and 37 yards, respectively.

"He's a tough kid," Read said. "He really did carry us.