Down 18, SBU rallies to beat Albany, 31-28

The stopper was out of the drain, and you could see Stony Brook's Football Championship Subdivision playoff hopes spinning around and ready to go down the pipe as Albany drove to a second-and-goal at the Seawolves' 3-yard line with 54 seconds to play in their first-round playoff game Saturday afternoon at LaValle Stadium.

On the strength of three straight touchdowns by Brock Jackolski, SBU had overcome an 18-point third-quarter deficit to go ahead 31-28. But the Great Danes had all the momentum going their way, driving 52 yards with the help of a dropped interception and missed fourth-down tackle by Stony Brook cornerback Donald Porter.

If he had it to do over again, 74-year-old Albany coach Bob Ford said, "You'd say, 'Why not run it?' '' But people are creatures of habit, and SBU coach Chuck Priore said defensive coordinator Rob Nevasier knew Albany's tendencies on second-and-short at the goal line. "They throw the play-action pass,'' Priore said. "Our defensive coaches said it before the snap, and we called the perfect defense.''

Sure enough, Albany quarterback Dan Di Lella faked the handoff and fired to his right for 6-4 tight end Brian Parker. But the 5-10 Porter tipped the pass and safety Dominick Reyes caught the deflection, got his toes inside the end line and came down with the 31-28 victory.

"I locked on the tight end, he released and I played under him and got a hand on it to tip it up,'' Porter said. "It's a great way to keep our season going.''

It was the ninth straight victory for Stony Brook (9-3). A season that began with an overtime loss in Texas to UTEP of the Football Bowl Subdivision now returns to the Lone Star State, where the Seawolves will meet top-seeded Sam Houston State (11-0) at 3 p.m. (ET) Saturday in an FCS second-round game.

"It's a great opportunity for us,'' said Stony Brook quarterback Kyle Essington, who completed 12 of 24 passes for 258 yards, an average of 21.5 yards per completion, and two touchdowns. "It doesn't matter who they put in front of us. We're going to hit them in the mouth.''

That was exactly the attitude Albany (8-4) brought to LaValle Stadium. The Great Danes took a 14-0 lead with the aid of a blocked punt that Parker returned 21 yards for a TD. The Seawolves cut it to 14-10, but Albany rattled them to their toes with two lightning-strike TDs.

Just before halftime, Di Lella, who completed 24 of 43 passes for 223 yards, drilled Cole King on a 44-yard post pattern for a 21-10 lead. On the first possession of the second half, running back Drew Smith completed a 43-yard TD pass to Ryan Kirchner to make it 28-10. "It's very tough, but we came back after those big plays,'' Porter said. "You have to stay sound and trust what you're doing.''

Stony Brook's offense sprang to life, driving 80 yards to score on a 6-yard run by Jackolski, who had 103 rushing yards on 22 carries. Then Porter came up with an interception that gave Stony Brook the ball at its 47 and set up the play that got the Seawolves back in the game.

On second-and-12, Essington dropped back, pump-faked and hit Jackolski wide-open down the left sideline for a 55-yard touchdown that made it 28-24. "Kyle had an awesome ball on the long throw,'' Jackolski said.

The Great Danes went three-and-out, and Stony Brook took the lead on Jackolski's third TD, an 11-yard run with 12:40 left that capped another 80-yard drive. But to Albany's credit, the Seawolves not only failed to put the game away but had to hang on for dear life at the end.

After the heart-pounding finish, Priore was emotionally spent. "Is 'wow' good enough?'' he said. "We needed every tick of the clock. I'm proud we overcame adversity and finished the game for the ninth time in a row.''