The Stetson Hatters left little room for doubt on Saturday night at Spec Martin, building a 27-3 lead over visiting Warner in the first half before coasting to a 30-15 victory over the Royals for the first win of the 2016 season.

Stetson improved to 1-1 on the season while dropping Warner to the same record.

The game turned into a saga of two halves as the Hatters dominated the opening periods but then came out flat after halftime. Penalties were again an issue for Stetson, which was flagged 11 times in the game for 89 yards. Two of those came in the second half and were the result of players losing their composure.

“I am not very happy right now, and I expressed that to our team,” Stetson head coach Roger Hughes said. “We have to come out with greater intensity in the third quarter, and we haven't done that. We had screw ups in the kicking game, couldn't get off the field on defense and, offensively, we couldn't run the ball.

“We bounced back, and I am proud of our resilience, but we have to keep our composure. We had two seniors lose their composure when we had them stopped, and we ended up giving up a touchdown because we beat ourselves. You can't do that.”

The Hatters used an impressive opening drive to get on the board early and then took advantage of three Warner interceptions to build the lead in the first half.

“Thank God we got those interceptions,” Hughes said. “If you look at the score, it wasn't that close, but we let them in the game. We have to learn, if we are going to be the kind of team we want to be, how to play error-free football regardless of the situation.”

Senior Clay Mazza got the scoring started, capping a 13-play opening drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The 75-yard drive was highlighted by a trio of third down conversion passes by sophomore Gaven DeFilippo. The PAT attempt was blocked, leaving Stetson with a 6-0 lead.

The Stetson defense was also on top of its game early, forcing Warner to punt after three plays on each of the Royals' first two possession. The Hatters took over at the Warner 47 after the first punt and needed just five plays to find the end zone again. DeFilippo connected with senior fullback Mike Yonker from 33 yards away for the touchdown. Grant Amick's PAT pushed the lead to 13-0.

That was where the lead remained until early in the second quarter when the Hatters got a short field after Glenn Adesoji picked off a pass from Warner quarterback DJ Davis and returned the pick to the Royals' five. An illegal block on the return pushed the ball back to the 15.

Another penalty pushed the ball back to the 25, but Mazza gained 19 of those yards back on a run before Yonker carried the ball the final six yards for the touchdown. Amick's PAT made it 20-0.

Warner managed its only offensive push of the half on its next possession, driving 37 yards in nine plays before settling for a 44-yard field goal off the toe of freshman Geness Kennedy May.

Stetson mounted one more scoring drive before the end of the half, driving 51-yards in nine plays. Consecutive passes to Kegan Moore gained 26 yards setting up DeFilippo's second TD pass of the game, this one from six yards out to sophomore tight end Donald Parham. The PAT put the Hatters up 27-3 at intermission.

The third quarter belonged to Warner as the Royals controlled the ball for 11:09 of the period. The only points, however, came on a big play when backup quarterback Steven Frost connected with Jamal McIntyre for a 59-yard scoring pass. The Hatters kept their streak alive after the score, as the Royals missed the PAT, leaving the Hatters with a 27-9 advantage.

Warner had another scoring threat later in the quarter after the Royals blocked an Eric Fogle punt attempts and recovered at the Stetson four. The Hatters' defense answered the challenge, however, pushing Warner back to the nine before Donald Payne blocked a 26-yard field goal attempt.

Stetson converted that big play into points after a nine-play drive that was capped by a 34-yard field goal from Amick to put the Hatters up 30-9.

Warner took advantage of the Hatters losing their cool late in the game to drive 75 yards for a touchdown to cut into the deficit. The key plays on the drive were three penalties, all against Stetson seniors.

First Atkins was called for a personal foul for a late hit against Warner running back Bryant Benton that moved the ball to the Stetson 33. Two plays later it was David Lazear who was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, giving the Royals a first and goal at the Stetson seven.

The Hatters appeared to have stopped the Royals there when, on third down, a Warner pass fell incomplete, but Dylan Wydronkowski was flagged after the play for another unsportsmanlike conduct foul. The Royals were finally able to cap the drive on a 10-yard pass from Frost to Theo Hammonds with 8:54 left to play.

Warner again failed on the extra point.

Stetson tried to put the final nails in the coffin for Warner on its next possession, but the Hatters came up short on fourth down at the Royals' 32. Any hope Warner had of making a comeback ended six plays later when Stetson freshman Colby Duncan recorded the fourth interception of the game for the Hatters.

Stetson ran out the clock by handing the ball to sophomore Matt Taft on six of seven plays to run out the clock.

DeFilippo finished the game having completed 24-of-36 pass attempts for 229 yards and two touchdowns. He did have one interception in the first half on a ball that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Moore led 10 different receivers to have recorded a reception with seven catches for 80 yards.

On the ground, the Hatters finished with 148 yards with Mazza leading the way with 59 on 17 attempts. Taft piled up 49 yards on eight carries in the fourth quarter as Stetson put the game away.

Warner's two quarterbacks managed to complete just nine-of-27 pass attempts for 149 yards and four interceptions. The Royals were held to just 99 yards on the ground, led by Benton with 62.

Defensively, the Hatters were led by junior linebacker Jeb Boudreaux, who had a career-high 15 tackles in his first collegiate start, including 3.5 for loss. As a team, the Hatters had 12 tackles for loss in the game, but managed just one sack.

The Hatters will now have a week off to get ready for the start of play in the Pioneer Football League. Stetson will open league play on Sept. 24, at home, against rival Jacksonville. The Dolphins opened their season with a 55-7 loss at Liberty on Saturday and will host Edward Waters next week before visiting DeLand. 

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.