The Stetson Hatters dominated visiting Sacred Heart for a half on Saturday night at Spec Martin Stadium, but the visiting Pioneers needed just a two minute stretch in the second half to send Stetson to an 18-14 season-opening loss.
The Hatters (0-1) led the game 14-6 at the break thanks to a balanced offensive attack and a strong defense. But, in the second half, penalties and poor field position, plus a big play from the Pioneers (1-0) on offense, turned the game.
"You win and you lose," Hatters coach Roger Hughes said. "Tomorrow I may feel that there were some good things, but right now I don't feel very good about it. I am very pleased with the effort. We were into the game for the full four quarters. Our kids never gave up and never stopped believing. That gives you a chance."
The Hatters amassed 260 yards of total offense in the first half while holding SHU to just 141. Sophomore quarterback Gaven DeFilippo, making his first career start, completed 15 of his first 18 pass attempts for 189 yards, but found the going much more difficult after the break.
"We set up the play-action pass with the run game," DeFilippo said. "In the second half they started sending way more than we could block and the lack of a running game didn't help us. Losing Fog (senior left tackle Patrick Fogarty) was big, but we believe in the next guy up, and that is what we have practiced for. I thought we did pretty well with it, but we would have rather kept him in the game."
Fogarty, one of five senior captains, left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.
"Our best offensive lineman got injured in the first half and that made Dom (Coluccio) have to slide over to the left side and put Andrew Rogalski in on the right, even though he missed most of camp with an injury," Hughes said. "That didn't help our run game situation."
After rushing for 71 yards in the first half, including 53 on 13 carries by senior Cole Mazza, the Hatters managed just 17 rush yards in the second half. The result was that DeFilippo completed just 7-of-20 passes after the intermission for 36 yards.
"Offensively, we didn't get anything going in the second half and a lot of that was because we had penalties that put us into long yardage situations," Hughes said. "Right now, we are the type of team that needs to stay on schedule. The other thing was that, defensively, we have to get off the field. We need to get some three and outs. At the end of the game, because we weren't moving the ball and they weren't getting off the field, we got a little worn out."
The Hatters drew first blood in the game when Mazza capped a short, 45-yard, drive with a two-yard TD plunge. Grant Amick's PAT made it 7-0.
Sacred Heart answered right back with an eight-play scoring drive. The biggest play of the possession was a 34-yard TD pass from senior RJ Noel to Byron Barney on a third down a long. Stetson All-American Donald Payne blocked the PAT kick, and almost returned it for a two-point conversion. That started a night of woes for the Pioneers in the kicking game.
After an exchange of punts in the second quarter, the Hatters were forced to start at their own four, but marched 96 yards in 13 plays with DeFilippo connecting with fellow sophomore Donald Parham on a beautiful 22-yard TD pass for a 14-6 Stetson lead.
"I knew I was going to Donald on that," DeFilippo said. "I had great protection on that play, didn't have anyone in my face. I just let Donald go do what he has done throughout camp. That is what we expect from him.
"We had a good game plan going in and, in the first half we had it going. In the second half it just didn't quite go our way."
With the Hatters struggling on offense in the second half, the Pioneers were able to take advantage of good field position to cut the deficit to 14-12 in the third quarter. Noel powered the 13-play drive by completing 7-of-10 passes for 70 yards that included overcoming three third down plays, one fourth down conversion, a sack and a 15-yard penalty. His 17-yard TD pass to Andrew O'Neal capped the drive, but a try for two failed, leaving the Hatters with a two-point lead.
After one of five three-and-out possessions for the Hatters, Sacred Heart started its next possession at the 20, but needed just one play to go the distance. Senior Ose Imeokparia made a cut back against the Hatters on a blitz and raced 80-yards for the go-ahead score. Another try to two failed, leaving the Hatters down 18-14.
"It looked to me like it was an outside zone that they cut back," Hughes said. "I think we lost our gap integrity on the deal. I'll have to see the film, but I think we were blitzing on the play. That means the Mike linebacker or the backside linebacker has to fill the gap to avoid the cutback."
After losing the lead, the Hatters had five fourth quarter possessions, which produced a total of three yards and ended in three punts, a fumble and a turnover on downs.
"Offensively we did not do enough to drive the ball and score, but defensively we couldn't get off the field," Hughes said. "Both sides of the ball have to do a better job and be more consistent."
"There is a lot of room for improvement but, if our guys continue to approach the game with the work ethic and the belief they have had over the last few weeks, I am encouraged."
DeFilippo finished with 225 yards passing on 22-of-38 attempts while Mazza led the ground game with 49 net yards on 15 carries. Parham led the Stetson receivers with five catches for 72 yards.
Noel completed 16-of-34 throws for 172 yards while Imeokparia finished with 112 yards rushing on 13 carries. The Pioneers finished with a total of 227 yards on the ground.
"When we have played teams like Sacred Heart in the past, the game has gotten out of hand in the first quarter," Hughes said. "It became a fourth quarter game tonight, which is what we wanted, and we had a chance to win the game at the end. Is that a step in a positive direction? Absolutely. It is just disappointing for me because of the effort our kids put in. I would have liked to have seen those efforts rewarded."
Defensively, senior linebacker Dylan Wydronkowski led the Hatters with 12 tackles while fellow seniors David Lazear and Payne had 10 stops each. Two other seniors, Glenn Adesoji and Davion Belk, finished with seven tackles each.
"We game-planned all week and they did mostly what we thought they would do," Belk said. "They are a great team and they played tough. We played tough and it is hard when you have two sides pushing, and it just didn't go our way.
"We have to keep pushing. Talking with some of the other veterans, we think there is something special about this team. There is a great feeling because we know there is something special. We just have to keep working."
DeFelippo said Saturday's performance proved that this Stetson team is capable of handling the tough games ahead in the Pioneer Football League.
"We can play with anyone," DeFilippo said. "That is a scholarship team and they are one of the better teams in their conference. It was a learning experience for us and it was the most together we have been as a program. It is great for us as we get ready for conference play.
We are going to see other teams like this – Dayton and San Diego – and now we have already been tested."
