Brown Falls in Season Opening Game, 21-20

Saturday, September 19

Stony Brook, N.Y.

6 pm

Brown University

0-1

Stony Brook

1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Brown

Stony Brook

9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Stony Brook, New York – Brown and Stony Brook battled evenly for 60 minutes, but in the end the difference was a missed extra point as the Bears dropped their season opening game to the Seawolves, 21-20, at LaValle Stadium. Brown had a chance to win on the last play of the game, but Drew Plitcha's 40-yard field goal attempt was wide right as time expired.

Stony Brook rallied in the game's last minute, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 47 seconds remaining on a 10 yard scoring pass from Michael Coulter to Donald Porter, to grab a 21-20 lead.

The loss spoiled a strong performance from Bears' junior quarterback Kyle Newhall, who made his collegiate debut against the Seawolves and responded by completing 29 of 45 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns. Senior All-American wide receiver Buddy Farnham was on the receiving end of a majority of Newhall's passes, making 12 catches for 121 yards.

Newhall completed his first 11 consecutive passes as the Bears' offense started out running on all cylinders.

Brown got on the scoreboard first when Newhall lofted a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Matt Sudfeld, who made his first collegiate touchdown reception, giving the Bears a 7-0 advantage with 6:55 left in the first quarter.

Following a Stony Brook touchdown that tied the score, 7-7, Newhall drove the Bears 53 yards in five plays, connecting on a 23-yard scoring strike to Buddy Farnham with 1:27 left in the quarter, giving the Bears a 14-7 advantage after one quarter.

The Seawolves tied the game up at the half, 14-14, on a 28 yard scoring pass from Dayne Hoffman to Jordan Gush.

The Bears' offense stalled early in the third quarter, but punter Nate Lovett provided the spark that led to another Brown score. On fourth and six at the Brown 33 yard line, Lovett dropped back to punt, saw a wide open field to his right and took off, running 37 yards to the Stony Brook 30 yard line.

Lovett's run led to Newhall's third touchdown pass of the day, a five yard scoring pass to junior tight end Alex Prestley with 5:36 left in the quarter, giving the Bears a 20-14 lead after a missed extra point.

Senior David Clement came up with a big play for the Bears' defense, stopping a stony Brook drive with a leaping, one-hand interception on the Seawolves next possession.
Clement finished the game with seven tackles, including six solo hits.

Senior Peter Hughes made two tackles for a loss of eight yards and a quarterback sack. Senior Chris Perkins made seven tackles overall, while junior Russell Leedy came up with six total tackles.

Junior Zack Tronti gave the Bears a solid running game, gaining 84 yards on 24 attempts, while also making three catches for 28 yards. Senior wide receiver Bobby Sewall was also involved in multiple plays, making eight receptions for 44 yards.

Brown will look to defend its Ivy League Championship next Friday evening, September 25, traveling to Boston to face Harvard in a battle of 2008 Ivy League Co-Champions. Game time is 7:00p.m. at Harvard Stadium.