By Dylan Butler
St. John’s senior defensive back Allistair Sebastien didn’t have to think long and hard when asked about what set the tone in the Red Storm’s 34-7 Northeast Conference loss to Wagner Saturday at DaSilva Memorial Field. He knew the answer right away.
“The opening kickoff,” he said. “Every day in practice we say the opening kickoff sets the tone.”
Indeed, in the Seahawks’ lopsided first win of the year, it was the first play of the game that proved to be the sign of things to come, as Tyshon Henderson received the ball at the Wagner 10-yard line and promptly returned it 61 yards to the Red Storm 29. And while the St. John’s defense held the Seahawks to just four plays on its opening drive, the opening kickoff started a very long downward spiral for the Red Storm (1-2, 1-2 NEC).
“They smacked us right in the mouth with that kickoff return and we never recovered,” said St. John’s head coach Bob Ricca. “We reeled for 40 minutes before we responded.”
St. John’s second miscue happened on their first play from scrimmage when a botched pitch from freshman quarterback Marc Saracino (11-for-32, 134 yards) to junior tailback Halim McNeil on first-and-10 from the Red Storm six landed in the end zone, where McNeil pounced on it for the safety.
Wagner (1-3, 1-3) jumped ahead 5-0 on a 25-yard field goal by freshman kicker Blake Abbot — his first of four field goals on the day — with 8:45 to play in the first quarter. Before the Red Storm defense could catch their breath, they were back on the field, as Matt Connors fumbled a completed pass by Saracino on first down and the Seahawks recovered the ball on the St. John’s 24.
Yet somehow the Red Storm defense again stopped Wagner, which had first-and-goal from the St. John’s 10.
“This is definitely one of the toughest losses of my career,” Sebastien said. “The defense played a great game, the offense struggled and couldn’t get anything going. There were a lot of mistakes all over.”
Wagner, which had 207 total yards in 21:38 of possession, took a 12-0 lead on a two-yard run by Henderson that capped a seven play, 21-yard drive. Abbott’s second field goal of the game, a 34-yarder with :08 seconds left in the first half, made the score 15-0 and appeared to keep the Red Storm in striking distance going into the break, despite an abysmal offensive first half that saw the Red Storm garner just one first down and 14 total yards.
Then came the back breaker.
Wagner recovered Abbott’s onside kick at their own 47 and, with four seconds left in the half, Seahawks quarterback Aaron Smith (14-for-30, 203 yards) went for the only option he had; the “Hail Mary.” Smith dropped back and heaved the desperation pass into the end zone where it was caught by Daryn Plummer in the back right corner and just like that the Red Storm was down 22-0.
“That should have never had happened,” Ricca said. “You see it in the NFL too, it happens once in a 100 times. It’s a shame because it was 12-0 and we dodged all those bullets. The defense played great.”
As if the last-second touchdown wasn’t bad enough for the exhausted Red Storm defense, Abbot added two more field goals, including a 50-yarder that broke the Wagner record, the DaSilva Field and Northeast Conference marks for longest field goal in a game, to put the Seahawks ahead 28-0 with 3:18 left in the third quarter.
Not too shabby for a guy who wasn’t scheduled to play.
“I pulled a hamstring in practice this week,” Abbot said. “I tweaked it and I wasn’t even suppose to play.”
But when backup kicker Danny Shea went down with flu-like symptoms just hours before the game, Abbot was called into action.
“He didn’t practice all week, I guess we did a good job of coaching,” joked Wagner head coach Walt Hamerline. “He obviously had some big kicks. He did a real good job.”
Ricca did see a few bright spots in the game, including the play of Sebastien (five tackels, one interception), sophomore linebacker “Chi Chi” Momah (seven tackles) and freshman Orion Sykes (nine tackles), a strong safety out of Christ the King. Ricca is hoping the Red Storm can build on their play in their next game, as they head to Fairfield, Conn. to face division powerhouse Sacred Heart (3-0, 2-0), coming off a 34-0 win over Siena, Saturday at 2 p.m.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
