Stonehill Wins 18-14 on a 32-yard Touchdown with Five Seconds Left
Five seconds. That is how much clock Stonehill had left when Jaylin Baker caught a 32-yard touchdown from Jack O'Connell to beat Long Island University 18-14. LIU had gone ahead with 3:03 to play, so that lead lasted all of two minutes and fifty-eight seconds.
Stonehill started fast, with a safety and a 29-yard Domenic Scalese field goal in the first quarter for a 5-0 edge. Then nothing scored until the third, when LIU's Marquacious Wright took a blocked field goal back 74 yards for a touchdown and a 7-5 lead. (Special teams, doing its own scoring. Rude.) O'Connell answered with an 18-yard touchdown to Alijah Turner, the two-point try failed, and Stonehill sat up 11-7. Gianni Marino caught a 6-yard score from Luca Stanzani in the fourth to put LIU back in front 14-11, and that set up the finish.
The box score says Stonehill should have won with room to spare. It had 325 total yards to LIU's 182, and LIU passed for only 69 yards all day. LIU leaned on the ground instead, 39 carries for 113 yards. But O'Connell threw two interceptions on 19-of-35 passing, and the offense found the end zone only twice on a day it moved the ball. The defense did its part with two sacks, and LIU's offense scored a single touchdown, the Marino catch.
Stonehill moves to 3-3 and LIU drops to 3-4. Flip that last drive and LIU is 4-3 with a win built on a blocked kick and 69 passing yards. Instead they get to think about the five seconds.
For fantasy, Baker caught 7 passes for 103 yards, and O'Connell still found enough to post 20.9 even with the picks. If you started a Stonehill receiver, you probably needed that last throw.