Team Earns First Road Victory Over CAA Opponent of the 2025 Season. Improves to 2-0
9/6/2025
It was an epic game that few Stony Brook fans were on hand to witness. The game was delayed 3 hours because of lighting and heavy rain, the lighting stopped but the rain continued It was enough for most fans to say “no thank-you I will be staying home for this game.” Meanwhile, fans back in Rhode Island sat around looking at their watches and checking back every 30 minutes to get an update. It was like sitting at an airport wondering when and if your plane is going to take off! When the kick-off did come, viewers at home had to contend with a shaky video feed and a field of view that didn’t go wide enough to cover kick-offs or sideline catches. Eventually the feed stopped altogether, and we had to scramble to tune in to our trusty announcers, Steve and Terry, for the play by play (on the Varsity app). By the 4th quarter, the video was restored, and we were rewarded with seeing some of the biggest plays of the game.
Ok, this can be a slippery slope to call out the biggest or most important play, but here goes! The defensive play happened with about 5 minutes to go in the game
To further set the stage: RI was up by 7 points and Stony Brook University was really having its way driving the ball up and down the field. SBU had scored the only points of the 2nd half to that point on an earlier TD. SBU closed what was a 14-point deficit to only 7 on the strength of their all conference / All American running back and the quick and gritty play of their rushing QB.
RI had lost a starting defensive tackle late in the 2nd qtr. and the players on both sides of the ball were really hitting hard. It was ‘a game of high velocity impact’ to paraphrase the color commentator on Flo. RI played with 3 or 4 men down, and the defense relied on the inside LB’s to come up and fill the gaps. SBU was satisfied with controlling the game with rushes of 4 yards or more including an earlier 54-yard pickup.
With 5 minutes left in the 4th qtr. SBU was playing like a dog with a bone in its mouth. Capitalizing on a blocked FG attempt by the Rams, SBU in just a few plays were inside RI 40. Viewers could see that SBU was driving hard, that they could ‘smell’ the goal line and a possible OT period or a go ahead 2-point conversion. But that’s what fans do, we get ahead of the game and think about the worst! Fortunately, the players and coaches remained in control.
RI threw everything they had to stop the ground attack, but Roland Dempster,[First Team All-CAA and a finalist for the 2024 Walter Payton Award, Four time All American ] finished with 168 yards rushing] was carrying the team. He was hard to bring down and SBU’s OL was really helping him to find openings.
Back to the 5-minute mark! With the ball at the URI 35, DB Rohan Davy made his 4th consecutive tackle, and this time it resulted in a small loss for QB Chris Zellous. This brought up 3rd and 7 for the Seahawks. Everyone knew SBU was in a 4 down territory situation with only a few minutes left in the game, and the 7-point Seahawk deficit. Using a speed up no huddle, Zellous changed things up by completing a pass, but the receiver was stopped by the Rams’ DB John Boyles -1 yard short of the first down stick.
The odds greatly favored that the next play would be a run. SBU was very successful all game picking up short yardage. The only question was who would be carrying the ball. Would it be the QB Zellous (finished with 80 rushing yards) or the All American / All CAA RB Roland Dempster (167 yds rushing)? SBU took a time out and thought this over.
Meanwhile the Rams under head coach Jim Flemming recomposed, and defensive coach Chris Lorenti and staff gave the guys instructions on how best to stop SBU. When the teams lined up on 4th down & 1 yard to go, this writer thought the only way SBU would fail the line of gain was a possible mix-up or a botched play of some sort. But there was no mix-up and there was no botched play. Instead, it was just old fashion hard hitting that stopped SBU. The Rams DL hit hard and low, and a Seahawk missed the quick rushing A.J. Pena, the fast and powerful All-American DE/DB from Rhode Island! Fans witnessed the biggest play of the game as #8, Pena, crashed inside and down the line of scrimmage. He hit and wrapped up Dempster behind the line. Dempster struggled to get free but Pena held tight, and the ball popped out. The Rams DL (Case Mankins) covered it up and RI took control on downs. For me, this was the biggest / most important play of the game for URI. It put to an end the last Stony Brook drive, and the stop helped to seal a University of Rhode Island victory.
Yet, the game wasn’t over with 3 minutes still to go, and SBU had 2 time-outs and the 2-minute warning. In fact, it was 3rd down & 4 yds to go for a first, and the Rams had the ball on their own 36. It looked like RI would try to pick up a first down and continue to kill the clock with another run play. And if that failed, then punt and bring the defense back on the field.
Maybe in the past that would have happened. But offensive coach Mike Flannagan put the ball in his QB’s hands. With great OL blocking, Devin Farrell completed a deep right pass to an open URI receiver, Kwarteng Aboraa for a 49-yard gain. The Seahawks simply could not cover Greg Gaines (99 yards), Marquis Buchanan (95 yds and 1 TD), and Aboraa – who led the team with 149 receiving yards. The RI receiving corps is a very formidable and improving group of players that QB Devin Farrell has felt confidence in, evidenced by his ability to find the open man and throw him the ball.
Following Aboraa’s reception, Antwain Littleton Jr ran for a 15 yd TD showing his speed on the edge. He completed a masterful day with 122 yards rushing, and 33 yds receiving including a TD pass reception on 3rd and 1 at the one-yard line. Why run when Farrell can drop the egg in the basket? Littleton’s pass receiving is another noticeable improvement in the arsenal of the Rams offense.
I went down the slippery slope of ranking plays and naming players. There were a LOT of other big RI plays, including an INT and TD run back by Leissan Hibbert, with the pic six and PAT the Rams went ahead by 14-10 in the 2nd qtr. The first score for RI was on a 12 yard pass from Farrell to the All-American receiver, Marquis Buchanan on a play action. Few people saw how Farrell got the ball to Buchanan, or how he grabbed the ball, until seeing the replay – it was a thing of beauty.
Up next is a trip up to Worcester against a very good Holy Cross football team. If the Rams continue to improve in all 3 areas of the game (offense, defense, special teams), they will secure a victory. But Holy Cross wants revenge for their last second loss against the Rams last year. Their offensive coordinator has his own motivation to win as he seeks to showcase his own high-powered offense. It will be another epic battle.