Danes finally geta bounce
Ualbany wins season finale when Stark’s FG hits crossbar, drops over
As the years pile up, Ethan Stark might remember his final kick as a Ualbany football player as a majestic, beautiful boot, one that cleared the uprights by 20 yards. Maybe 30.
And that’s just fine. Those who were at Casey Stadium on a chilly November late afternoon might remember it the same way. In reality, the boot was a hoot, plopping down on the crossbar of the goalpost and then bouncing up and slowly dropping over the bar.
The end of the 48-yard missile gave the Great Danes an improbable 25-23 victory over Stony Brook and allowed a hard-luck team for much of the season to have a little sunshine at the end. The victory stopped a six-game losing streak. Ualbany finishes the season with a 3-8 overall record and 1-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Three of Ualbany’s league losses came by five or fewer points and all of them came with opponents scoring the winning points with less than a minute left to play.
“These kids deserved to win this football game,” Ualbany coach Greg Gattuso said.
Before Stark’s game-winning kick, it looked as though the Danes were destined to absorb one more agonizing loss before putting the uniforms away for the winter.
Stony Brook (7-4, 5-3) looked like a winner after quarterback Joe Carbone’s prayer was answered on a fourth-down play. His 41-yard heave was caught by Julius Wingate in the end zone and Stony Brook had a 23-22 lead with 17 seconds left.
“My heart almost exploded when they scored that touchdown,” Gattuso said.
“I was devastated after that touchdown,” said Ualbany redshirt senior cornerback Kareem Brown.
Stony Brook, which will have to sweat out the FCS Selection show (12:30 Sunday afternoon on ESPNU) to see if it gets a postseason bid, made a mistake after the touchdown. Junior Tyrone Wheatley was penalized 15 yards for taking his helmet off during the celebration.
The penalty was assessed before the kickoff and Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore opted to squib kick instead of kick the ball deep. The strategy backfired as Ualbany’s AJ Mistler picked up the ball and returned it 18 yards to the Stony Brook 42-yard line.
“They had 15 yards on us (because of the penalty) and we did not want a return to give them field position,” said Priore, who played for the Danes, graduating in 1982. “It was my call, no one else’s. If the kid bobbles it or it goes by him, you think we are heroes. Albany won the game. They deserved to win.”
With so little time left, the Danes needed one play to give Stark a chance. They got it when freshman quarterback Jeff Undercuffler found running back Karl Mofor for 11 yards. Gattuso sent Stark out on the field to win the game. There were four seconds left, the ball waiting for Stark at the 31-yard line.
A little backstory here. Earlier in the game, Stark had made a 43-yard field goal and missed from 41 in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter, he missed a 44-yard field goal try and uncharacteristically muffed an extra point, only the second time that had happened in 21 tries this season.
Stark desperately wanted a chance for atonement. And, even though it wasn’t pretty, it will do.
After the kick bounced over the crossbar, he ran down the field with all of his teammates chasing him. They finally caught him and piled on top of the kicker in the south end zone. A season with so much heartbreak ended with a joyous Senior Day.
“I started crying,” Brown said. “I was crying like a baby.”
Gattuso said he didn’t say anything to Stark after his right foot betrayed him in the final quarter. But he did hope his senior would get another chance.
“I was praying like a champion on the sidelines,” Gattuso said. “I just wanted to see these guys get a break. This is a good group of kids. It’s really hard (to lose) when they work as hard as they do, all the time they put in. They just kept playing. Every week.”
Stark, whose career-high was a 51-yard field goal, said he was hoping to get the ball from his game-winning kick to take as a souvenir.
“I was like, ‘wow! What just happened?” Stark said about his misses in the fourth quarter. “I thought I would get another chance, I just had to be ready. I was fortunate to get it through. They all count.”
twilkin@timesunion.com 518-4545415 @tjwilkin