Stony Brook takes early lead but falls to Rhode Island

After a dip in the rough FBS that resulted in a 42-point shutout loss at San Diego State, Stony Brook was back in the waters of the FCS on Saturday night — literally back in the waters.

The unranked-but-receiving votes Seawolves were ready to kick off their CAA schedule and their home itinerary at LaValle Stadium with a game against Rhode Island, the FCS’ eighth- or ninth-ranked team, depending on the poll.

A deluge of rain pelted the stadium starting late in the afternoon. But it was the lightning in the area that caused a delay from the scheduled 6 p.m. start and then the rescheduled 7:30 start.

At 8:38, the rain was still falling but the white flashes in the dark sky were gone and play got underway. But this FCS game turned out to be rough for SBU, too.

Stony Brook jumped out to a 10-point first-quarter lead, but then the game turned. Devin Farrell threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns as Rhode Island left Long Island with a 31-17 victory despite Roland Dempster’s 167 rushing yards for SBU.

So the Seawolves, after their surprise rise from 0-10 to 8-4 last season in Billy Cosh’s first year in charge, are off to a 0-2 start.

“You play San Diego State, that’s an FBS game, and then you play the No. 9 team in the country back to back, you’ve got a tough schedule,” Cosh said. “But that doesn’t matter . . . We’ve got a lot of things to clean up.”

The Rams rallied for a 24-10 lead by halftime, but Stony Brook got a 3-yard scoring run by quarterback Chris Zellous with 11:28 left in the game. The margin was down to seven after the PAT.

Then East Islip’s Sebastian Regis blocked a 27-yard field-goal try by URI’s Garth White. SBU ball on its 35.

The Seawolves moved to the Rhode Island 30 and had fourth-and-1, but A.J. Pena stuffed Dempster for no gain with 3:10 to go. Antwain Littleton Jr., who rushed for 122 yards, then put the game away with a 15-yard scoring run.

That 10-0 lead didn’t take the Seawolves far.

“I feel like we stopped playing hard,” Dempster said. “We came out swinging. We just have to keep it up throughout the game.”

URI (2-0) began its comeback on a 12-yard TD strike down the middle from Farrell to Marquis Buchanan with 9:10 left in the second quarter.

It took the Rams 42 seconds to get back into the end zone. Leisaan Hibbert, a grad defensive back from Hills East, took a deflected pass from Zellous for a 30-yard pick-6 ride.

White added a 35-yard field goal and Farrell swung a 4-yard scoring pass to Littleton with seven seconds left until halftime.

So 10-0 SBU — built on a 22-yard field goal by Enda Kirby (set up by a 54-yard sprint by Dempster) and a 1-yard TD run by Dempster — had turned into 24-10 URI.

“We’ve got a good team,” Cosh said. “I’m not worried at all.”