Lifelong Friends and Teammates Heslop and Morrison Guide the Seawolves into CAA Play on Saturday Aga

TONY BROOK, N.Y. -- Defensive backs Gavin Heslop (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac HS) and TJ Morrison (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac HS) have been playing football together since they were eight years old and this Saturday, the Stony Brook defensive backs take the field together once again as the Seawolves open CAA Football play against Richmond at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday's match-up is the CAA Football Game of the Week and will be broadcast live on College Sports Live/CBS Digital. And as always, Saturday's game can be heard live on the Seawolves Radio Network (103.9 FM LI News Radio. THE SERIES This will be the fifth meeting between the two CAA Football schools. The Seawolves tied up the series 2-2 with a 28-21 victory in Richmond last season. Each team has won a game in LaValle Stadium too. QUICK HITTERS • The Seawolves open their sixth season as member of CAA Football on Saturday. Stony Brook is 4-1 in the previous conference openers. • Stony Brook is 10-10 in season openers since moving to Division I in 1999. The Seawolves have won three of the last five openers, including the 13-9 victory over North Dakota that opened the 2016 season. • The Seawolves improved to 9-4 in home openers under head coach Chuck Priore with last week's win over Bryant. • Stony Brook's captains for the 2018 season are senior QB Joe Carbone, senior TE Cal Daniels, senior LB Shayne Lawless, senior LB Noah McGinty and senior DL John Haggart. • Senior TE Cal Daniels was named preseason STATS FCS All-American. • Stony Brook, who finished the 2017 season ranked 11th in both polls, sit 19th in the AFCA Coaches poll and 20th in the STATS poll this week. ALL IN THE FAMILY Stony Brook's roster includes a pair of brothers for the 2018 season. Junior DL Brandon Lopez will be joined this season by his brother Ryan, a freshman DL. Junior WR Kyle Vadis is joined on the roster by his brother Ryan, a freshman WR. FIRST TIME STARTERS Six Seawolves picked up their first career starts at Stony Brook in the season-opener at Air Force. RT Chris Infantino, WR Marshall Ellick, RG Jaelen Vazquez, CB TJ Morrison, S EJ Fineran and DT Brandon Lopez. FIRST TIMERS A total of eight Seawolves saw their first collegiate action so far this season. AIR FORCE: TE Peter McKenzie, OL Kyle Nunez, WR JP Roane, K Jack Pruban and OL Cameron Lucas. BRYANT: DB Jabari Reddock. FORDHAM: LB Reidgee Dimanche and WR Delante Hellams Jr. Transfers RB Kameron Pickett, WR Marshall Ellick, TE Tyrone Wheatley Jr., DB Kareem Gaulden, DL Casey Williams and DB CeQuan Jefferson made their Stony Brook debut as well this season. IN THE RANKS The Seawolves are ranked in both polls for the ninth straight time this week. Stony Brook sits ranked 19th in the AFCA Coaches' poll and sit 20th in the STATS FCS poll this week. LET'S GO STREAKING... LBs Noah McGinty and Shayne Lawless have started 26 straight games...TE Cal Danels has started 18 straight games. CAA FOOTBALL OPENERS Stony Brook enters its sixth season as a member of CAA Football. The Seawolves kick off the conference slate this Saturday Richmond visits LaValle Stadium. The Seawolves are 4-1 in the conference openers since joining the league, including last season's 35-18 victory over the Rhode Island. A win at URI in 2013, an OT loss at home to No. 13 William & Mary in 2014, a victory at home over No. 13 New Hampshire in 2015, a home win against No. 2 Richmond in 2016 and a 35-18 victory at URI last season are the results. HOME OPENER Stony Brook opened the home potion of the schedule with the first of five games in LaValle Stadium on Sept. 8. The Seawolves are now 9-4 in the home opener under head coach Chuck Priore, including a victory over Sacred Heart last season. SEAWOLVES PICKED FOURTH IN THE LEAGUE The Seawolves were picked to finished fourth in the CAA by the league's head coaches and SIDs. Conference team. (first place votes) 1. James Madison (21) 241 2. New Hampshire (2) 206 3. Delaware 182 4. Stony Brook 169 5. Elon (1) 168 6. Villanova 164 7. Richmond 127 8. Maine 81 9. UAlbany 78 10. Towson 74 11. William & Mary 55 12. Rhode Island 39 CARBONE CLIMBING THE CHARTS Senior QB Joe Carbone sits among the top in several career records at Stony Brook. The Wethersfieldm, Conn., native enters the Richmond game ranked third in career passing attempts, fourth in career completions and passing yards and tied for fifth in passing touchdowns. He is 10 completions away from moving up to third, 206 attempts from moving up to second, 401 passing yards away from sliding up to third and three passing touchdowns from moving up to fourth. LIOTINE CRACKS THE TOP 10 Senior RB Donald Liotine sits seventh in Stony Brook's career all-purpose yards list with 2899 yards entering the Richmond game. He has 1922 rushing yards, 169 receiving yards and 808 kick return yards. Liotine needs seven yards to move into sixth and 264 yards away from fifth-place. BLOCK AND TOUCHDOWN, AGAIN Stony Brook's special teams have blocked six punts for touchdowns in the past three-plus seasons, including one against Bryant on Sept. 8. The Seawolves accomplished this at USF and against Sacred Heart in 2017, against North Dakota and William & Mary in 2016 and at Rhode Island in 2015. PICK SIX, TWICE...MAKE THAT THRICE Stony Brook has returned three interceptions for touchdowns this season. Against Bryant, sophomore DB EJ Fineran tipped a pass and proceeded to scamper 79 yards for the touchdown in the second quarter, while junior DB Damarcus Miller did him one better and snagged a pass on the five-yard line and took it to the house, 95 yards later as time expired in the fourth quarter. Junior DL Jordan Scarbrough got into the pick-six game against Fordham when he picked off a pass and scampered 25 yards for the score. LONG RETURNS Junior DB Damarcus Miller and sophomore DB EJ Fineran had interception returns for touchdowns against Bryant and both cracked the record books in the process. Miller's 95-yard return is the third longest pick-six in school history and the longest since Ernie Williams' 99-yarder against St. Francis on Nov. 17, 2001. Fineran's 79-yard pick-six is the fourth longest pick-six and fifth longest interception return in the program's history. UP NEXT Stony Brook remains at LaValle Stadium next Saturday to host CAA Football foe Villanova. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Get your tickets here: Buy Season Tickets | Buy Single Game Tickets