Know the opponent: Wagner
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With the 2017 Bryant University football season less than two months away, Bryant Athletics will take a look at all 11 opponents the Bulldogs will face this season.
The Bulldogs will remain on the road in week 9, as they travel to Staten Island to face Wagner College on Oct. 28.
Opponent: Wagner (Website)
Date|Time: Saturday, Oct. 28 | TBA
Location: Hameline Field (Staten Island, N.Y.)
All-time series: Bryant leads, 6-3
First played: Sept. 27, 2008 | Bryant 24, Wagner 14 (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Last played: Oct. 22, 2016 | Bryant 27, Wagner 17 (Smithfield, R.I.)
Series History: Bryant and Wagner will be meeting for the 10th time this season. The Bulldogs hold a 6-3 lead in the all-time series thanks to a 27-17 victory last year in Smithfield. Bryant had traded wins with Wagner from 2009-2015 but has now won back-to-back games for the second time in the series. The Black and Gold will always remember their first win over the Seahawks because it was the programs first win over a Division I program. Bryant is 3-2 on Staten Island.
Last time they met: Bryant relied on the play of its special teams to earn a 27-17 victory over Wagner on a cold and damp afternoon in October. Then-junior Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) finished with 180 kick return yards, including a 97-yard TD return.
Sewall opened the second half with a 60-yard kick return that led to a Ricky Perez field goal to make it 13-7. Wagner would answer with a field goal of its own but then decided to kick to Sewall again. The speedster shook off a shoestring tackle along the Bulldog sideline, cut all the way across the field and picked up a huge block from Keenan Thompson on his way to the endzone for the score. The 97-yard return was the second-longest in program history.
Dalton Easton also made history in the game, throwing his 57th career TD pass to set the school record. His 23-yard strike to classmate Taylor Barthelette put Bryant up 10 with just over 11 minutes to play in the game.
Throwback: Sewall's kick return score marked the second-straight year the Bulldogs have had one against the Seahawks. Back in 2015, Jose Depadua returned three kicks for a single-game program record 182 yards, including a 94-yard touchdown in Bryant's 40-10 victory on Staten Island. Depadua' 94-yard return made it 33-7 in the third quarter, and he later added a 76-yard kick return to set up a Ricardo McCray score. Depadua finished his career as the all-time program leader in kick return scores (3) and eighth all-time in all-purpose yards (2,340).