Long Branch, New Jersey, senior running back returns from injury to score two touchdowns, including game-winner in double-overtime

Corbett returned to the field and posted his third 100-yard game of the season and rushed for two touchdowns, including the winning score in double-overtime (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce)

EASTON, Mass. (October 21, 2023) – Senior running back Jermaine Corbett scored his second touchdown of the day with a five yard run in double-overtime to lift Stonehill College to a 22-19 triumph over Sacred Heart University in Northeast Conference football action on a rainy Homecoming at Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Corbett's career-high 33^rd carry of the afternoon answered a go-ahead 25-yard field goal by Sacred Heart senior Sam Renzi on the Pioneers second possession of overtime, scoring the deciding touchdown five plays later. He rushed for 16 of Stonehill's 25-yards on its final possession and finished the day with 146 yards for his third 100-yard game of the season (seventh career) in his return after a two-week absence to injury.

Renzi missed a 40-yard field goal that would have given Sacred Heart the win in the first overtime after Stonehill was unable to get a first down on its first possession, having a touchdown nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty.

Murphy posted a career-high 13 tackles, marking his third-straight double-digit tackle game to pace the defense (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce)

Stonehill also got a career-high 76 receiving yards from junior tight end Noah Canty on five receptions and a touchdown that knotted the score with 7:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and would prove to force overtime. Junior quarterback Ashur Carraha finished with 184 total yards, completing 11-of-28 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown, while adding another 32 yards on eight carries.

Seniors Sam Murphy and Micah Brown each notched double-figure tackle totals to lead a Stonehill defense that buckled down and held Sacred Heart to just one touchdown and four field goals – and just six points in regulation after the first quarter before the offense was able to get on track. Murphy reached double-figures for the third-straight game, totaling a career-high 13 tackles (nine solo), including 3.0 for a loss of six yards, a sack and a quarterback hurry, while Brown added a season-high ten (four solo) for his second career double-digit game.

Senior Anthony LaMonica contributed a career-best eight stops (seven solo), including 2.0 for a loss of three, and 1.0 sacks for a loss of one, a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries.

Senior running back Jalen Madison paced the Sacred Heart offense with 110 yards rushing on 20 carries, while postgrad Malik Grant scored the Pioneers lone touchdown, while totaling 61 yards on 21 carries. Renzi converted 4-of-5 field goals for the afternoon, scoring 13 of Sacred Heart's 19 points for the day.

Postgrad Nick Foglia led the Sacred Heart defense with seven tackles (four solo), including 2.0 for a loss of ten yards, 1.0 sacks for a loss of nine. Senior Carson Primrose added seven stops (five solo), including 1.0 for a loss of six, while classmate Asheen Jiles contributed four solo tackles, an interception that he returned 27 yards and a pass breakup.

FIRST QUARTER

• Canty posted a career-high 76 receiving yards and scored his second career touchdown (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce)

  Renzi opened the scoring with a 28-yard field goal on Sacred Heart's second possession of the game after Stonehill handed the Pioneers great field position with a muffed punt.
• Stonehill grabbed the lead on its next possession as Corbett capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive with a four-yard run with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter, marking the Skyhawks 12^th double-digit play scoring drive of the season.
• Sacred Heart reclaimed the lead with 1:34 remaining in the quarter on its next possession with Grant finishing off an eight-play, 69-yard drive, with a one-yard touchdown run.

SECOND QUARTER

• The teams traded field goals in the second quarter, with Renzi delivering a 24-yarder with 9:32 to play at the end of a 13-play, 58-yard drive.
• Senior Perry Shelbred pulled Stonehill back within a field goal with a 34-yard try with 2:23 to go before halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• Sacred Heart scored the only three points of the third quarter with Renzi converting from 41-yards with 9:25 remaining.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Stonehill knotted the score with Canty's first touchdown of the year with a 41-yard catch and run from Carraha down the middle of the field with 7:50 to go, missing a chance to push in front due to a miscue on the snap on the extra point attempt.

OVERTIME

• Sacred Heart won the coin toss and opted for the second possession of the first overtime. Renzi would miss a 40-yard field goal for the win after Stonehill was unable to score on the first possession.
• Renzi added his fourth field goal on Sacred Heart's possession in the second overtime, this from 25-yards, but Stonehill marched to its winning score in five plays thanks to Corbett's second touchdown of the day.

LaMonica totaled a career-high eight tackles, including 2.0 for loss and a sack (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce)

Noteworthy

• Stonehill improves to 5-1 in overtime games under head coach Eli Gardner with today's win.
• The Skyhawks have won two-straight overtime games, both with a running back delivering a walk-off win after a go-ahead field goal by the opposition in double-overtime. Current junior running back Jarel Washington walked off a 33-30 double-overtime triumph at Bloomsburg University to kick off the 2022 season.
• This afternoon marked the first overtime game at W.B. Mason Stadium since a 41-35 Family Weekend triumph over Bentley University in 2017.
• Corbett has scored two touchdowns in three of the five games he has played this season, reclaiming the NEC lead with seven touchdowns after missing the last two games. He moved into a tie with Anthony McSharry, '99 for fourth in Stonehill history with 18 career touchdown carries in 20 career games played.
• Shelbred moved into tenth on Stonehill's career scoring list with 145 points after his four points today.
• Murphy's three-straight double-figure tackle games give him four over his career.
• This afternoon marked Sacred Heart's first trip to Easton to face Stonehill since 1995 and Stonehill is now 6-2 all-time against the Pioneers, including a 3-1 home mark after the first meeting all-time at W.B. Mason Stadium.

Up Next:

Stonehill (3-4, 2-2 NEC) is back on the road next Saturday, when it visits Wagner College for an NEC matchup on Staten Island at noon. The Skyhawks will return home on Saturday, November 18, when it wraps up the 2023 season with a Senior Day matchup with LIU here at W.B. Mason Stadium at 1 p.m. Sacred Heart (1-7, 1-4 NEC) hosts Duquesne University next Saturday at noon.

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