Stewart leads Bengals to come-from-behind win

Dave DeLuca/The Record

Dale Stewart scored four touchdowns for the Bengals in their first game of the season.

Jahvon Graham, Reporter
September 3, 2016

The Buffalo State Bengals opened up their 2016 season with a home contest against Otterbein. They started the season off on a good foot with a nail biting 29-26 win.

With it being the first game of the season, there was a lot of sloppy play in the variety of fumbles along with penalties. The Bengals got called for a total of 14 penalties, which ended up costing them 126 yards. The offense seemed a little out of rhythm and found themselves down 26-14 with 11:18 remaining in the 4th quarter.

Having scored the previous two touchdowns of the contest, Dale Stewart found the end zone two more times, the last of which being with 34 seconds left in the game, while adding the 2-point conversion to give the Bengals the lead 29-26. He also racked up 132 rushing yards to go with 22 receiving yards to lead his team to the win.

“I wasn’t really worried about the fact of us winning the game, it was our chemistry. It was a lot of new people, new line, and freshman so we just had to gain our chemistry,” Stewart said. “We can keep everything the same way, just fix our mistakes and get better from it. For me I have to keep trying to do everything I can to get in the end zone.”

Junior starting quarterback Kyle Hoppy went 17-37 for 202 yards with an interception. Senior wide receiver Madison Wesolowski led the team in receiving with 10 catches for 118 yards. Junior linebacker Bart Mazzara led the team with nine total tackles.

Key moments:

  • Dale Stewart 6 yard TD run (7-0)
  • 1-yard TD run Otterbein (7-7)
  • Punter tackled in end zone, safety Otterbein (9-7)
  • Buffalo State defense forces 22 yard FG Otterbein (12-7)
  • Failed 4th & 1 conversion, turnover on downs at Otterbein 4 yard line (12-7)
  • Fumble Dale Stewart recovered by Otterbein (12-7)
  • Blocked FG by Buffalo State Junior defensive lineman Khalil Sommerville (12-7)
  • Kyle Hoppy interception (12-7)
  • 45-yard TD pass Otterbein (19-7)
  • Dale Stewart 5 yard TD run (19-14)
  • Failed 4th down conversion, turnover on downs at Otterbein 8 yard line.
  • TD Otterbein (26-14)
  • 4th & 1 converted by Dale Stewart for a 2 yard TD run (26-21)
  • 4th & 5 converted, 6 yard pass from Hoppy to Nick Jones
  • 2-yard TD run by Dale Stewart, his 4th of the game (29-26)

The Bengals next contest will be in two weeks when they host Alfred State on September 17 at noon.

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