Ty Son Lawton (Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics)
Curtis High School product Ty Son Lawton made Stony Brook football history by being the school’s first player ever to be named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Football Preseason Offensive Player of the Year two weeks ago.
The redshirt senior running back, who is majoring in Multidisciplinary Studies, also was selected to the CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team, along with two of his teammates — graduate offensive lineman Kyle Nunez and redshirt sophomore linebacker Tyler King.
Earlier this month, Lawton was selected to the prestigious East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 List, which is comprised of college players who could potentially get drafted, sign as a free agent or qualify for the annual East-West Shrine game. To boot, Lawton also made the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team and the Phil Steele Preseason FCS All-Americans.
The CAA conference annually selects a Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
“I was excited to see that,” Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore said of Lawton receiving the CAA honors. “I really do believe he had that kind of year last year … he’s worked really hard.”
Stony Brook running back Ty Son Lawton (7) is looking to run into the CAA record books. (Photo courtesy of Stony Brook)
Lawton finished the 2021 season as the CAA’s leading rusher with 1,088 yards on 216 carries and was tabbed to the All-CAA First Team. His 1,088 rushing yards were the 10th most in a single-season in program history and the most since Donald Liotine ran for 1,148 yards in 2018.
Lawton led the league in rushing yards per game with 98.9 and was second in rushing touchdowns with 10. At the conclusion of the regular season, he ranked ninth in all of NCAA FCS in rushing, 11th in rushing yards per game, and tied for 24th in rushing touchdowns.
Lawton ran for a career-high 192 yards and two touchdowns vs. Delaware on October 16, 2021. In that game he registered a 99-yard touchdown run, which was the longest play from scrimmage in program history, tied for the longest play in CAA history, tied for the longest rush in all of FCS, and tied for the longest play from scrimmage in all of FCS last season.
“His vision and patience as a runner is really awesome to see,” Stony Brook graduate offensive lineman Kyle Nunez said. “When you go in and break down the film after a game, it’s like ‘wow, he found yards when they weren’t there.’ That’s something special as a runner that you look for as an offensive line. You know you can get three yards and a cloud of dust with him and he’s going to go get those yards when we need it.”
In his career, he’s rushed for 2,004 yards, 20 touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 58 yards and one TD.
Stony Brook opens the season on Sept. 1 vs. rival Rhode Island.
EEP Bandits manager Jason Rigatti and his squad hoist the Borough Cup 11U trophy. (Photo courtesy of Jason Rigatti)
Borough Cup 11U baseball champs
Congrats go out to the EEP Bandits Bandits, who captured the 11U division of the Borough Cup with a 3-1 victory over Brooklyn’s SFX Huskies on Tuesday at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park in St. George.
Trailing 1-0 entering the top of the sixth, Anthony Conti’s three-run single put the Bandits ahead to stay. The inning was set up by singles from Kevin Corson and Josh Ulloa and then a walk led to a bases loaded.
Bandits manager Jason Rigatti reports there was outstanding pitching performances on both sides for a scoreless five innings. EEP Bandits starting pitcher Rob Esposito had a dominant performance firing six innings of two-hit, one-run ball to go along with seven strikeouts.
He was backed by the stellar defense of Joe Neville, Dylan Rigatti and Raymond Minaya.
The Borough Cup, co-founded by Staten Island Gary Perone and former New York Mets closer John Franco in 2010, is a month-long citywide event. Perone also doubles as the Staten Island FerryHawks’ general manager.
Wagner College hoops signing
Wagner head men’s basketball coach Donald Copeland has announced the signing of 6-foot-9 forward Keyontae Lewis.
Lewis joins the Seahawks from Lloyd C Bird High School in Chesterfield, Va., where he was a dominant presence in the paint.
“Keyontae is an exciting prospect with his size and athletic ability and we’re looking forward to working with him immediately and unlocking his potential,” Copeland commented.
With the signing, Wagner’s roster for the 2022-23 season has been finalized, as Lewis joins recent newcomers Lavell Brodnex, Brandon Brown, and Darrius Hughes as well as freshman Julian Brown and transfer Rahmir Moore.
Do you have any good sports news? Send it our way
The Gym Bag publishes on Wednesdays on the web and will appear in the Staten Island Advance shortly after. This is where we will feature short stories, tidbits and morsels about your players or teams going forward in place of the daily game results we used to take.
You can send us interesting information about your team after a strong start to the season, a championship season, a first win, a player who did something extraordinary in a particular game or event, etc.
If you have any news or tidbits like that, please email the sports desk at sports2@siadvance.com where we will evaluate the message and see if the content qualifies for our notebook.
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).
Cookie Settings
© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us).
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.
Ad Choices