St. John Fisher Defeats Rochester in Courage Bowl VI
St. John Fisher College scored the final 28 points of the game and picked up a 49-21 win over University of Rochester in Courage Bowl VI. The game was played at Marina Auto Stadium in downtown Rochester and was dedicated to the children of Camp Good Days and Special Times.
With the win, Fisher improves to 3-0, while the Yellowjackets fall to 0-2.
Fisher jumped out to a 7-0 lead as Kevin Francis returned the opening kickoff 86 yards just 13 seconds into the game.
The Yellowjackets, however, answered right back and marched 68 yards on their first possession of the game and knotted the score at 7-7 on a two-yard run by Chris Bickford.
Fisher regained the ball after Jeff Headwell forced a fumble, which was recovered by Mike Leavell, giving the Cardinals the ball in Rochester territory. Fisher capitalized and FuQuan Borum scored on a one-yard run with 3:39 left.
Rochester tied the game at 14-14 just 11 seconds into the second quarter, as R.J. Napodano scored on an 11-yard pass from Patrick Keegan. The drive was set up after Cainaan Webb intercepted a shuffle pass and rumbled 23 yards to the Fisher 22.
Fisher came right back to regain the lead. After Charles Vetrano recovered a fumble at the Rochester 19, Ryan Schmidt made a one-hand catch in the right corner of the end zone from Tim Bailey, giving the Cardinals a 21-14 lead.
Rochester answered again, this time driving 60 yards on nine plays and scoring on a one-yard plunge by Bickford midway through the second quarter.
Fisher regained the lead at 28-21 with 5:02 left in the second quarter. On a 3rd-and-16 play from the Rochester 23, Bailey connected with Schmidt for their second touchdown of the day.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 35-21 with 1:17 left in the first half. After Brenden Moore made his first interception of the season, giving his team the ball near midfield, Borum scored his second touchdown of the day on a 24-yard run, cutting through a hole created by All-American left-tackle Pete Soehner.
While the first two quarters produced 56 points, the third quarter was scoreless.
Fisher pushed its lead to 42-21 with 10 minutes left in the game. Schmidt scored his third touchdown of the day on a four-yard pass from Bailey. It was the second straight game that Schmidt has caught three touchdown passes in a game, tying the College’s single-game record for the second time in as many weeks.
After holding the Yellowjackets on downs inside the Fisher red-zone, Bailey hit Francis on an 84-yard bomb with just over five minutes left in the game, making it 49-21.
Bailey finished the game with 315 yards passing and four touchdowns. He became the second player in Fisher history to throw for over 6,000 yards in a career.
Schmidt totaled a career-high 11 catches for 138 yards and three scores.
Francis added five catches for a career-high 126 yards. He also had 158 yards on three kickoff returns.
Borum enjoyed his first 100-yard rushing day in a Fisher uniform, finishing with 106 yards on 20 carries with two scores.
For Rochester, Keegan finished the day 24-for-44 for 255 yards and one touchdown. Byron Saggese carried the ball 13 times for 64 yards. Clarence Onyiriuka had six carries for 36 yards, but left the game in the first quarter and did not return.
Thomas Norman led the Yellowjackets in receiving with six catches for 66 yards.
Defensively, Brendan Pidgeon was in on 11 tackles, including eight solo stops.
For Fisher, Byron Rhone was credited with two sacks, while Joe Leavell made a career-high 13 tackles.