Fisher Football Wins Big In ECAC Bowl
BOX SCORE
St. John Fisher College won the 2012 ECAC Northwest Championship Bowl on Saturday, as the Cardinals cruised to a 63-7 win over Vermont’s Castleton State College at Fisher’s Growney Stadium.
With the win, Fisher finishes the 2012 season with a 8-3 overall record. It is the 10
th straight year Fisher has advanced to the postseason and makes the Cardinals 5-1 all-time in ECAC Bowl games.
With the loss, Castleton finishes the season with a 7-4 mark. The Spartans, competing in just their fourth season as an NCAA Division III program, were making their inaugural postseason appearance.
Fisher led 49-0 at intermission – the most point scored in a half in the program’s 26-year history.
The Cardinals took the game’s opening drive 58 yards on five plays with quarterback Ryan Kramer scoring on a 36-yard run less than two minutes into the game.
After forcing the Spartans to go three-and-out on their opening drive, Fisher marched 64 yards on eight plays with Cody Miller scoring a nine-yard run with just under eight minutes left in the first quarter.
Miller was named as the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player. He rushed for 123 yards on 19 carries and became just the fifth player in Fisher history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
Special teams got in on the scoring as well. Junior Ryan Seymour blocked a Spartans punt and scooped up the ball at their 15-yard line to make it 21-0 late in the first quarter.
Kramer tossed three touchdown passes in the second quarter. He hit Kevin Francis for a 25-yard strike down the right sidelines, connected with tight end David Shuey for a nine-yard score and hit Tyler Stell for a 12-yard touchdown pass with two seconds left in the half. The final score was set up after
Holden Coon recovered a fumble at the Castleton seven-yard line.
Senior Christian Zemaitis also scored during the second quarter, reaching the endzone from three yards out. He finished with 106 yards on 17 carries in his final collegiate game.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 56-0 midway through the third quarter on a nine-yard run from Alex Stacy.
Senior back-up quarterback Ahmed Hassanien got in on the scoring as well, plunging into the endzone from a yard out to make it 63-0 going into the fourth quarter.
Castleton scored the game’s only points of the fourth quarter, with Greg Vreeland scoring on a one-yard run with 9:42 left, capping a 14-play, 70-yard drive.
As a team, Fisher racked up 27 first downs and held a 527-133 advantage in total yards, including a season-high 422 yards on the ground.
Kramer led Fisher through the air, completing 8-of-9 passes for 97 yards. He also finished with 45 yards rushing.
Freshman running back Juwan Douglas gained 66 yards on four carries, including a career-long 57-yarder.
Vreeland led the Spartans with 49 yards on the ground and passed for 69 yards on 8-of-16 passing.
Defensively for Fisher, Sean Preish was in on a team-high 10 tackles. Senior Joe Leavell made eight stops.
Travis Tones, Bryant Moore and Kris Jones each recorded a sack.
For Castleton, Brian Bergeron made 15 tackles, while Todd Carr finished with 12 tackles.