Empire 8 Football Report: Week 3 Full of Comebacks
The third week of football competition for Empire 8 teams had enough dramatic and thrilling comebacks to last the entire season possibly. Seven teams found their school names in the win column by the end of Saturday, including five comeback wins.
The most talked about win was by the Bengals. Casey Kacz connected with Ryan Carney for a 10-yard touchdown with just three seconds remaining to lift visiting Buffalo State (2-1) to a stunning 7-6 victory over the No. 1 team in the nation UW-Whitewater (1-1). The win by the Bengals snapped the three-time defending national champions' 46-game winning streak.
Frostburg (2-1) sophomore Ken Emmons connected with Chuky Iweh on a six-yard touchdown pass with 43 seconds left and kicker Jonathan Adams knocked home the extra point to give the Bobcats a 17-16 win over Case Western Reserve.
The Ithaca College football team (2-0) remained unbeaten, rallying to beat winless Union (0-3) 27-24 in overtime Saturday at Butterfield Stadium. Junior quarterback Phil Neumann threw two touchdown passes in the final three minutes and added a third for the game-winning score in overtime. The Bombers trailed 21-7 with 2:49 left in regulation before Neumann threw a pair of touchdown passes 70 seconds apart as Ithaca forced overtime. In the extra session he connected on a four-yard pass to win the game after the Bomber defense held the Dutchmen to a field goal on their possession.
No. 9 St. John Fisher (3-0) stayed perfect in 2012, although it took a little doing. The Cardinals rallied to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, as they battled back to beat University of Rochester 20-16 in Courage Bowl VIII at Fisher's Growney Stadium.
Hartwick, who trailed 27-20 at halftime, outscored visiting Becker 20-0 in the third quarter en route to a 53-41 win. The Hawks racked up a season-high 629 yards of offense and were paced by running back Kurtis Ahart’s career-high 233 rushing yards on the day. 'Wick’ overcame five first-half turnovers for its third straight victory.
Each Empire 8 school now has at least one victory as Alfred University was among the victors. The Saxons bounced back from last weekend's season-opening loss at RPI by pounding host St. Lawrence, 28-7, Saturday afternoon. Alfred forced four St. Lawrence turnovers and held the Saints to 220 yards, including a mere 72 on the ground.
The No. 7 Salisbury University (2-1) football team forced five turnovers and limited North Carolina Wesleyan College to 204 yards of offense in a 69-6 win at Sea Gull Stadium on Saturday.
Utica College lost 45-26 to No. 14 Hobart College. The Pioneers (2-1) trailed by just five points midway through the fourth quarter, but two timely touchdown runs essentially sealed the victory for the Statesmen. It was huge defensive plays and another solid game from the Pioneers' passing unit that kept the contest close down the stretch. UC forced a new single-game record four fumbles (recovered three), blocked one punt, and senior quarterback Andrew Benkwitt, who was making his 33rd consecutive start, threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns. The Pioneers' four forced fumbles is a new program-record.
The Empire 8 begins conference play on Sept. 22. For complete results and coverage of all Empire 8 fall sports - stay tuned to
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