Fisher and Hartwick Close Regular Season with a Win
St. John Fisher 48, Alfred 13 (
Box Score)
The St. John Fisher College football team scored 41 unanswered points in the second quarter as the Cardinals defeated Empire 8 rival Alfred University 48-13 in the ninth annual Courage Bowl Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium.
With the win, Fisher, now 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Empire 8 will await word from the NCAA Division III Selection Committee. The Cardinals are vying for one of the remaining five at-large bids that will be chosen Sunday evening.
The Cardinals had the ball to begin the game, but the possession wouldn't last long as quarterback
Tyler Fenti threw into coverage resulting in an interception at Fisher's own 45 yard-line.
The Saxons would take advantage of the early mistake, driving 45 yards on 13 plays, including a big fourth down conversion to keep the drive alive. Alfred would eventually take an early 7-0 lead after Tyler Johnson scored on the quarterback keeper.
Two possession later, Fisher tied the score. After being forced out of the pocket and nearly dropped behind the line, Fenti broke away from Alfred's pursuit and scrambled for the first-down. The Cardinals were further aided on the play by a 15-yard penalty as Alfred was flagged for a late-hit, advancing the ball to the Saxon 32-yard line. The extra yardage would pay off after a one-handed grab by Rudy in the corner of the endzone to knot things up at 7-7.
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Hartwick 21, Utica 10 (
Box Score)
The Hartwick football team got out to a 21-3 lead at halftime and the defense held Utica to just one touchdown late in the fourth quarter as the Hawks came away with a 21-10 victory over the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The win gives the Hawks a 6-4 overall record and 3-4 mark in the Empire 8 Conference which are the most since 2008. Utica ends its season with a final record of 3-7 overall and 1-6 in the E8.
The Hawks came out firing in the first quarter as they scored on their first two drives of the game. Hartwick started its first possession at midfield after
Travis Samuels (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) took the opening kickoff 31 yards.
Kurtis Ahart (Spencer, NY/Spencer Van Etten) ran twice for 22 yards and aided by a Utica facemask penalty, Hartwick had the ball at the Utica 13. After Ahart was stopped for a loss, quarterback
John Garcia (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) connected with
Tanner Williams (Eagle Bridge, NY/Hoosick Falls) for the touchdown and with
Alexander Tesoriero's (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) extra point, 'Wick was up 7-0 with 12:35 remaining in the opening quarter.
After the defense forced a three and out from UC, the Hawks got the ball back at their own 39 yard line. Ahart rushed for two yards to the 41. Garcia then connected with Williams for 8, 33, and finally 18 yards for Hartwick's second touchdown of the day and with Tesoriero's extra point, it was 14-0 'Wick with 8:48 showing on the clock.
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Cortland 28, Ithaca 24 (
Box Score)
The 20th-ranked Ithaca College football team wrapped up its regular season with a last-minute defeat at the hands of visiting Cortland 28-24 on Saturday at Butterfield Stadium. Cortland scored the winning touchdown with 1:08 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 41-yard touchdown pass.
Ithaca wraps up the regular season with an 8-2 record and won the Empire 8 with a 6-1 mark in conference play. The Bombers claimed the league's automatic qualification spot to the 2013 NCAA Division III Football Championship. Ithaca's opponent and game location will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m. at
NCAA.com. Cortland is 6-4.
The back-and-forth game included five lead changes and three ties. Cortland took a seven-point lead on three occasions before Ithaca tied the score each time at 7-7, 14-14 and 21-21 before the Bombers eventually went ahead for the first time at 24-21 with 9:24 left in the fourth quarter. That set the stage for Cortland's late-game score. Each team committed three turnovers, but two of Ithaca's turnovers came in the fourth quarter.
Cortland took a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard run from Dylan Peebles with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter. After Ithaca went three-and-out, Cortland's punt returner fumbled and it was recovered by the Bombers. On the next play from scrimmage, Ithaca wide receiver
Vito Boffoli (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) took a handoff from quarterback
Tom Dempsey (Andover, Mass./Andover)on a slot end around, and threw the ball downfield to receiver
Joel Lynch (Fords, N.J./Bishop George Ahr) for a 37-yard touchdown.
The Red Dragons regained the lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hughes to Joel Nunez with 5:50 left in the second quarter.
Ithaca knotted the score again before halftime with a 16-play, 75-yard drive that covered five minutes, 39 seconds on the game clock and was capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass from Dempsey to Boffoli with 16 seconds left in the half to tie the score 14-14.
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