Week 5 Yields Wins for Salisbury, Hartwick, Ithaca and Buffalo State
SALISBURY 37, ST. JOHN FISHER 34 (OT)
After falling behind in the fourth quarter, the Salisbury University football team rallied to force overtime before handing No. 6 St. John Fisher College its first loss of the season, 37-34.
Salisbury (2-2, 1-1 Empire 8 Athletic Conference) found itself trailing, 31-24, with just under six minutes to play, following a 21-yard field goal by St. John Fisher kicker Greg Lohrman.
The Sea Gulls would take over in good field position, at their own 35-yard line, with 5:48 on the clock, after sophomore Aarron Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards. Salisbury would go to work, grinding its offense down the field.
It took 14 plays to cover 65 yards, with only two of the plays going for more than nine yards – a 23 yard pass from junior quarterback John Dunbar to sophomore slot Ryan Kolb on third-and-11, and a 17-yard connection from Dunbar to junior slot Jerome Johnson. Both plays went for first downs as Salisbury had 22 on the day.
It was Dunbar who finished the drive, getting in from 3 yards out, and sophomore Zak Osborne's point after tied the game at 31-31. Dunbar led Salisbury with 136 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
In the overtime, the Cardinals (3-1, 2-1 E8) had the first try, driving to the Salisbury 7-yard line, but the Sea Gull defense stalled the drive, and St. John Fisher settled for a 24-yard Lohrman field goal and the 34-31 lead. FULL STORY
HARTWICK 34, ALFRED 30
Late in the first quarter, Hartwick football trailed visiting Alfred 20-3, but the Hawks turned the tables on the Saxons, outscoring them 20-3 in the second half to earn their first Empire 8 Conference win of the season, 34-30. The Hawks improve to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the league. Alfred drops to 3-2 and 1-2 in E8. The win for Hartwick is its first over the Saxons since 2008.
After the Hawks had forged ahead 28-27 late in the third quarter, a Trevor Monk 39-yard field goal handed the advantage back to Alfred, 30-28, with 6:37 left in the game. But two minutes, 40 seconds later,
John Garcia delivered a pass in the end zone to
Tanner Williams for the duo's third touchdown connection of the day and Hartwick was in front to stay.
AU got the ball back but the Hartwick defense shut them down on four plays and the Hawks ran out the clock after getting the football back.
FULL STORY
ITHACA 27, UTICA 10
The 13th-ranked Ithaca College football team remained undefeated with a 27-10 victory over Utica on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers scored a touchdown in each quarter and used a blocked-punt return touchdown to take a commanding lead in the victory. Ithaca is 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Empire 8. It was Utica's first loss of the year, as the Pioneers are 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
Utica took a first-quarter lead with a 39-yard field goal, but Ithaca responded with a 38-yard touchdown pass from
Tom Dempsey to
Chris Bauer with 2:11 remaining in the quarter to take a 7-3 lead. It was the longest play from scrimmage for either team in the game, and Ithaca never trailed in the remainder of the contest.
A seven-minute touchdown drive in the second quarter extended Ithaca's lead to 14-3. The drive covered 91 yards in 14 plays and was capped by a 6-yard pass from Dempsey to
Vito Boffoli with 1:39 left in the half. It was Boffoli's third receiving touchdown in the last two weeks.
The biggest play of the game came midway through the third quarter. Utica started a drive at its own 28 and went three-and-out. Ithaca broke through the line of scrimmage and
Trevon Perez-Tucker blocked the punt attempt by Utica's Dakota Peel, the ball bounced up into the arms of Ithaca's
Ryan Michaels, who returned the ball 19 yards for a touchdown to give Ithaca a 21-3 lead.
FULL STORY
BUFFALO STATE 31, FROSTBURG 14
Buffalo State allowed just 288 yards of total offense, including 117 through the air and
Rich Pete had his fifth-consecutive 100-yard rushing game to help the Bengals pull away from host Frostburg State (2-3/0-3) for a 31-14 victory today in an Empire 8 contest.
Pete finished with 121 yards and a score on 18 carries.
Kyle Hoppy was just 7 of 15 for 225 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and
Ryan Carney had two catches for 144 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals' offense averaged 8.0 yards-per-play, compared to just 3.9 by the Bobcats.
Shaq Frederick led Buffalo State's defense with 16 tackles, and
John Alessandra finished with 12 stops.
Frostburg quarterback Ken Emmons finished 8 of 23 for 117 yards with an interception. Marcus Smith was the Bobcats' leading rusher with 79 yards on 16 carries.
After Buffalo State went three-and-out to open the game, Frostburg jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a 3-yard touchdown run by Emmons, set up by a 64-yard scamper by Smith.
The Bengals scored the next 17 points, however.
FULL STORY
Standings as of 10/4/14