Big Wins for Bengals, Bombers, Pioneers and Seagulls
BUFFALO STATE 35, Hartwick 10
Ryan Carney (Olean/Olean) finished with nine catches for 229 yards and three touchdowns and Buffalo State (6-3/4-3) scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from visiting Hartwick (2-7/1-6) for a 35-10 victory in an Empire 8 contest today at Coyer Field.
Dan Serignese (Port Jefferson/Vandermuelen) and
Kyle Hoppy (Orchard Park/Orchard Park) split time at quarterback today for the Bengals. Serignese started and was 7 of 11 for 93 yards with a touchdown, while Hoppy went 11 of 18 for 225 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
The Bengals defense allowed just 266 yards of total offense, including minus-9 rushing yards for the game, and produced five turnovers, including four interceptions. Buffalo State made eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage with five sacks.
Anthony Sanders (Buffalo/McKinley) finished with 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Hartwick quarterback John Garcia (Warwick/Warwick Valley) finished 16 of 46 for 271 yards with four interceptions. Carl Holmes (Cuba/Cuba-Rushford) led the Hawks' receiving corps with five catches for 119 yards and added a rushing touchdown.
Buffalo State led 7-0 after a sloppy first half by both offenses. Hartwick drove into Bengals' territory on the game's opening possession, but a
Mitch Thomas (Buffalo/Sweet Home) interception on the 1-yard line ended the threat.
FULL STORY
ITHACA 19, St. John Fisher 8
The Ithaca College football team forced five St. John Fisher turnovers and won 19-8 at Growney Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Bombers clinched a share of the Empire 8 title, and earned the league's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament. It is the second consecutive season that Ithaca has won the league and advanced to the NCAAs.
Ithaca is 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the Empire 8. St. John Fisher is 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the conference. The Cardinals could earn a share of the Empire 8 title with a win next weekend against Alfred, but Ithaca holds the tiebreaker and automatic bid. The Bombers conclude the regular season Nov. 15 at Cortland, with kickoff at noon.
The teams traded field goals in the first half, with St. John Fisher converting twice and Ithaca's
Max Rottenecker converting twice, from 37 and 50 yards out.
St. John Fisher went ahead 6-3 with 18 seconds left in the second quarter, but Ithaca worked quickly to tie the game before the half. A short kickoff was fielded by Chris Friedlander and returned to Ithaca's 43 with 13 seconds left on the clock. Dempsey connected on passes to
Josh Oliver and
Chris Bauer to move to Fisher's 33-yard line, and Rottenecker made a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to tie the score 6-6.
Fisher had the opening possession of the third quarter and moved to midfield before Ithaca forced its second turnover of the game.
Anthony Domenick forced a fumble that was recovered by
Sam Carney. Ithaca drove 52 yards in 10 plays and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by
Tom Dempsey, who scrambled free on a third-down passing play and raced inside of the left pylon. The extra-point kick attempt was blocked by St. John Fisher and returned for a two-point defensive conversion.
FULL STORY
UTICA 35, Alfred 14
The Utica College football team picked up a huge win on senior day as the Pioneers downed Empire 8 foe, Alfred University 35-14 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. UC scored 21 unanswered points to secure the victory.
With the win, UC improves to 6-3 on the year and 4-3 in the E8. The Pioneers tied the school record for wins in a season and collected six wins for just the third time in program history. This is also just the second time Utica has defeated Alfred as the Saxons hold a 12-2 advantage in the all-time series.
Senior
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) recorded two touchdown catches and added one punt return TD to lead the Pioneers. Running backs
Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) and
J'Von Evans (Utica, NY/Proctor) added the other scores for Utica.
UC jumped out to a 7-0 lead just over five minutes into the game as Acevedo scored his first career punt return touchdown, by taking it 57 yards to the house. The Saxons rebounded with 4:47 left in the first quarter as quarterback Tyler Johnson threw a 14-yard pass to Isiah Young to even the score.
UC went on top 14-7 just 34 seconds into the second quarter as senior Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) connected with Acevedo for a 32 yard pass to cap off a 76-yard drive by the home team. Alfred was able to even the score again with a 1-yard run by Johnson to send the teams into the locker room tied 14-14 at the half. FULL STORY
SALISBURY 40, Brockport 28
The Salisbury University football team celebrated senior day with a 40-28 victory against the State University of New York at Brockport at a brisk Sea Gull Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Salisbury (5-4, 4-3 Empire 8) jumped out to a 9-0 lead, but would see the Golden Eagles stay within striking distance until the third quarter when the Sea Gulls scored 21-straight points to pull away.
SU ran for 307 yards, led by sophomore superbackConnor Canonico's 123 yards, and went for a total of 412 yards of offense with sophomore quarterback Ryan Jones completing 5-of-7 passes for 76 yards, with two touchdowns, in his first career start.
It was one of those passing touchdowns that got the scoring started just three and a half minutes into the game, capping a game-opening 76-yard drive. Jones drew the defense in with a play fake and sophomore slot Aarron Moore was wide open on the right side in the end zone.
Brockport (5-4, 3-4 Empire 8) would go three-and-out on its first drive and the Sea Gulls would move again, advancing to the Golden Eagle 16-yard line before stalling. Salisbury would call on freshman kickerAlex Potocko, who was good from 37 yards for the 9-0 SU lead, the longest Salisbury field goal since October 20, 2012 against Alfred University when Eric Hart booted a 37-yard field goal.
The two-possession score would give the Sea Gulls the lead for good, but the Golden Eagles would cut into the margin twice, before Salisbury would pull away. Brockport got its first touchdown with 3:59 left in the first quarter, making the score 9-7. FULL STORY