Fisher Co-Champs; Bengals Retains I-90 Bowl Trophy; Utica Sets School Record
ST. JOHN FISHER 34, Alfred 12
The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College football team defeated host Alfred University 34-12 in its final regular season game to earn a share of the Empire 8 Championship with Ithaca College. The Bombers earn the Empire 8's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships due to their head-to-head win over Fisher last weekend. It was Fisher's first win at Alfred in four tries, with the Cardinals last earning a road victory in 2006, 41-13.
Fisher, ranked No. 24 nationally, has now has earned a share of the Empire 8 title four times in program history (2004, 2006, 2009, and 2014).
With the win Fisher improves to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the Empire, while Alfred falls to 5-5 and 4-4, respectively.
The Cardinals dominated the first quarter running 28 plays for 123 yards to just six and four respectively for the Saxons.
Fisher scored on opening drive of the game marching 61 yards on 10 plays capped off with an 11-yard rushing score from
Tony Fusco. It was his eighth rushing touchdown of the season.
On ensuing kickoff, Fisher recovered a fumble at the 35 yard line on a muffed return attempt by the upback, putting Fisher in excellent field position. The Cardinals made Alfred pay just three plays later on a
James Chambers 23-yard wheel route touchdown, his fourth receiving score of the year.
Tyler Fenti exited the game with an injury on the next possession as the Alfred defensive player was flagged for unnecessary roughness, bringing in
Danny Catan to take over the signal calling duties for the rest of the game.
FULL STORY
BUFFALO STATE 55, Brockport 21
Senior running back
Rich Pete had 180 all-purpose yards and found the end zone three times to break the Buffalo State (7-3/5-3) career record for touchdowns as the Bengals rolled over host Brockport (5-5/3-5) 55-21 to claim the I-90 Bowl for the second-consecutive season today at Kennedy Shriver Stadium. The victory gives the Bengals their first seven-win season since 2000 and puts them in contention for an ECAC Bowl bid.
Pete finished with 72 rushing yards on just 12 carries and became the first Buffalo State back to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing plateau in a season since 2003, bringing his season total to 1,005. He scored on runs of 6, 3 and 14 yards, giving him 42 career touchdowns, breaking the previous record of 40 which has stood since 1996, and Pete also had four catches for 108 yards.
Buffalo State's
Kyle Hoppy posted his second 300-yard game, finishing 13 of 22 for 324 yards with two touchdowns.
Ryan Carney had four catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, and also scored on a 16-yard run.
Tre Jones had 17 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown.
FULL STORY
UTICA 47, Hartwick 24
Senior running back
Jesse Baldassare rushed for four touchdowns as the Utica College football team cemented its best record in program-history with a convincing 47-24 victory over host Hartwick College in Empire 8 Conference play Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers are now in the mix for the program's first ECAC Bowl bid. Bid selections will be released by the ECAC on Monday afternoon.
The Pioneers, 7-3 overall, also finished their Empire 8 schedule with a program-best 5-3 ledger in conference play. Baldassare rushed the ball 30 times for 197 yards and became the College's all-time leading rusher to cap his career-day. He needed 195 yards rushing headed into today's contest to break the school-record for yards rushing in a career. His 197 yard effort did just that, as he surpassed Mike Capra as the College's all-time leading rusher.
Senior quarterback
Connor Butkiewicz added 255 yards on 14 completions, including two touchdowns, while sophomore
Jerred Beniquez added four catches for 90 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown grab to give the Pioneers a 14-3 lead at the 13:00 ledger of the second quarter.
UC's
Anthony Acevedo added four ca
tches for 64 yards, while senior captain Joseph Gerbino caught three balls for 30 yards. FULL STORY
SALISBURY 27, Frostburg 10
The Salisbury University football team traveled to take on Frostburg State University on Saturday and came away with a 27-10 win and the Regents Cup to cap off regular season play. It marks the 11th-straight year that the Regents Cup has been claimed by the Sea Gulls.
Salisbury (6-4, 5-3 Empire 8) came out strong, scoring the first 13 points of the contest and would not let go of the lead, scoring two more touchdowns to pad the score.
Salisbury rushed for 391 yards in the game, with three Sea Gulls running for over 100 yards on the day. Sophomore slot Aarron Moore carried the ball for 112 yards on 10 carries, while junior Jerome Johnson had 107 rushing yards and sophomore Connor Canoniconotched 104 yards.
Frostburg (5-5, 2-6 Empire 8) won the coin toss but deferred, giving SU the first offensive opportunity. The Sea Gulls' first possession consisted of a seven-play, 57-yard scoring drive with a touchdown pass from sophomore Ryan Jones to Moore on a 29-yard connection to take an early 6-0 lead. FULL STORY
Cortland 23, Ithaca 20
Cortland scored a touchdown on a broken field-goal attempt on the final play of the game and defeated the Ithaca College football team 23-20 in the annual Cortaca Jug rivalry game. Ithaca is 7-3 and will play an NCAA Tournament game next weekend. Cortland finished its season with a 5-5 record.
Ithaca held a 20-17 advantage in the final minute before Cortland drove down the field. After three running plays were stopped by the Bombers, Cortland lined up for a field goal as the clock ticked under five seconds. The snap was bounced back to the holder, who eventually controlled the ball. With the timing of the kick askew, holder Luke Hinton stood and rolled to his left and passed to Jon Mannix in the endzone for the winning score.
It is the fifth time in the last six years that the Cortaca Jug game has been decided by six points or less.
The Bombers took control of the game in the early going. A defensive stop and long punt return by
Sam Carney set Ithaca up at the Cortland 14-yard line for its opening possession. Ithaca turned it into seven points on a 2-yard pass from
Tom Dempsey to
Ben Cary and the extra-point kick by
Garrett Nicholson.
FULL STORY