Fisher Wins 10th Straight Courage Bowl
The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College team erupted for 404 yards on the ground, including a game-high 187 yards from
Tony Fusco, to defeat The College at Brockport 36-20 in Courage Bowl X in front of an announced crowd of 9,220.
With the win, No. 8 Fisher is now a perfect 10-for-10 in Courage Bowl contests with this being the first-ever Empire 8 Conference matchup between the two squads.
Fisher improves to 2-0 on the year with the win and 1-0 in Empire 8 play while the Golden Eagles fall to 2-1. 0-1, respectively.
Fusco gained 187 yards on just 21 carries and scored one touchdown in each half. Freshman running back
James Chambers was equally explosive and also scored two touchdowns. Chambers rushed for 126 yards on 12 carries and caught one pass for a 59-yard touchdown receptions. He also had 81 yards on kick returns.
The defense did its job to get off the field on the first series of the game, allowing for the Fisher offense the opportunity to score first. Fisher did just that going 73 yards in just three plays, all on the ground, with Chambers scoring from 24 yards out. Fusco carried the first two times on the drive racking up a total of 49 yards.
Brockport suffered a large blow on its third series as starting quarterback Wayne Bonsell suffered an injury, sidelining him for the rest of the game.
Fisher made good on its ensuing possession with Chambers finding paydirt once again, this time through the air on a 59-yard touchdown. The freshman running back snuck out of the backfield on a wheel route going untouched down the sideline to the endzone to put Fisher up 13-0 after the mixed extra point with :31 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The score remained 13-0 until Fisher sustained it longest drive of the half: an-11 play, 69-yard drive capped off by a 24 yard field goal from
Greg Lohrman less than two minutes to play in the second quarter.
Still in search of its first point of the game, Brockport took to the air only to have senior linebacker
Mike Donitzen pick off Brockport quarterback Chase Venuto in Golden Eagle territory. Just three plays later, Fusco scored from a yard out. Fisher racked up 203 yards rushing in the first half, taking a 23-0 lead into the break.
In desperate need of a momentum change, the Golden Eagles got just that blocking a Lohrman punt. The first-time Courage Bowl participants cashed in two plays later on a two yard rush to cut into the visitors lead 23-7.
The Cardinals were quick to slash the Brockport momentum on their next drive going back to the ground game, which was successful all night. On just the second play from scrimmage, Fusco took a handoff to the right side breaking several tackles and outrunning the rest on a 50 yard scamper. Fisher led 30-7 early in the third quarter.
Senior quarterback
Tyler Fenti scored on a one-yard run with 10:12 left to make it 36-14 for Fisher's final points.
Fenti finished the game with 34 rushing yards and 89 passing yards on just three completions.
Chris Smith rushed for 40 yards on 10 carries, while
Nathan Nigolian caught two passes for 30 yards.
Defensively, Fisher forced three interceptions.
Alec Mortillaro intercepted a pass in the first quarter, while,
Paul Leavell intercepted a pass in the endzone in the fourth quarter.
Donitzen and
Peter DiMilia led the Fisher defense with seven tackles each.