E8 Football Goes Undefeated on Opening Day
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference enjoyed a successful opening weekend, as eight teams in action won their non-conference matchup on Saturday, Sept 6.
Empire 8 teams outscored opponents 307-156 on opening day.
Hartwick football's season opening game at Western Connecticut State was postponed due to lightning. The game will resume on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Westside Athletic Complex.
BUFFALO STATE 51, Cortland 48 (OT)
Buffalo State (1-0) and Cortland (0-1) combined for 1,094 total yards and 99 points, and after a wild finish that saw Mark Montana (E. Amherst/St. Joe's) hit a school-record 49-yard field goal at the end of regulation, Montana's 34-yard field goal in overtime sealed a 51-48 victory for the Bengals in the non-conference season-opener today at Coyer Field.
Cortland had the ball in Buffalo State territory with a 48-45 lead as time wound down in regulation. On fourth down with six seconds remaining, the Red Dragons lined up to punt and ran the ball backwards 22 yards and slid with the intent of ending the game, but one second remained on the clock. Montana came on and set a new school record with the 49-yard boot in his first game as a Bengal to stun Cortland and force overtime.
Cortland started with the ball in the extra period, but
Mitch Thomas came up with an interception in the end zone to put the Bengals in position to win the game with a score. After three running plays, Montana finally ended the game with a 34-yard kick that split the uprights.
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BROCKPORT 45, Oberlin 10
Junior
Eric Malave caught a school-record 13 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown leading The College at Brockport Football team to a convincing 45-10 victory over Oberlin College Saturday in the 2014 season opener on Bob Boozer Field at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium in Brockport.
Oberlin (0-1) opened the scoring on its second drive of the game midway through the first quarter when Brockport was forced to punt from its own end zone and gave the Yeomen great field position on Brockport's 24 yard line. After four consecutive runs, Oberlin quarterback Lucas Poggialli threw a scoring pass to Justin Cruz to give the Yeomen a 7-0 lead.
Brockport wasted little time answering as freshman
Nick Vallone returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards and Malave caught consecutive passes with the second going 34 yards for the touchdown.
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UTICA 55, Misericordia 0
The Utica College football team opened its 2014 campaign with a convincing 55-0 victory over host Misericordia on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers are now 10-4 all-time in season-opening contests and they have started the year with a victory in six consecutive seasons. Utica freshman
J'Von Evans returned six punts for a school-record 226 yards, including a 74-yard return for a touchdown, and he also added eight carries for 38 yards and a touchdown to pace the Pioneers with 264 all-purpose yards and two scores.
Sophomore transfer (Sacred Heart University) quarterback
Will Kassar got the nod under center for the Pioneers and did not disappoint as he took his first collegiate carry 56 yards for a touchdown to put the Pioneers on the board, 7-0, early in the first quarter. Kassar finished the day with five carries for 63 yards and two touchdowns and he also completed 6-of-13 passes for 51 yards.
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ST. JOHN FISHER 36, Otterbein 14
Nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College scored the game's final 22 points to earn a 36-14 win over visiting Otterbein University in the Division III football season opener for both teams.
For Fisher, ranked No. 9 in the D3football.com preseason poll, senior quarterback
Tyler Fenti completed 22-of-33 passes for 296 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Senior wideout
Nathan Nigolian scored two touchdowns on the day and finished with eight catches for 148 yards.
After forcing Otterbein to go three-and-out in the game's opening drive, Fisher marched 54 yards on just three plays with
Robert Campese scoring his first career touchdown on a 21-yard pass from Fenti less than two minutes into the contest.
Otterbein, however, responded with a 14-play, 73-yard drive, capped by a two-yard run from Drew Ervin to tie the game at 7s.
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ALFRED 34, Husson 17
The Alfred University football team racked up 439 yards of offense and held visiting Husson University to under 200 as the Saxons trounced the Eagles, 34-17, Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.
AU sophomore quarterback
Tyler Johnson completed 18 of 24 passes for 297 yards and tossed five touchdown passes. Sophomore wideout
Brendan Buisch caught five passes for 86 yards and a pair of TDs.
After a scoreless first quarter, AU went up 7-0 on a 26-yard scoring toss from Johnson to senior tight end
Isiah Young on the second play of the second quarter. Husson knotted the game at 7-7 on Shabashe McIntosh's 80-yard return of the ensuing kickoff.
AU scored two touchdowns in a two-minute span midway through the second. The first came on a 19-yard pass from Johnson to sophomore tailback
Casey Bright with 9:58 left; the second, with left in the half, came on an 87-yard catch and run by junior wideout
Bobby Broddus. Husson made it 20-10 at intermission on a short field goal as the first-half clock expired.
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ITHACA 21, Union 16
The Ithaca College football team began its season with a 21-16 win over Union on Saturday afternoon at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers withstood a Union comeback attempt in the game's final minutes and Ithaca safety
Noah Poskanzer deflected a Union pass in the endzone on fourth down to preserve the victory.
Ithaca continued its incredible run of success in season-opening games. This win gave Ithaca its 34th season-opening victory in the last 38 years.
Quarterback
Tom Dempsey threw three to
uchdown passes to three different receivers for the Ithaca scoring plays and the running-back tandem of Tristan Brown and Shawal Abdur-Rahman combined for 109 yards on 27 carries. FULL STORY
SALISBURY 41, Christopher Newport 32
The Salisbury University football team jumped out to an early lead in its season-opening game at Christopher Newport University on Saturday night at POMOCO Stadium and held off the Captains to claim the 41-32 win.
Salisbury put up 363 yards of total offense and scored more points against the CNU defense than any team since the University of Mount Union put up 72 against the Captains in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2012.
The Sea Gulls were led offensively by junior quarterback John Dunbar, who rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore slot Aaron Moore, who went for 104 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
Salisbury won the coin toss and opted to put its offense on the field first, putting pressure on the Christopher Newport defense, which ranked seventh nationally in 2013 allowing just 12.7 points per game. The move worked as the Sea Gulls (1-0) forced their way down the field, covering 82 yards on 10 plays for the opening score. FULL STORY
FROSTBURG 24, Geneva 19
The game took longer than expected, but in the end Frostburg State opened its 2014 campaign with a 24-19 victory over Geneva, Saturday night.
Just 31 seconds into the first quarter, lightning in the western Maryland area forced an hour-long delay. However, the weather did little to slow down the Bobcats (1-0) on the night as they raced out to a 17-0 lead following the first quarter.
Senior quarterback Ken Emmons set the tone on the first play from scrimmage following the delay as he scampered 66 yards up the Frostburg sideline for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Late in the first quarter, sophomore kicker Isaac Robinson booted a 29-yard field goal that capped a 14-play 43-yard drive for the Bobcats as they led 10-0.
On Geneva's ensuing possession, Bobcat sophomore William Sewell stripped quarterback Aaron Channing on the first play from scrimmage and junior Rowan Pinkett recovered the fumble at the Golden Tornadoe 25. On the very next play, Emmons connected with junior wideout Haydan Roberts for a 25-yard touchdown strike and FSU quickly led 17-0.
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