Brockport Wins Courage Bowl XIII
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The No. 22 ranked College at Brockport football team took down the St. John Fisher Cardinals in dominant fashion on Saturday night, winning their first ever Courage Bowl by a score of 38-7 at Growney Stadium. The Golden Eagles are now 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, which marks the first time they've began a season with three straight wins since 2012. Fisher, which had not suffered a loss in the Courage Bowl in 12 previous appearances, moved to 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Empire 8 standings.
Brockport running back
Justin Morrison was the undisputed player of the game tonight, rushing for 227 yards and three touchdowns, including
this highlight worthy play that saw him hurdle multiple Cardinal defenders before bulldozing his way to a first down.
He got the scoring started with 5:42 remaining in the opening quarter of play, when he took a handoff from quarterback
Joe Germinerio and hit a hole on the right side of the line before kicking it into gear for a 35-yard touchdown rush.
After a three-and-out on the ensuing Cardinal drive, the Brockport offense went back to work, orchestrating a 13-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a 29 yard field goal from
Brett Renzi that put the Golden Eagles up 10-0 early in the second quarter. Fisher would respond however, using a 72-yard touchdown pass on their next drive to close the gap to 10-7 with 13:04 left in the half.
As they have so often this year, Brockport was ready to punch right back, using a 42-yard scamper by Morrison to cap off a 7-play, 86-yard scoring drive that extended the lead to 17-7 at the break.
The Golden Eagles came out ready to play in the second half, scoring on their first two possessions to take a commanding 31-7 lead. On the first drive after the intermission, Germinerio orchestrated the offense, completing two deep passes to
Tyree Brown and
Joseph Ortiz to put the Green and Gold on the Fisher 3-yard line where Morrison was there once again to punch it in for his third score of the day.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the next Fisher drive, and when the Golden Eagles got the ball back it was time for the
Tyree Brown show. The freshman caught his second touchdown pass of the season from Germinerio, showing off his speed with a cut and go move before blowing by the Cardinal secondary for the score.
Brockport would add one more touchdown early in the fourth quarter, with
Christian Hollister getting into the action with a one-yard touchdown rush that put Brockport up 38-7. With a four-possession lead, Brockport was able to put it in cruise control for the remainder of the game, though the defense continued to step up, not allowing St. John Fisher back into the red zone after the long touchdown pass.
That defense, which is allowing less than 10 points-per-game through the first three weeks, was outstanding yet again tonight. The Cardinals managed just 270 yards of offense, and were completely shut down in the running game, managing just 46 yards to Brockport's 313.
Nathaniel Keith III led the Golden Eagles in tackles with seven, which included 1.5 sacks for 4 yards.
Matt Szymanski was next up with six tackles, and was one of two Golden Eagles to record an interception along with
Jake O'Connell.
Brown (six catches, 107 yards), and Ortiz (nine catches, 63 yards) were the big receiving threats for Germinerio, who threw for 251 yards and a touchdown.
Jerry Thompson also had a solid day, catching six balls for 59 yards.
Brockport will be back home next Saturday, when they host another Empire 8 opponent in Utica College for a game that's set to kick off at 4 p.m.