Football | 11/17/2019 5:59:26 PM
SUNY Cortland will host Hobart College in the 2019 New York Bowl at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23 from the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The New York Bowl is a partnership between the Empire 8 and Liberty League in which top teams not selected for the NCAA Division III Championship are invited to participant in the regional bowl game. The host site rotates between the two conferences.
Both teams come into Saturday’s matchup with identical 8-2 records. Cortland finished 5-1 in Empire 8 regular season play, while Hobart was 4-2 in the Liberty League.
Cortland, who began the year by winning its first seven games, was ranked as high as No. 18 in both the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association national polls. The Red Dragons are making their first postseason berth since playing in the 2017 New York Bowl.
Cortland has outscored its opponents, 390-211 in 2019. The Red Dragons wrapped up the regular season by falling to Ithaca College, 32-20 on Nov. 16 in the Cortaca Jug in front of a Division III record crowd of 45,161 fans from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
Red Dragons senior quarterback Brett Segala has thrown for 2,553 yards and 21 touchdowns. Senior running back Zach Tripodi leads Cortland 1,159 yards rushing on 211 carries and 11 touchdowns, while sophomore Cole Burgess has 904 yards receiving on 52 catches and eight touchdowns in 2019. He also has a kickoff return for a score. Defensively, senior Gregory Alfieri leads Cortland with 92 tackles, while junior Dylan Dubuque is right behind with 81 stops. Junior Devin Smith has a team-high seven sacks, while classmates Evans Riviere and Stone Murray lead the squad with three interceptions apiece.
Hobart is making its first postseason appearance since 2016. The Statesmen are out-scoring their opponents, 281-181 in 2019. Hobart has won three straight contests, including a 51-20 victory over Rochester to wrap up the regular season. The Statesmen average 344.3 yards of offense per game, while allowing an average of 332.9 yards.
Senior quarterback Ryan Hoffman has thrown for 1,988 yards and 18 touchdowns this season, while classmate Brian Haeffner leads the team in rushing with 571 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and six scores. Senior wide receiver Jake Catalioto has a team-best 52 catches for 647 yards and four scores. On defense, junior Emmett Forde leads Hobart with 75 tackles, including 20 for a loss, five sacks and two interceptions. Senior linebacker David McCarthy has 73 tackles and three sacks, while fellow senior Andrew Koonz has a team-best five interceptions.
The New York Bowl will mark the first meeting between Cortland and Hobart since 2005. Cortland won the inaugural New York Bowl in 2017, defeating Union, 35-28.
The New York Bowl between the Empire 8 and Liberty League joins a list of other Division III regional bowl games. The Centennial-MAC Bowl Series features two bowls against those respective Pennsylvania-based conferences. The New England Bowl Partnership features two bowl games between teams from the Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC), the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC), the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is also hosting four games for its member institutions at the University of Delaware Stadium.
Admission will be $5 for ages 13 and over, free for youth 12 and under and free for Cortland and Hobart students, with ID.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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