Football | 9/25/2021 6:37:00 PM
KALAMAZOO, MI - A late touchdown from the Alfred University football team led to a 10-7 victory over Kalamazoo College on Saturday from Angell Field.
The Saxons (1-3) gained 185 total yards on the ground. AU also won the turnover battle by a 2-0 margin.
Running back
Kevin Bragaglia (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) finished with a season-high 98 rushing yards along with the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Linebacker
Christopher Cox (Rochester, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland) had a team-high 14 tackles; four of which were for a loss. Defensive lineman
Rodney Bailey (Buffalo, NY/Hutchinson Central Tech) totaled three sacks.
"I was proud of the way the defense stepped up today," Head Coach
Bob Rankl said. "They did a great job of shutting down Kalamazoo's run game. I was happy with how we competed and stuck together. It was great to grind out a win like that on the road."
The Saxons defense set the tone in the opening quarter, forcing Kalamazoo to punt on four occasions. The Hornets put together a 14-play drive that was ended by an interception from linebacker
Wyatt Kiff (Sidney, NY/Sidney Central) in Alfred's end zone for a touchback.
In the final minute of the first quarter, defensive back
Tommy Vaughan (Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North) brought in an interception to give AU the ball at their own 44-yard line. A seven-play drive for the Saxons offense permitted a 20-yard field goal from
Dustin McCaslin (Ashville, NY/Chautauqua Lake) for the early lead.
Kalamazoo compiled an 11-play drive that resulted in a touchdown to take their first lead of the game at the 2:55 mark of the second quarter. Neither team scored again before the end of the first half, as Alfred University trailed 7-3.
The Saxons offense found rhythm in the second half, but a 19-play drive led by quarterback
Connor Englert (Dansville, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) fell short due to turnover on downs on Kalamazoo's 19-yard line. The defense for Alfred University quickly forced a three and out in return, giving the offense the ball with 9:03 remaining in the game.
An eight-play, 61-yard drive was highlighted by 32 rushing yards from Bragaglia, who scored on a five-yard rush with 3:57 to play in the fourth quarter. Kalamazoo got themselves within field goal range in the closing minutes, but a 48-yard field goal attempt from the Hornets fell short, resulting in the victory for AU.
"We will take advantage of our bye this week," Rankl said. "We will use this time to get some of our players healthy. Our focus in practice the next two weeks needs to be for us to continue to improve as a football program. I would like to see us do a better job of taking advantage of scoring opportunities and being more optimistic."
The Saxons will return home to open their Empire 8 play against Hartwick College as part of Homecoming weekend on Oct. 9 at 5pm.