Football | 11/12/2022 3:57:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY - The Utica University football team capped off the best regular season in program history after taking down the St. John Fisher University Cardinals 35-21 on Saturday for its ninth win of 2022.
The Cardinals started the afternoon on offense, but the Utica defense forced a three-and-out following a trio of incomplete passes. The Pioneers began its first drive of the game on the Fisher 15 yard line following a botched Cardinals punt.
Utica took just under four minutes off the clock before Braeden Zenelovic connected with Joey Nare through the air for a free play 25 yard touchdown pass following an offsides call on Fisher. The Pioneers went up 7-0 following Corey Lichtman's PAT.
On the sixth play of Fisher's next drive, Dan Amady intercepted a pass and returned it to the Pioneers' 48 which set up another Utica score eight plays later for a 14-0 lead.
The Pioneers jumped ahead 21-0 on Zenelovic's second touchdown pass of the game that came at the 12:33 mark in the second quarter. However, Fisher cut its deficit back down to 15 points after a 10 play, 78 yard ensuing drive ended with a four yard touchdown run. The point after would be unsuccessful to make it a 21-6 game in favor of the Pioneers.
With 2:38 left in the first, the Cardinals took over on midfield after Utica turned the ball over on downs. Fisher went down the field in three plays and in under one minute to score and close the gap to 21-12. However, the Pioneers denied the Cardinals of its two-point conversion attempt to stay ahead by two possessions.
With under one minute to play in the first half, Zenelovic's pass attempt was picked off at the Cardinals eight yard line which ultimately took the game into halftime with Utica ahead 21-12.
Utica possessed the ball for 16:32 in the first half while also totaling 182 yards on offense to Fisher's 158. Zenelovic went 11-for-15 passing for 138 yards, two scores and an interception in the first half while Travis Decker was his top receiver with four catches for 70 yards.
The Pioneers' offense regrouped coming out of the locker room as the team opened the third quarter with a five play, 57 yard touchdown drive after an unsportsmanlike penalty on Fisher started the Utica drive at the Pioneers' 43. On the third play of the drive, Zenelovic and Nate Palmer connected for 43 yards through the air while Decker brought in his first touchdown of the game two plays later from three yards out. Lichtman's PAT extended Utica's lead to 28-12.
The rest of the third quarter was all about defense. Fisher's first drive of the second half chewed up 6:39 as the team went 64 yards over 13 plays but eventually turned the ball over on downs. Utica's second drive of the half was also lengthy, going nine plays and 44 yards before the team punted the ball away inside the Cardinals' 10 yard line. The Pioneers forced another Fisher three-and-out to close the third and enter the final 15 minutes with the ball at the Cardinals' 40.
However, Utica was forced to punt after three plays and -3 yards while Fisher turned around and punted themselves on their next drive with 9:30 to play. The decision to punt for the team's own 44 paid off as the kick went for 55 yards and was down at the Utica 1, leading to a safety on the Pioneers' first play to make the score 28-14.
Following the safety, Fisher started with the ball on its own 24 looking to make it a one passion game. The home team drove 71 yards down the field on 11 plays and scored on a 3rd and 10 from the Utica 15 to close the gap to 28-21. However, the drive ate up over 5:30 off the clock, giving the Pioneers the ball back on their own 25 with 3:57 to play.
Utica iced the game on a historic throw from Zenelovic to Palmer. With 1:39 to play in the game, Zenelovic dropped back and lofted one up to Palmer who was 27 yards away in the back of the end zone. Palmer came down with the ball to set a new single season program record with his 16th receiving touchdown of the year. The score also put the final nail in the contest as the Pioneers walked away from Fisher with a 35-21 week 11 win.
On offense, Zenelovic finished 22-for-28 passing with 290 yards and four touchdowns. Decker led the receivers with 88 yards on six catches and one score while Palmer finished with four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.
John Stroughn dominated on defense with a career-high four sacks while leading the team with 12 total tackles. Anthony Novello, Anthony McDonald, James Prastio and Amady all had seven or more tackles as well.
Utica (9-1, 5-1 Empire 8) will now look to Sunday's NCAA Division III Football Tournament selection show with hopes of earning an at-large bid into what would be the program's first ever tournament appearance. The selection show will begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 13 and will be streamed via
https://www.ncaa.com/?utm_campaign=inline-superpage.
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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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