Football | 9/10/2022 3:42:00 PM
UTICA, NY - For the fourth time in a five year period, the Utica University football team has won its first two games of the season. Host Utica held visiting Kean without an offensive point for the first three quarters, but a fourth interception by Anthony Novello and consequent insurance touchdown from sophomore running back James Salles provided enough security to overcome a late score by Kean and prevail 21-15 in a non-conference game at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
The Pioneers open the season at 2-0, while Kean falls to 0-2.
Kean amassed a 345-244 advantage in total offense, including a 160-48 rushing yardage gap. The visiting team also had the ball for 37:06 in the game. The Pioneers secured the win through timely offense, tough situational defense, and some costly kicking game miscues by the visiting team.
The blue and orange offense was led by another century mark receiving effort from graduate student Nate Palmer. Palmer made six catches for 138 yards and caught a first quarter touchdown. Joey Nare made two catches for 40 yards, with all of that output occurring in the first half. Salles rushed for 31 net yards and a touchdown. Braeden Zenelovic completed 12 of 22 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown for his second win as a starter. Sam Florio also added a rushing score.
On defense, Anthony Fasano had twelve tackles, while Anthony Novello, Jimmie Warren, Nick Billand, and Anthony McDonald had eight apiece. James Prastio chipped in with seven stops. Josh Powell had 1.5 tackles for loss, while Warren also had a quarterback sack. Novello had an interception.
Kean was led by 11 total tackles from Meir Pittman. Quarterback Robbie Nungesser threw for 185 yards and a late touchdown, and was also Kean's leading rusher with 81 net yards. Donte Jamison accumulated 76 receiving yards.
The squads were a combined 7-of-27 on third down.
The Pioneers landed the first salvo on the scoreboard with an effective, possession oriented drive off the opening kickoff. Led by three pass completions from Zenelovic and a well-crafted blend of run plays, the Pioneers engineered a six-play, 69 yard drive that nibbled 5:03 off the clock. A sharp play by the Utica signal-caller to his most established target finished the job. On a first down from the Kean 21, Zenelovic looked off his man in the flat and took aim downfield to Palmer, who was streaking into the end zone. He heaved a high-arcing ball to the back of the endzone, and Palmer won the matchup against his defender for a 21 yard touchdown reception. The kick was good, and the Pioneers led 7-0 with 9:57 to go in the first quarter.
The scoring vanished for the rest of the quarter between the two offenses, with the only points generated by the Kean defense. With the Pioneers pinned deep in their own territory, Salles got tackled into his own endzone for a safety. The score was 7-2 at the end of the first quarter.
In a second quarter laden with Special Teams miscues by both teams, the Cougars pulled even closer by manufacturing safeties in stereo. With the Pioneer punting unit on the field, a mishandled snap led punter Nick Gicewicz to improvise. While scrambling out of the pocket, he was run down by a defender for a second safety, and the score was 7-4 with 14:07 left in the half.
That score would remain until the break. The Cougars missed multiple field goal attempts, and a promising late drive by the Utica offense ended in Zenelovic's first interception of the season. Kean's Jahvohn Arrington picked off a pass at the Kean 27, and the Pioneers took an unorthodox 7-4 lead into the locker room.
At the half, the defenses were firmly in control of the game. Not only did Utica's defense not surrender a point, but the two teams had just 228 combined yards of total offense at halftime. Zenelovic was 8-of-12 for 79 yards, while Joey Nare had two catches for 40 yards. On defense, Jimmie Warren had seven total tackles and a sack to lead all defenders in the half.
Kean received the second half kickoff and had some early momentum to get across midfield. A key pass breakup on third down and five inside of Utica territory stalled the drive. The home offense made little progress on their first series as well, but would eventually break through for the only scoring play of the frame late in the third quarter. Utica assembled a nine play, 81 yard scoring drive that chopped 4:02 off the clock. It finished with Sam Florio finding the end zone on a three yard quarterback keeper, and the kick was good for a 14-4 lead with just 1:14 left in the third.
A seismic defensive stand kept the wind at the back of the home team in the fourth. With the Cougars driving to the Utica 34 yard line, the Pioneers dug in their heels and got a combined fourth down stop from Josh Powell and James Prastio to force a turnover on downs, and once again keep Kean out of the endzone.
A blocked Utica punt that landed at the home 17 yard line gave Kean an opportunity to draw within a touchdown. The Pioneer defense held the Cougars to a three-and-out with an outstanding performance at a critical area of the field, and the visiting team had to settle for their first made field goal of the afternoon. Logan Matthews punched a 26 yard attempt through the uprights for the Cougars, and Utica led by a 14-7 score with just 7:42 to go.
The Pioneers could not muster up much on the next series, and yielded the ball to Kean on a fair catch at midfield.
The Cougars, however, would immediately squander their opportunity with favorable field position. On the first play of the drive, Nungesser dropped back to throw on his right side, and senior linebacker Anthony Novello stepped into the lane at the hash mark to pick off the pass for the first interception of the year by the Utica defense.
Kean paid dearly for that mistake. On the first play of the next series, Zenelovic teed up a 38 yard pass to Palmer, and James Salles took it the rest of the way for an eight yard touchdown run to finish off a quick strike drive, and establish a two score lead with 4:44 left.
The Cougars scored a late touchdown on a pass from Nungesser to Kyle Devaney, but would get no closer as Utica secured the one-possession win.
The Pioneers will be on the road for the next two weeks, beginning with a road game at Western New England on September 17th.
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.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram