Football | 9/24/2022 3:55:00 PM
ALFRED, NY - The Alfred University football team celebrated Homecoming Weekend with a 31-23 victory over Kalamazoo College on Saturday afternoon from Yunevich Stadium.
The Saxons (1-3, 0-0 Empire 8) finished with 443 total yards of offense, 316 of which came from the running game. The defense limited the Hornets (3-1, 0-0 MIAA) to just 38 rushing yards.
Max Freeman IV (Painted Post, NY/Corning-Painted Post) finished with 274 rushing yards and two touchdowns across 33 attempts. The performance for Freeman marks the third-most rushing yards in a single game in program history.
Zuke Smith (Kane, PA/Kane Area) ended the game 13-of-20 for 127 passing yards.
Joe Copp (Minoa, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) led all players with 11 tackles while also being credited with three sacks and two pass breakups.
"Today was a great team effort by the offense, defense, and special teams," Head Coach
Bob Rankl said. "There was a great atmosphere today for homecoming and that made the win that much more special."
The Saxons were on the first to get on the scoreboard in the opening quarter following a goal line rush by Freeman. A field goal from Kalamazoo resulted in AU entering the second quarter with a 7-3 lead. In the opening moments of the second quarter, a 25-yard field goal from
Ian Barbini (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock Area) extended Alfred University's advantage, 10-3. The Hornets responded with 10 consecutive points before entering halftime with a 10-3 lead over AU.
Consecutive rushing touchdowns from
Hakim Chambers (Middletown, NY/Middletown) sparked the Saxons offense in the third quarter before entering the final quarter with a 24-13 lead. Kalamazoo hit a field goal to cut their deficit to eight points. Freeman broke free on the first play of an AU drive to find the end zone on an 80-yard rush. Kalamazoo responded with a touchdown of their own in the closing minutes. The defense for the Saxons stepped up in the final moments of the game to force a turnover on downs and ultimately seal the victory.
"As a football team we need to build off of this win and carry that momentum into conference play," Rankl said. "We have our bye next week, but after that our goal is to go 1-0 every week."
Alfred University will next begin Empire 8 competition when they travel to face Hartwick College on Saturday, October 8 with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 PM.
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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