Football | 11/7/2023 8:00:27 AM
Senior wide receiver
Cole Burgess and first-year safety
Sam Cotton both from SUNY Cortland were named to the D3football.com Team of the Week on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The duo becomes the sixth and seventh selections from Cortland and eighth and ninth overall honorees for the Empire 8 this season as part of the D3football.com Team of the Week.
Burgess, who earned his second straight Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week honor on Monday, caught nine passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns as Cortland defeated visiting Brockport, 41-17, to clinch the Red Dragons' third straight outright Empire 8 title. His three touchdown catches ties a school single-game record that he already held a share of, and his 245 receiving yards are the fourth-highest in school history. Burgess caught a 64-yard TD pass in the first quarter to give Cortland a 14-3 lead. His 24-yard TD reception with less than a minute remaining in the first half made it 24-3, and his 71-yard scoring catch in the third quarter pushed Cortland's advantage to 38-3.
Burgess leads Cortland and the E8 with 41 receptions, 5.1 receptions per game, 92 yards receiving per game and is second in the league with 736 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
Cotton, named the Empire 8 Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, made 10 tackles, seven solo, intercepted a pass and broke up another in Cortland's 41-17 win over visiting Brockport. He helped the Cortland defense hold Brockport to just one offensive touchdown and 285 yards of total offense, including 10-of-28 passing for 106 yards with five interceptions.
Cotton has 40 tackles (28 unassisted) and two interceptions this season.
SUNY Cortland clinched the Empire 8 Championship and play Ithaca College, the Liberty League in the 64th annual Cortaca Jug on Saturday at noon from Ithaca. Both teams are 8-1 on the season. Cortland, is ranked No. 15 in the D3football.com poll and No. 16 in the AFCA Division III poll. Ithaca is ranked 14th in both polls.
Empire 8 play wraps up this weekend, as SUNY Brockport hosts Alfred for a noon kickoff on Saturday, while Utica University hosts St. John Fisher University and Hartwick College hosts SUNY Morrisville, with both games taking place at 1 p.m.
2023 Empire 8 D3football.com Team of the Week Recipients
Sept. 12 (Week 2) - Mike Baloga, K, Cortland
Sept. 19 (Week 3) - JJ Laap, WR, Cortland
Sept. 26 (Week 4) - Joe Copp, LB, Alfred
Oct. 3 (Week 5) - Zac Boyes, QB, Cortland
Oct. 10 (Week 6) - Kevin Whalen, Aidan Glynn, Ryan Bitka, Jack McGrath, Cody Aikey, OL, Cortland
Oct. 17 (Week 7) - Ravi Dass Jr., KR, Cortland
Oct. 31 (Week 9) - Scott Ochsner, Joseph Delgado, Adam Montalvo, Jacob Lucier, Nicholas Kalke, OL, Brockport
Nov. 7 (Week 10) - Cole Burgess, WR, Cortland
Nov. 7 (Week 10) - Sam Cotton, S, Cortland
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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