Football | 9/20/2025 9:44:00 PM
ONEONTA, NY - Cortland sophomore quarterback Mike Rescigno (Arlington) completed 16-of-22 passes for 243 yards and ran 13 times for 111 yards and three touchdowns to lead nationally 24th-ranked Cortland past host Hartwick, 59-9, in the Empire 8 opener for both teams.
Ethan Gallo (Minisink/Minisink Valley) ran 11 times for 68 yards and three touchdowns for the Red Dragons, who improved to 2-1 overall. Jayson Zeva (East Northport/St. John the Baptist) caught five passes for 71 yards and ran three times for 41 yards. Aidan Lochner (Ravena/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk) led Cortland with seven tackles and Nazair Jean-Lubin (Freeport) and George Gjelaj (Bedford/Byram Hills) each intercepted a pass.
For Hartwick (2-1, 0-1 Empire 8), Dennis Riordan finished 16-of-36 passing for 190 yards and a touchdown and Akil Williams ran for 85 yards on 18 carries. Miles Perry caught four passes for 95 yards. Christopher Acompora-Miller led the Hawks with 10 tackles, John Acompora-Miller made nine tackles and Michael Vurchio had an interception.
Cortland finished with 548 yards of total offense - 284 passing and 264 rushing - and Hartwick ended with 298 yards, including 190 through the air.
The game was scoreless after one quarter, but Cortland exploded for 31 second-quarter points to take a 31-0 halftime lead. Gallo's 36-yard TD run gave the Red Dragons the lead, and Gjelaj's interception on the first play of the next series set up Cortland at the Hartwick 12-yard line. Rescigno ran in from seven yards out two plays later to make it 14-0.
After Cortland forced a 3-and-out, Rescigno broke loose for a 64-yard scoring run on the Red Dragons' first play to up the score to 21-0. Following another 3-and-out, Ravi Dass Jr. (Somers) returned a punt 46 yards to the Hartwick 23-yard line. Tyson Taylor (Middle Island/Longwood) ran for 12 yards on first down, followed by three straight Gallo carries, the last covering three yards to paydirt to push the lead to 28-0.
Cortland got the ball back on its own 23-yard line with 1:07 left in the half after a Jean-Lubin interception. Sam Cotton (Fulton/G. Ray Bodley) caught a 37-yard pass to the Hartwick 40, and the Red Dragons eventually moved the ball to the 20-yard line before Cole Callard's (Medina) 37-yard field goal on the final play completed the 31-point quarter. Callard finished the game 8-for-8 on PAT kicks in addition to his field goal.
Hartwick mounted a 70-yard drive to start the third quarter but was held to Matteo Broun's 28-yard field goal. Gallo ran for a 3-yard TD later in the quarter to give Cortland a 38-3 lead and Rescigno's 14-yard scoring run made it 45-3 early in the fourth. Hartwick fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Carson Glover (Hoosick Falls) returned the ball for a touchdown and Cortland led 52-3.
Craig Galea (Cross River/John Jay) entered at quarterback on Cortland's next series, and on the Red Dragons' following possession he ran for a 9-yard TD to complete Cortland's scoring. Galea finished 4-for-4 passing for 41 yards. Hartwick closed the scoring with a 16-play, 78-yard drive that culminated in a 9-yard TD pass from Riordan to Connor Dempsey with nine seconds remaining.
Cortland travels to Morrisville next Saturday at noon for a league contest.