Football | 10/31/2026 5:50:00 PM
MORRISVILLE, NY – The Hartwick College football team secured its first Empire 8 victory of the season dramatically Saturday afternoon, holding off SUNY Morrisville for a 17-14 win at Drake Field. The Hawks' defense delivered when it mattered most, stopping the Mustangs three consecutive times from the goal line as time expired to preserve the hard-fought victory.
After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, Hartwick rallied with 17 unanswered points to take the lead. The Hawks scored twice through the air in the second and third quarters before freshman kicker Landon Smith's (La Plata, Md./North Point) 29-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer brought Hartwick within four.
Freshman quarterback Ty'lyn Blackwell-Williams (Nyack, N.Y./Georgia) completed 11 of 20 passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns, both to junior wide receiver Latrell Willis (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley). Willis finished with five receptions for 16 yards, finding the end zone on a four-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and a three-yard score early in the third. Senior running back Akil Williams (Chester, N.Y./Chester) paced the ground game with 84 yards on 27 carries. The Hawks totaled 200 yards of offense, including 134 rushing yards, and recorded 14 first downs.
Defensively, Hartwick delivered a dominant performance, recording four sacks, 13 tackles for loss, one interception, and a forced fumble. Sophomore linebacker Billy O'Connor (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) led the pass rush with three sacks and four tackles for loss, while senior Robert Kennedy (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y./Hastings) recorded six tackles and an interception. Junior James Bender (Schenectady, N.Y./Green Tech Carter) added nine tackles, and junior Nathan Hartman (Winfield, N.Y./Mount Markham) finished with eight.
The Hawks held Morrisville to 322 total yards, including just 82 rushing yards, while forcing two turnovers. Hartwick's defense also came up with four sacks for 36 yards.
Hartwick improves to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in Empire 8 play, earning its first conference victory of the season. Morrisville falls to 1-7 overall and 0-5 in conference action. The Hawks return to action next weekend, Saturday, Nov. 7, for a Senior Day game against Utica, which is receiving votes in the latest D3football.com poll.
Morrisville struck first with a five-play, 78-yard drive capped by a one-yard touchdown pass from Logan Watson to Larry German at 12:32 of the opening quarter. The Mustangs added to their lead later in the quarter when Marquis Reid connected with Mason Ondreyko for a 33-yard touchdown, putting Hartwick in an early 14-0 hole.
The Hawks began their comeback in the second quarter, putting together an 81-yard drive that lasted more than eight minutes. Blackwell-Williams found Willis for a four-yard touchdown with 6:26 remaining in the half. After the Hartwick defense forced a turnover on downs inside the Morrisville five-yard line, the Hawks added a 29-yard field goal from Smith as time expired in the quarter, cutting the deficit to 14-10 as the teams went to the locker room.
Hartwick took its first lead early in the third quarter, after Kennedy's interception and a 21-yard four-yard line set up the Hawks offense. Blackwell-Williams connected with Willis for a three-yard touchdown just 46 seconds later, and Smith's extra point gave the Hawks a 17-14 advantage.
Neither team found the end zone for the remainder of the game, setting up a dramatic finish. Morrisville threatened late, but Hartwick's defense forced a turnover on downs with 2:39 remaining. After the Mustangs regained possession with under two minutes to play, they marched down the field and reached the Hartwick one-yard line, after a pass interference call in the end zone bailed Morrisville out of a fourth-down decision.
With the clock winding down, the Hawks stood firm. Morrisville was stopped on three consecutive rushing attempts from the one-yard line, with Hartwick's defense denying the Mustangs the end zone on the final play as time expired. On the final three plays, Bender, senior Zachary Ladopoulos (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), and Hartman combined for tackles to stop the Morrisville rushers. The goal-line stand sealed a dramatic 17-14 victory and Hartwick's first Empire 8 win of the season.