Kyle Schneider completed 19-of-22 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns, all in the second half (Darl Zehr Photography)
ALFRED, N.Y. — Maleke Fuentes rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown and Tyler Johnson passed for two scores and rushed for two others as nationally 23rd-ranked Alfred University remained unbeaten with a 41-28 win over visiting Cortland.
The Saxons improved to 6-0 overall and lead the Empire 8 with a 4-0 mark. Cortland dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
Cortland senior quarterback Kyle Schneider (Hillsdale, NJ/Pascack Valley) entered the game to start the second half and completed 19-of-22 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Junior Jake Smith (Albany/Guilderland) caught five passes for 110 yards and two scores, and sophomores Johnnie Akins (Roosevelt) and Alex Wasserman (Closter, NJ/Northern Valley Demarest) each ran for a touchdown.
Sophomore Ryan VanGalen (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) started at quarterback and threw for 54 yards in the first half as Cortland finished with 340 passing yards. Seniors Jon Mannix (East Northport/John H. Glenn) and Anthony Pintabona (Oceanside) each finished with six receptions.
Johnson went 17-of-28 for 249 yards and two touchdowns and ran 18 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns for Alfred. Fuentes gained his 155 yards on just 15 carries and Brendan Buisch caught seven passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Casey Bright ran 15 times for 57 yards and caught four passes for 47 yards. The Saxons finished with a 533-414 advantage in total offense, including a 284-74 margin on the ground.
Senior Tom Hagan (Hopewell Junction/John Jay-East Fishkill) led Cortland's defense with eight tackles, including two sacks. Senior Carson Lassiter (Madison, NJ) made seven tackles, six solo, and senior Mark DelPrete (Staten Island/Monsignor Farrell) intercepted a pass.
Alfred led 17-0 at halftime before Cortland made things interesting in the third quarter. The Saxons took a 3-0 lead on a Trevor Monk 27-yard field goal with 8:20 left in the first. The score was set up by a Fuentes 65-yard run to the Cortland 16-yard line. The Saxons scored two second-quarter touchdowns on a 9-yard run by Fuentes and an 8-yard pass from Johnson to Buisch, the latter with just 47 seconds left in the half.
Cortland struck quickly in the second half. On the first play from scrimmage in the third, Schneider connected with Smith for a 72-yard touchdown pass and the Red Dragons trailed 17-7. Cortland failed to recover an ensuing surprise onside kickoff, but DelPrete intercepted Johnson at the Cortland 2-yard line. However, Cortland went 3-and-out, eventually leading to a Monk 42-yard field goal and a 20-7 Alfred lead with 10:35 left in the quarter.
The Red Dragons closed to within a score at 20-14 on a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 3-yard Akins TD run. Late in the third, Johnson's 1-yard TD run finished a 65-yard scoring march, and the Saxons led 27-14 entering the fourth quarter. The drive was kept alive by a 22-yard catch by Buisch to the Cortland 1-yard line on 3rd-and-22 that set up the hosts for a 1st-and-goal situation.
Cortland moved to the Alfred 31-yard line on its next possession, but a fumble inside the 20-yard line following a completion gave the ball back to the hosts with 13:49 left. Alfred capitalized by driving 79 yards on nine plays, and Johnson's 2-yard TD run with 9:56 remaining put the Saxons up 34-14.
A 5-yard TD run by Wasserman with 4:15 remaining closed Cortland's deficit to 13 at 34-21. Alfred, however, recovered an onside kickoff, and eventually scored on an Emile Frigon 17-yard TD catch with 2:52 left. The Red Dragons closed the scoring on a 5-yard pass from Schneider to Smith with 1:18 left.
Cortland will travel to Brockport next Saturday at 3 p.m. for an Empire 8 matchup.
