D'monte Woody returned a blocked field goal 83 yards for a TD on the final play of the third quarter in Cortland's win over Morrisville last week (Darl Zehr Photography)
SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (5-2, 4-1 Empire 8) vs. St. John Fisher College Cardinals (1-6, 1-3 Empire 8)
Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017; 2 p.m.; Growney Stadium; Pittsford, N.Y.
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THE MATCHUP: Cortland looks to stay alive in the Empire 8 race as it travels to St. John Fisher. The Red Dragons have won three straight games to improve to 4-1 in conference play, one game behind Brockport (5-0) in second place. St. John Fisher looks to bounce back on its Senior Day after suffering a non-league loss at Ithaca last weekend.
THE SERIES: Cortland leads the series 5-4, but St. John Fisher has won four of the last five meetings. Cortland beat Fisher four straight times from 1988-91, with the win in 1988 completing the Red Dragons' 10-0 regular season. The teams did not meet again until 2003. Fisher beat Cortland at home twice in the ECAC Northwest Bowl (47-37 in 2003 and 34-20 in 2009) and in a non-league matchup in 2013 (33-25).
The teams have split two games since Cortland joined the Empire 8. The Red Dragons won at Fisher, 34-17, in 2015, and the Cardinals won in Cortland last year, 31-24. In last season's game, Cortland fell behind 21-3 early in the second quarter and lost starting quarterback Steven Ferreira to a season-ending injury shortly thereafter, but the Red Dragons did manage to close within seven at 24-17 early in the third before losing.
Fisher quarterback Matt Naton completed 16-of-27 passes for 241 yards, including TD passes to Mike Collichio and Wyatt Stehle. James Chambers and Tony Fusco each ran for a score and Devin Dzikowicz kicked a 35-yard field goal. Ferreira was 8-of-13 passing for 94 yards before exiting the game. Kyle Schneider completed 17-of-27 passes for 213 yards and a TD off the bench. Jake Smith caught 11 passes for 167 yards, including a 77-yard TD reception early in the third that made the score 24-17. DeAngelo Walkerand Alex Wasserman each rushed for TDs and Shane Cronin hit a 30-yard field goal.
Defensively, Carson Lassiter and Matt Goodman led Cortland with 12 tackles each. Lassiter also forced and recovered a fumble. Ike Schannauer recorded 2.5 sacks among his six tackles. DJ Logory paced Fisher with 10 tackles, seven solo. Demarre Nelson intercepted two passes and Alec Mortillaro finished with eight tackles and three pass breakups. Nelson's second interception sealed the win for the Cardinals at the Fisher 17-yard line with less than 10 seconds remaining.
CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland overcame an early 13-3 deficit and the Red Dragons defeated host Morrisville State, 34-20, last Saturday for their third straight victory. Johnnie Akins rushed for 86 yards and two scores, including a 44-yard run, and Nick Anderson caught a 55-yard TD pass and finished with five catches for 71 yards. Steven Ferreira completed 16-of-28 passes for 198 yards and one score with no interceptions and ran for 39 yards on 11 attempts.
Cortland won despite being outgained 502-335 in total offense. The Red Dragons, however, held the Mustangs scoreless on five of their seven trips into the red zone. One of the game's biggest plays came at the end of the third quarter when Morrisville attempted a 30-yard field goal trailing 20-13. Travis Alvarez blocked the kick and D'monte Woody grabbed the loose ball at the 17-yard line and weaved his way through traffic for an 83-yard return and a 27-13 Red Dragon lead.
Mark DeLuise made a game-high 13 tackles to pace the Cortland defense. Isaac Hicks recorded nine stops, and he intercepted a pass deep in Cortland territory late in the first half. Nick Mongelli made a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the half on his first attempt of the season. William Holscher made an 18-yarder to give Cortland an early 3-0 lead.
For the season, Akins is averaging 85 rushing yards per game and leads the team with six rushing scores. Anderson has caught 31 passes for 389 yards and six scores. Ferreira is 131-of-217 through the air (60.4 percent) for 1,754 yards and 16 scores with five interceptions. Holscher is 26-of-26 on PAT kicks and 8-of-10 on field goal tries, with the two misses both from 44 yards out two weeks ago versus Alfred. Mongelli averages 38.9 yards per punt.
DeLuise averages nearly eight tackles per game (55 in seven contests) with two interceptions and five tackles for loss. Hicks has 48 tackles and a team-best three interceptions and Dylan Ferrari leads the Red Dragons with 4.5 sacks. Cortland's defense has intercepted 10 passes this fall, with seven different players recording at least one pick.
Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 21st season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 138-77 (.642) ranks him first at Cortland in career victories and winning percentage. He was the 2015 HERO Sports National Coach of the Year and the D3football.com East Region Coach of the Year, and he and his assistants were chosen as the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, he's been the New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2012, and also was a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Div. III Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Red Dragons to the league title and the NCAA quarterfinals.
MacNeill has guided Cortland to six NCAA playoff appearances (1997, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015) and eight ECAC bowl games (most recently in 2016). His 2008 squad was honored with the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy and the ECAC Div. III Team of the Year awards. MacNeill is a 1979 Cortland alumnus and played linebacker and defensive tackle from 1975-78. Previously an assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University for 13 years, MacNeill is Cortland's 11th head coach since the school's modern era of football began in 1924. He joined the Villanova staff in 1984, and he served as linebackers coach and was the team's defensive coordinator from 1988-96.
A LOOK AT...ST. JOHN FISHER COLLEGE: St. John Fisher is off to a tough 1-6 start, but has faced a demanding schedule to date. The Cardinals lost by 10 at currently 16th-ranked Washington & Jefferson to open the season and by seven at home to then-18th-ranked Alfred three weeks ago.
Last Saturday, Fisher lost 35-10 at former Empire 8 foe Ithaca. The Cardinals led 10-7 at halftime and trailed 14-10 after three quarters before the Bombers scored 21 fourth-quarter points. Joshua Michaels completed 12-of-29 passes for 143 yards and Dylan Harrington caught five passes for 90 yards. The Cardinals scored on a Nick Fischetti TD run in the first quarter and a Devin Dzikowicz 37-yard field goal in the second. David Carroll made 10 tackles.
The previous week at home, Fisher won 39-36 over Utica in a wild five overtime affair. Utica scored nine points in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 18-18. The teams then traded touchdowns in the first OT, field goals in the second, touchdowns (with missed two-point conversions) in the third, and field goals in the fourth. In the fifth overtime, Utica made a 39-yard field goal, and the Cardinals won the game on James Chambers' 10-yard TD run.
Chambers averages 85.5 rushing yards per game and has scored seven touchdowns (five rushing, two receiving). Michaels is 67-of-141 (44.4 percent) passing for 848 yards and four scores with five interceptions, with Harrington the team's top receiver at 28 catches for 315 yards. Justin Rivera has made a team-high 70 tackles, followed by Evan Majewski with 67. Demarre Nelson has intercepted five passes and ranks ninth nationally in Division III with 0.7 interceptions per game. Dzikowicz is 5-for-8 on field goal attempts and 9-for-10 on PAT kicks. Michael Burton averages 38.7 yards per punt, with 11 of his 33 kicks pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line.
Paul Vosburgh is in his 26th season as head coach at St. John Fisher. He took over a program in 1991 that was only a few years removed from being a club program. Vosburgh's overall record of 173-120 (.590) includes a 125-44 (.740) record since the start of the 2003 season. He has led the Cardinals to five NCAA tournaments, with his 2006 squad advancing to the semifinals and his 2007, 2011 and 2013 teams losing in the quarterfinals. He also is 6-3 in ECAC bowl games. Vosburgh played at and graduated from William Penn University in Iowa in 1975 and was the head coach for the Statesmen for three years in the 1980s.
