Cortland clipped by St. John Fisher in second-half comeback, 35-28

Steven Ferreira throws a pass to Alex Wasserman (#26) during Cortland's 35-28 loss at St. John Fisher. Ferreira finished with 309 passing yards and two touchdowns and Wasserman caught six passes for 114 yards and a score (Photo: Eve Papa)

Box Score

PITTSFORD, N.Y. - St. John Fisher scored 28 straight points to start the second half to erase a 21-7 halftime deficit and the Cardinals defeated visiting Cortland, 35-28, in an Empire 8 contest.

With the loss, Cortland drops to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in league play, and has been eliminated from contention for the league title. The Red Dragons, however, still have a chance to qualify for the inaugural New York State Bowl, which will feature the top non-NCAA qualifying team from the Empire 8 playing at the same finisher from the Liberty League. Cortland can earn that berth with a win at home next week versus Utica, combined with a loss by Alfred in either of its final two games versus Brockport and Hartwick.

St. John Fisher running back James Chambers rushed 26 times for 199 yards and two scores and also caught eight passes for 91 yards and a TD. Joshua Michels completed 21-of-33 passes for 292 yards and two scores and Dylan Harrington caught eight passes for 148 yards and a TD.

Cortland quarterback Steven Ferreira (West Sayville/Sayville) finished 22-of-32 passing for 309 yards and two touchdowns. He is now second at Cortland with 5,767 career passing yards in just 22 games played, 240 behind career leader J.J. Tutwiler (6,007 yards from 2000-03). Ferreira has passed for 300 or more yards eight times, including three games this fall.

Two Red Dragon receivers each eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark in the contest. Alex Wasserman (Closter, NJ/Northern Valley Demarest) caught six passes for 114 yards and a score and Nick Anderson (Jacksonville, FL/Saratoga Springs (NY)) grabbed six passes for 109 yards and a TD. Zach Tripodi (New Fairfield, CT) finished with seven catches for 64 yards, and Johnnie Akins (Roosevelt) ran 21 times for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Evan Majewski led Fisher (2-6, 2-3 Empire 8) with 10 tackles. Will Riechert made nine tackles, two for losses, and forced a fumble, and Demarre Nelson broke up four passes.

Cortland's defense was led by Mark DeLuise (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) and Kyle Richard (Lakeview/Malverne) with 10 tackles each. Tanner Olson (Massapequa) made nine stops, 2.5 for losses, and broke up a pass.

The Cardinals led 7-0 after one quarter on a Johnathan Letta 10-yard TD run, but the Red Dragons outscored the hosts 21-0 in the second quarter. Ferreira had 172 of his 309 passing yards in the period, including a 55-yard TD pass to Anderson and an 18-yard scoring pass to Wasserman. The latter score was set up by Brandon Stevenson's (Batavia) forced fumble and recovery on the Fisher 43-yard line during a kickoff return.

Fisher responded by driving 73 yards on 15 plays before settling for a 22-yard field goal attempt. Travis Alvarez (Keyport, NJ), however, blocked the kick, and Cortland marched 80 yards for a late touchdown prior to intermission. Ferreira completed a 36-yard pass to Wasserman and a 35-yard pass to Anderson during the drive, and Akins finished the series with a 1-yard TD run with 33 seconds left.

The hosts took only 45 seconds to score on the opening drive of the third quarter when Harrington broke free after a reception for a 67-yard TD. Fisher marched 81 yards on its next possession, capped by a Chambers 5-yard TD run that tied the game, and on its next series Chambers caught a 40-yard pass from Michels to put Fisher on top.

Midway through the fourth quarter Cortland drove from its own 22-yard line to the Fisher 41 before eventually having to punt on 4th-and-7. The punt pinned Fisher at its own 6-yard line, but Chambers ran for 14 yards on the first play, then broke free up the middle for an 80-yard TD run that gave Fisher a 35-21 lead with 5:03 remaining.

Cortland struck quickly with a six-play, 75-yard drive that featured three Wasserman receptions and culminated in a Ferreira 7-yard TD run with 3:48 left. With all three of its timeouts in hand, Cortland elected to kick off deep. Fisher, however, was able to record two first downs before eventually having to punt with less than 40 seconds left. Cortland had one final possession from its own 8-yard line with 30 seconds left but was only able to progress 23 yards before time ran out.

Fisher outgained Cortland 557-402 in total offensive yardage, including a second-half advantage of 353-168. The Cardinals were only 5-of-14 on third down conversions, but did successfully convert 4-of-5 attempts on fourth down.