Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Visiting Union College moved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League with a 47-19 football victory over the University of Rochester at Edwin Fauver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Ike Irabor rushed for three Union TDs. Joseph Ferreira ran for one, and William Bellamy passed for two others. Union rolled up 366 yards in offense – 122 on the ground and 242 through the air. Bellamy passed for 224 yards, hitting 12 of 20 with two TDs and one interception. He was sacked twice. He was replaced by John Germinerio in the fourth quarter (2-3 for 18 yards).
Rochester totaled 281 yards in offense. The Yellowjackets ran for 121 and passed for 160. QB Derek Bufano was 22 of 36 with one TD. He was intercepted four times and sacked twice. Rochester is 0-6 overall, 0-2 in the Liberty League.
The Dutchmen had a series of short – some in yardage, some on the clock – touchdown drives that helped expand their lead. The Yellowjackets tried an onside kick to begin the game, but Dawson Klinger's kickoff to Robert Grant was whistled back because UR was offsides. Union returned the regular kickoff to the Rochester 41, Bellamy hit four passes, one a 26-yarder to Griffin Beal to put the ball on the four. Irabor scored on the next play for a 7-0 lead (PAT by Marcos Rodriguez).
Later in the quarter, the teams traded turnovers leading to Rochester points. On 3rd-and-12 from the Union 31, Bufano was intercepted by Ryan Sullivan at the Union 9. On first down, Irabor rushed for six yards but the ball was poked away by Caden Cole and Adam Huewe fell on it for Rochester. Bufano directed a five-play, seven-yard drive resulting in Klinger's 29 yard field goal (7-3).
One play after the kickoff, Jordan Caviness intercepted Bellamy's pass at the Union 29. Bufano completed two passes and Sean Mannion rushed twice to get the ball to the two. Bufano ran off left tackle for the TD and Klinger added the PAT for a 10-7 Rochester lead.
Union came right back, driving 77 yards in five plays for a 14-10 lead. The key was a 43-yard bomb down the left sideline to Andre Ross, Jr. for 43 yards to the Rochester 3. Ferreira took it in for the TD.
The lead went to 21-10 when Ferreira turned a short slant pass into a 46-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the second. Later in the period, Colin Lama returned an interception 37 yards to the Rochester 18. Bellamy threw a 13-yard TD strike to Beal. The PAT was blocked by Rochester's Bradley Beckwith. Grant caught it and out-ran pursuers to the end zone for a two-point defensive PAT. It was 27-12.
Irabor's second TD came just before halftime on a three-yard run after Paul Chambers intercepted Bufano at the Rochester 25. She scored early in the third period on a 30-yard sprint following a Rochester punt and a penalty for kick-catching interference.
For Rochester, Mannion rushed for a career-high 104 yards on 25 carries. He is the first Rochester 100-yard rusher since 2017 (Emmanuel Calmar at Becker College). Grant's two-point defensive PAT return was the first for Rochester since a 2012 game vs. St. John Fisher in the Courage Bowl.
This coming week, Rochester travels to Buffalo State College for a Liberty League matchup. Union returns home to host St. Lawrence.