Oct 19, 2019
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland scored two touchdowns on special teams in the first half and the nationally 22nd-ranked Red Dragons remained unbeaten with a 31-21 Empire 8 victory over visiting Alfred. Cortland (6-0, 3-0 E8) won despite being outgained by the Saxons, 416-221, in total offensive yardage.
Alfred (4-2, 1-1 E8) took its only lead at 7-0 on a 23-yard TD pass from Casey Boston to Keandre Sanders with 4:22 left in the first quarter. The Saxons failed to capitalize on a drive earlier in the quarter when Cory McArthur (Saratoga Springs) and Ifeanyi Emeh (Brooklyn/Xavier) stopped a run for a loss of two yards on 4th-and-2 from the Cortland 10-yard line.
On the kickoff following Alfred's touchdown, Angelo Foster (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) fielded the ball at the Cortland 16-yard line and quickly handed the ball to Cole Burgess (Greenwich), who found a seam down the left sideline and went untouched for an 84-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
Early in the second quarter, Burgess broke through to block a punt and Dylan Studer (Chenango Forks) scooped up the ball and ran 13 yards for a score to put Cortland up 14-7. The Red Dragons started their next drive at their own 20-yard line and were forced into a punting situation on 4th-and-5 at their 44-yard line, but a running into the kicker call gave Cortland an automatic first down. Later in the series Brett Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder) connected on a 30-yard pass to Jason Carlock (Babylon) to the Alfred 2-yard line, and two plays later Segala scored on a QB sneak and Cortland led 21-7.
Alfred's final drive of the half stalled at the Cortland 21-yard line, but the Saxons got on the board within the first five minutes of the third quarter on a 10-play, 70-yard drive. Aaron Griffin, who finished with 201 rushing yards on 34 carries, recorded gains of 20, 18 and 11 yards during the possession, and Boston capped the drive with a 1-yard run to cut Cortand's advantage to 21-14.
Midway through the third Cortland got the ball on its own 48-yard line after an Evans Rivere (Woodberry Forest, VA) interception. Zach Tripodi (New Fairfield, CT) started the ensuing drive with an 18-yard reception, and he capped the series five plays later with a 15-yard TD run to extend the Red Dragon lead to 28-14.
Alfred again got back within seven with a methodical 17-play, 75-yard scoring drive that spanned nearly eight minutes from the end of the third quarter into the fourth. Boston's second TD run of the game, this time from 12 yards out, made it 28-21 with 12:18 remaining.
Neither team was able to move the ball into opposing territory on its next two drives. Cortland took over on the Alfred 46-yard line after a 12-yard punt with 5:10 remaining and moved the ball inside the 20-yard line, forcing Alfred to burn all three of its timeouts in the process. Nick Mongelli (Marlboro) made a 32-yard field with 58 seconds left to give Cortland a 10-point lead, and Alfred's last drive ended just inside Cortland territory.
Alfred ran 83 plays compared to 52 for Cortland and held a 23-10 advantage in first downs. The Saxons ran for 309 yards on 54 attempts, with Boston finishing with 74 yards on 12 carries from his quarterback position and Kevin Bragaglia adding 34 yards on eight rushes in addition to Griffin's 201-yard effort. Boston was 13-of-29 passing for 107 yards. Nick Milgate led Alfred with 11 tackles, 2.5 for losses, and a pass breakup. Jeremiah Young, Raeqwon Greer and Jason Gauthier made eight tackles each.
Tripodi, who had rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his last four games, was limited to 50 net rushing yards on 20 carries but caught three passes for 28 yards. Segala went 18-of-26 through the air for 166 yards, including five passes to Foster. Four Red Dragons registered double-figure tackles. Gregory Alfieri (Hawthorne/Westlake) made 12 tackles, while Emeh, Ben Tietjen (Bethlehem) and Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia) had 10 stops apiece. Cortland punter Liam Casey (Woodstown, NJ) averaged 37.7 yards per punt on seven kicks.
Cortland will travel to St. John Fisher next Saturday for a 4 p.m. league contest.