ALFRED, N.Y. – Ashton Capone (Saratoga Springs), in his first start of the season, set school single-game records with 47 carries and 282 rushing yards as Cortland defeated host Alfred University, 31-8, to claim its second straight Empire 8 title and NCAA Division III tournament automatic berth.
Cortland (8-0, 5-0 Empire 8) is the first team nationally in Division III to clinch a playoff berth. The Red Dragons will be making back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time since qualifying for three straight tournaments from 1988-90. Cortland has won 18 straight regular-season games dating back to the start of last season, tying a school record set during the 1988 and 1989 seasons.
Capone's 282 rushing yards eclipses the previous Cortland record of 281 yards set by Andrew Giuliano at Morrisville in 2008, and his 47 carries breaks the previous mark of 44 established by Dave Cook at St. Lawrence in 1984. Capone finished with two touchdown runs – a 2-yard score late in the second quarter and a 5-yard run with 2:09 left in the game on his final rush to break the record.
Cortland outgained Alfred in total offense, 508-152, and held a 42:53-17:07 advantage in time of possession, but the game was scoreless until more than five minutes into the second quarter as the Red Dragons' first three possession ended on downs at the Alfred 19-yard line, an interception in the end zone, and a punt. Cortland broke through on its next series with a 7-play, 68-yard TD drive that started with five Capone runs for a combined 49 yards, including a 27-yarder, and ended with two Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) passes to CJ Messina (Sayville), the latter a 5-yard scoring toss with 9:08 left in the half. Boyes completed 17-of-26 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns and Messina led the Red Dragons with seven catches for 65 yards and a score.
Later in the half, Cortland started a drive on its own 31-yard line with 2:49 remaining and moved 69 yards on 10 plays. Joe Iadevaio (Massapequa/Plainedge) caught a 22-yard pass during the series, and Capone eventually ended the drive with his 2-yard run with 31 seconds remaining to give Cortland a 14-0 lead.
Mike Baloga (Cornwall/Marian Catholic (PA)) hit a 29-yard field goal with 6:47 left in the third to extend the lead to 17-0, and early in the fourth Boyes found tight end Mike Eglintine (Saratoga Springs) for a 15-yard TD pass and make it 24-0.
Alfred (2-6, 1-3 Empire 8) was unable to string together a drive longer than five plays the entire afternoon, but was able to make one of those drives count with a 5-play, 75-yard drive ending in Zuke Smith's 49-yard TD pass to Jacob Kelsey with 9:52 remaining in the game. The Saxons added a two-point conversion pass from Smith to Darviae Gray and were within 24-8. Smith finished 12-of-25 passing for 107 yards, Gray caught four passes for 16 yards, and Max Freeman IV ran 10 times for 42 yards for the hosts.
Cortland secured the win on its next possession with a 13-play, 53-yard drive that ate up more than seven minutes. Capone gained eight yards on a 3rd-and-8 from the Alfred 13-yard line, then two plays later ran in for the 5-yard TD that closed the scoring.
Cortland's defense was led by Max Llewellyn (Sayville) with four tackles and Joe Ruggieri (Oceanside) with three stops. Alfred's Joe Copp totaled 24 tackles, 13 solo, and Adam Mietz and Christopher Cox recorded 13 tackles apiece. Cox also intercepted two passes.
Cortland will host St. John Fisher on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 1 p.m. to close out the Empire 8 schedule, followed by the annual Cortaca Jug rivalry game versus Ithaca on Nov. 12 at noon at Yankee Stadium. Cortland and Ithaca are both 8-0 and have not trailed in a game this season.
Cortland E8 Repeat Champ with Win at Alfred; Capone School-Record 282 Rushing Yards
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20221029_n5ou.xml
2022
Cortland
31
Alfred
8
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 17 Cortland (8-0) | 0 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
| Alfred (2-6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Oct 29, 2022