UTICA, N.Y. –The Utica College football team won its second game of the season 21-9 over visiting Mt. Ida College behind converted running back Alex Conlon's (Suffolk CCC/East Northport) 100 yards rushing at Charles A. Gaetano stadium Saturday.

Conlon got the Pioneers on the board first after a 25-yard touchdown run with 7:41 left in the first quarter to give UC a 7-0 lead. Conlon, who started three games at quarterback last season and the first four games of this season at wide receiver, recorded the Pioneers first 100 yard rushing performance over the course of five games.

The Utica College defense surrendered one score on the evening when the Mustangs freshman quarterback Corey Sullivan capped off a five play 39 yard scoring drive with an eight yard touchdown run. Sullivan tallied 11 completions for 121 yards and recorded 47 rushing yards on eight carries and the score was all tied up 7-7 going into the half.

The Pioneers came out of the half firing on all cylinders as senior quarterback Nick Martin (RFA/Rome) connected with his favorite target James Proniewych (Pat-Med/Medford) for a 35-yard touchdown pass to give UC a 14-7 lead. Martin completed seven passes for 120 yards on the day, while Proniewych caught a game-high four passes for 89 yards.

Free safety Marcus Maroney (Lockport/Utica), who currently leads the team with 49 tackles on the season, tallied 12.5 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble. The Pioneers secondary was responsible for three interceptions. Jon Klosner (Ilion/Ilion) tallied his first two interceptions of the year, while Lazarus Morgan (Christopher Columbus/ Bronx) snagged a pick of his own.

The UC defense was in the backfield all day and did not make things easy for the Mustangs running game. Senior running back Antwan Harris needed 202 yards rushing to reach the 4,000 yard barrier for his career and become just the ninth player in the history of New England Division III football to reach 4,000 yards rushing. Harris rushed for just 77 yards on the day. The Pioneers defense tallied 12 tackles for a loss and nine different players made tackles behind the line of scrimmage including Andrew Thomas (South Jefferson/Adams Center)and Brad Secore (General Brown/ Dexter). Thomas made eight stops, while Secore tallied four.

Corey Jure (Sheepshead Bay/Brooklyn) and Mike Sanchez (Patchogue Medford/ Patchogue) combined for 10 tackles on the day, while Mike Debetta (Harpursville/ Harpursville) and Klosner each recorded four tackles.

Punter Ben Atwood (VVS/Verona) posted a career day averaging 40 yards per punt, including a career-best 70-yard punt to pin the Mustangs deep at the beginning of the second quarter. Atwood's career-best before Saturday was 63 yards which he accomplished on two separate occasions last season.

Conlon found the end zone again with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring for the Pioneers.

Freshman wide receiver Kyle Watkins caught three passes for 89 yards, while senior Steve DeLeon tallied a team-high 12 tackles for the Mustangs.

Utica (2-3, 0-1 Empire 8) will return to action next Saturday at 1:30 pm against visiting Alfred University at Charles A. Gaetano stadium.
                                         (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) #