Box Score The first half was owned entirely by the Pioneers who opened the contest with three touchdowns in the first seven minutes. Benkwitt hit sophomore Joshua Mason (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) in the end zone for the first score of the contest making it 6-0 visitors after a blocked point after attempt. Two Pioneer rushing touchdowns by freshman Jake Scott (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) would follow from one yard and 15 yards out to give the visitors a 19-0 lead followed by another blocked PAT by the Mustangs after the third TD with 8:12 remaining in the first quarter.
Mount Ida eventually answered towards the end of the first quarter (3:29) with Lynch's first touchdown of two on the day for the Mustangs only points of the first half making it 19-6 in favor of the Pioneers after the third blocked PAT of the game.
The visitors reeled off three unanswered touchdowns for all the action of the second quarter on three TD passes by Benkwitt giving the visitors a commanding 40-6 lead going into the break. Benkwitt hit senior wide out Cody Elliot (Sloan, NY/John F. Kennedy) with 7:37 to go in the second stanza making it 26-6 after a successful PAT attempt by T.J. Losowski (Rome, NY/Westmoreland).
Following Drosendahl's only interception of the day, the Pioneers turned around and chalked up another touchdown strike with 5:03 to go in the second quarter on a three play, 30 yard drive that ended with a four yard TD pass from Benkwitt to sophomore Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) making it 33-6 in favor of the visitors.
With 1:50 remaining before the half, the Pioneers added one more score to take a 40-6 advantage into the break. Benkwitt found Mason for the second time in the back of the end zone for his fourth touchdown pass of the contest and Mason's second TD of the game.
The second half was an entirely different ball game with the Mustangs taking over completely scoring 34 unanswered points tying the game at 40-40 with 1:52 remaining in the contest. Rimann started the insanity breaking off a 78 yard touchdown run in the opening drive of the third quarter making it 40-12 in favor of the Pioneers after the fourth blocked PAT of the contest.
Drosendahl added more for the Mustangs following the Rimann TD with three touchdown passes of his own starting with an eight yard pass to sophomore tight end Sean Simmons (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) for his second TD of the season trailing 40-18 with 4:00 minutes remaining in the third.
The Mustangs poured on more offense through the air on another Drosendahl TD pass, this time to junior Steven Harris (Plantation, FL/Plantation) on a 14 yard strike after a nine play, 56 yard drive to start the fourth quarter. Rimann punched in the two point conversion to pull the Mustangs within two scores trailing 40-26.
Less than two minutes after Drosendahl's fifth touchdown strike of the day, he added another, this time on an outstanding effort by Lynch coming off a 75 yard pass diving over the pile on and converting the TD for his second on the day. The Mustangs saw the light at the end of the tunnel pulling within one score making it 40-33 in favor of the Pioneers.
With 3:16 remaining in the contest, Mount Ida got the ball back with outstanding field position after a solid return from senior Kyle Watkins (New Haven, CT/James Hillhouse) on the visiting 41 yard line. A 15 yard face mask penalty by Utica on the return put the Mustangs deep in Utica territory and Bunch did the rest for the Mustangs punching in a six yard run with 3:16 to go in the game. A successful PAT by freshman Matt Beale (Meriden, CT/O.H. Platt) knotted the game at 40-40 will enough time for one more drive.
After 29:38 of no scoring for the Pioneers, they finally got back offensively converting an eight play, 78 yard drive capped by a five yard touchdown pass from Benkwitt to Elliot to give the visitors the 47-40 advantage with 22 seconds remaining in the contest. The Mustangs attempted a Stanford moment with consecutive laterals with time expiring but could not finish it off dropping the 47-40 non-conference loss.
It wasn't an outstanding day for the defense with junior's Julien Baptiste (Greenlawn, NY/Elwood-John Glenn), Jordan Edinger (Key Largo, FL/Coral Shores), and freshman Marquis Brown (New Haven, CT/James Hillhouse) all recording six solo tackles for the Mustangs. Pioneer senior linebacker Eric Kahl (Lockwood, NY/Spencer-Van Etten) had a game high 12.5 tackles, three for a loss of seven yards, and a fumble recovery.
