BOX SCORE

Utica, N.Y. (11/13/2010) – The Utica College football team jumped out to an early 14-2 lead but NCAA Tournament bound Alfred University responded with 35 straight points to earn a 37-20 Empire 8 Conference victory in the season finale for the Pioneers at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Saturday. UC senior safety Terrell Cunningham (Rochester, NY/Marshall) closed out his career in the blue and orange with a banner day, totaling 11 tackles, two fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown) and an interception.

“I wanted to thank our seniors for giving the last four years to this program,” said Head Coach Blaise Faggiano of his 12 graduating seniors. “These guys have helped to build the foundation and I can't thank them, and their families, enough.”

UC closed out its 2010 campaign with a 5-5 overall record, while Alfred improved to 8-2 overall and awaits its seeding in the NCAA Tournament after going undefeated (5-0) and winning the Empire 8 Conference Title for the second straight year. Five wins for the Pioneers is second all-time in the program's ten year history.

Alfred's running game racked up 246 yards of offense on the ground and junior quarterback Tom Secky completed 12-of-24 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns to guide the Saxons.

Things looked promising early for the Pioneers when sophomore defensive end James Brain (Minisink Valley, NY/Westtown) jarred the ball loose from Secky and it was scooped up by Cunningham and returned to the house to give Utica a 7-0 lead. Cunningham's 53 yard fumble returned for a touchdown was under five minutes into the contest.

UC then forced an Alfred punt but a high snap led to a safety as the Saxons cut the lead to 7-2.

The Pioneers added to their lead with 5:13 to go in the first half when junior Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) caught a five yard touchdown pass to give UC a commanding 14-2 lead.

After a three-and-out by both teams the Saxons punched in their first touchdown of the game when Secky found senior wide receiver Ryan Thon in the end zone for a 21 yard touchdown pass to cut the Utica lead to 14-9 with just 43 seconds to go in the half. That's when things began to go south for the Pioneers. Utica lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Secky found Thon once again, this time from 35 yards out, to give the Saxons a 16-14 lead headed into the half.

The Saxons went on to score the first 21 points of the second half to seal the victory. Chris Lopez rushed for a game-high 140 yards and one touchdown while Austin Dwyer added 86 yards on the ground for Alfred. Thon finished the evening with six catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns, both in a span of 40 seconds before the half.

Freshman receiver Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) added a late, Wildcat formation, rushing touchdown to close out the scoring on the day. Sophomore quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) completed 18 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown but he also threw two interceptions. Acevedo and junior Josh Mason (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) each caught five passes for 56 and 38 yards, respectively.

Senior Travis Ladd (Mexico, NY/Mexico Academy) led the way for the Utica defense with a game-high 14 tackles and a half sack, while classmate Kevin Hennion (Dumont, NJ/Dumont) closed out his career with 13 tackles. James Brain (Minisink Valley, NY/Westtown) added 11 tackles for Utica.

Nick Clark and Reggie Pressley each added a team-high eight tackles for the visitors.

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