Utica, NY (11/6/2013) – The Utica College football team wraps up a two-game road trip on Saturday as the Pioneers take on Empire 8 Conference power Alfred University on the turf at Merrill Field in Alfred, NY. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Alfred was recently ranked sixth in the first release of the NCAA Division III East Region Rankings.
BROADCAST INFO: All Utica College football games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by play-by-play man Dave Peroni and color analyst Fred Miller … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com … Live streaming video for Saturday's contest can be accessed at www.empire8.tv.
GET THE APP: All UC football radio broadcasts on WTLB 99.1 FM can be heard on the new My Hometown Sports App. available in the Google Play store and on Apple ITunes ... It's a free App. so download today!
SOCIAL MEDIA: If you can't make it out to the game make sure to follow live updates on the Pioneers official Twitter feed, @UCPioneers … If you are at the game on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #LetsGoUC … You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers.
LAST TIME UC PLAYED ALFRED: (10/27/2012) - The Utica College football team notched arguably one of its biggest wins in program-history on Oct. 27, 2012 as the Pioneers topped visiting Alfred University 31-7 in Empire 8 Conference play on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … The Pioneers jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first 19 minutes of the contest and never looked back, compiling 471 yards of total offense, while holding Alfred to just seven points and 237 yards … The UC defense came to play once again, holding its opponents to seven points or less for the third consecutive game … UC had never beaten Alfred in 11 previous meetings prior to the win last year.
ALL-TIME AGAINST ALFRED:Â Utica and Alfred have met every year since the Pioneers began varsity football back in 2001 ... UC had lost 11 straight meetings against Alfred until last year's 31-7 victory ... Prior to last season, Alfred's smallest margin of victory was in 2002 when it defeated Utica 10-0.
LAST WEEKEND: (11/2/2013) – The Utica College football team led host St. John Fisher College 20-0 early in the second quarter but the host Cardinals stormed back with four consecutive touchdowns in a span of 10:39 between the second and third quarters to edge the Pioneers 28-27 in Empire 8 Conference action at Growney Stadium last Saturday … The one point loss was the closest margin of defeat in the 13 year history of the rivalry … UC's
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) caught his second touchdown of the day with 4:49 left in the third quarter, but that would be the final score of the contest as the Cardinals (6-2) held on for the one point victory over the Pioneers (3-5) … Acevedo finished the day with a team-best seven catches for 92 yards and two scores, while senior running back
Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) added 81 yards rushing and one touchdown on just 13 carries … A failed extra point on the Pioneers second score of the contest with 37 seconds left in the first quarter proved to be a pivotal missed opportunity for UC … UC senior linebacker
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) collected a game-high 14 tackles for UC … Four different Pioneers recorded at least 10 tackles including Giametta, senior
Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) (12),
Ryan Hansen (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) (11) and
Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) (10) ... Junior safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) registered his team-best fifth interception of the season and he also broke up two passes, while
Anthony Cipoletti (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) chipped in with two tackles for a loss.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Pioneers hit the road for the fourth and final time this season at Alfred on Saturday … UC is 1-2 on the road this year with their lone road victory coming by way of a 44-27 win over host Frostburg back on October 12, 2013 … UC has road losses at nationally-ranked Hobart and St. John Fisher this season … The Pioneers are 10-13 on the road dating back to the beginning of 2009.Â
EMPIRE 8 OPPONENTS: UC has struggled in Empire 8 Conference play as of late and looks to buck that trend on Saturday … The Pioneers are 1-4 in the E8 this season and they have lost six of their last seven conference games dating back to last year … UC set a school-record with four conference victories last year … UC has 15 victories against Empire 8 Conference opponents in program-history.
ON THE NATIONAL SCENE: As a team, the Pioneers currently rank 25th nationally and first in the Empire 8 in sacks allowed with an average of 0.88 per game … The Pioneers' secondary ranks 65th nationally and first in the conference after allowing an average of just 181.0 passing yards per game … The Pioneers defense also ranks 20th nationally with 11 fumbles recovered this year.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING:Â Utica senior running back
Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) needs 261 yards rushing to become the College's all-time rushing leader … He currently has 1,511 yards on the ground for his career … Last weekend, Larson became the school's all-time leader in career carries – he now has 328, surpassing Mike Capra '05 … Larson scored a rushing touchdown last weekend to extend his school-record to 22 career rushing touchdowns … Last weekend, junior quarterback
Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) became the third QB in school-history to throw for over 2,000 yards in a career ... Butkiewicz has a career completion percentage of 63.2%, which ranks second all-time at UC … Junior receiver
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) needs just 37 yards receiving to break the College's all-time record for receiving yards in a career … Former All-American
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) '12 currently holds the school-record for receiving yards with 2,477 … Acevedo needs six catches to move into second place on the College's all-time receptions list – he currently has 171 in just over two and a half seasons … Last weekend, Acevedo became just the second player in school-history to amass over 3,000 all-purpose yards in a career (3,034) … In 25 career games Acevedo averages 121.4 all-purpose yards per game … Larson and Acevedo are two of just five players in program-history to total over 100 points in a career … Larson ranks second all-time at UC with 132 points, while Acevedo ranks third with 118 career points scored … Two weekends ago, sophomore kicker
Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) moved into second place on the College's all-time list for field goals made – he currently has 13 … Last weekend, junior punter
Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden) moved into second place on the College's all-time list for career punting yards, he currently has 3,026 punt yards in less than three full seasons … Junior safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) now stands alone in second place all-time with 10 career interceptions.
ALL-AMERICAN CANDIDATE: Junior receiver
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) has a conference-best 66 catches through eight games this season … He ranks ninth nationally and leads the Empire 8 with an average of 8.3 catches per game … He ranks tenth nationally with 912 yards receiving and 11th nationally (first in the conference) with an average of 114.0 receiving yards per game … He has six touchdown catches this season, including two last weekend against St. John Fisher College … He is also averaging 13.8 yards per catch … He has three games with at least ten catches and he has three games where he caught two touchdown passes … He set a new school-record with ten catches for 252 yards and two touchdowns in the Pioneers' win over Frostburg on 10/12 … He also caught a season-high 11 catches for 133 yards on a rainy evening as the Pioneers traveled to national power Hobart College on 9/21 … He caught ten balls for 137 yards as the Pioneers squared off against Empire 8 Conference foe Ithaca College on 10/19 … Acevedo needs 88 yards receiving to become just the second player in school-history to catch for 1,000+ yards in a single season … He needs eight catches to set a new single season record for catches in a season.
LENA-HANDS: Junior safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) ranks sixth in the nation and first in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 0.7 interceptions per game … He also ranks 35th nationally and second in the conference with an average of 1.4 passes defended per game … In seven games played this season he has a conference-best five interceptions … He also has five pass break ups for a career-high total of ten passes defended … He is tied for second on the team with 2.0 sacks for a loss of 18 yards … He also has 5.5 tackles for a loss of 25 yards and a total of 36 tackles overall (23 solo) … He has an interception against some of the top teams in the state including one against Hobart, one against Ithaca and one against St. John Fisher … He also tallied two INT's in the first game of the season against Lewis & Clark … Lenahan ranks second all-time at Utica with ten career interceptions (five each season) … He also has 17 career passes defended … Lenahan needs two interceptions to tie the school-record for INT's in a single season.
GIAMETTA GUIDES THE DEFENSE: Senior linebacker
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) ranks 38th nationally and is second in the conference with an average of 10.5 tackles per game … He is one of just five players in the conference to average 10 or more tackles per contest … He has totaled 85 tackles in eight games this season … He also has 2.5 sacks … He needs just 15 tackles to become the fifth player in school-history to record 100 or more tackles in a single season.Â
THE RUNNING GAME: Running back
Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) ranks 29th in the country and first in the conference with 11 rushing touchdowns this year … He also ranks 59th nationally and first in the conference with an average of 8.3 points scored per game … Larson has carried the ball 161 times for 660 yards … He is averaging 82.5 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry … Larson needs two rushing touchdowns to break the school-record for rushing touchdowns in a single season …He needs 96 yards rushing to set a new school-record for rushing yards in a single season and he needs 149 yards to become the first back in program-history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season.Â
CHRISTOFFERSON ETCHING HIS NAME IN UC HISTORY: Three weeks ago, senior linebacker
Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) cracked the top ten list for career tackles at UC and he continues to climb the ladder … Last weekend he moved into fifth place all-time at UC in career tackles as he became just the fifth player in school-history to register more than 200 tackles in a career … He now needs 24 tackles in the final two games of his career to move into fourth place all-time.
ALEXANDER LOCKS IT DOWN: Junior corner back
Rob Alexander (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Dobbs Ferry) ranks third on the team with 46 tackles … He also has one interception and two forced fumbles.Â
BANNER YEAR FOR HANSEN: Senior linebacker
Ryan Hansen (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) ranks seventh in the conference with an average of 8.9 tackles per game … He also ranks fourth in the conference with 10.0 tackles for a loss of 33 yards … His 71 total tackles ranks second on the team and he also has two sacks this year.
THE SECONDARY: UC cornerback
Jeff Mitchell (Onondaga, NY/Onondaga) and free safety
Mike Sullivan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each have five pass break ups this season to go along with 34 tackles … Sullivan also has one interception.
RISING STAR: Freshman running back Ryan Burnett has proven that he has what it takes to make an impact in his first collegiate season … Burnett has carried the ball 69 times for 276 yards and two touchdowns this season … With the absence of the injured
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai), Burnett has filled the need for a second running back, averaging 34.50 yards per contest.Â
BENIQUEZ GETTING IT DONE: Freshman utility player Jerred Beniquez needs 104 kickoff return yards to set a new school-record for return yards in a single season … He has 491 kickoff return yards this year, including a career-long of 57 yards … He has also caught 13 passes for 89 yards as a receiver.
THE QB AT UC: Junior quarterback
Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) ranks 12th nationally and first in the conference with an average of 25.38 completions per game this season … He also ranks 46th nationally with a completion percentage of 62.8% … He has completed 203 of 323 attempts for 1,973 yards and 12 touchdowns … His average of 246.6 passing yards per game ranks 34th nationally and second in the E8 … Last weekend, he moved into fourth on the College's single season list with 203 passing attempts … He needs 27 yards passing to join 2012 graduate and current UC assistant coach
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) as one of two quarterbacks in program-history to throw for 2,000 or more yards in a single season.
MURPHY IS A GREAT POSSESION RECEIVER:Â Senior wide receiver
Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) ranks second on the team with 48 catches this season … He has 377 yards receiving and ranks fourth in the Empire 8 with an average of 6.0 catches per game.Â
SCOUTING ALFRED: The Saxons (6-2, 4-1 Empire 8) are currently ranked sixth in the NCAA's first edition of the regional rankings … Last week the Saxon's earned a 31-21 win at home against then-No. 23 Salisbury … The Saxons possess a balanced offense that produces 380 yards per contest, with 219 coming via the pass and 161 coming on the ground … Alfred got touchdown passes from three players in the win against Salisbury: one from freshman quarterback Tyler Johnson and one each from senior wideouts Jonathan Ruffin and David Lee Tack … Johnson, the Saxons' starting quarterback since Week 4, has completed 106 of 178 passes for 1,242 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions … His leading receiver has been senior wideout Josh Phillips, who has 39 catches for 610 yards and six touchdowns … Ruffin has 22 catches for 418 yards and two TDs and Tack has 17 receptions for 201 yards and a score … Senior tailback Austin Dwyer leads the team in rushing with 478 yards and 10 touchdowns and has over 3,000 yards rushing for his career … Johnson is second on the team in rushing with 313 yards (three TDs) and senior tailback Tyler DeRosa has 255 yards rushing with one TD.
Alfred notes courtesy of Alfred Athletic Communications.Â
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