Utica, NY (September 24, 2014) – The Utica College football team (3-0, 1-0 Empire 8) is set to host The College at Brockport (2-1, 0-1 Empire 8) for Adirondack Bank Night Saturday at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
ADIRONDACK BANK NIGHT: Make sure to show up early because for the second straight year the first 1,000 fans will receive a free mini-football courtesy of Adirondack Bank ... Adirondack Bank and the Utica College Greek organizations will sponsor the halftime kick.
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, color analyst Fred Miller and sideline reporter Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com... Utica College home games are also broadcasted by WPNR 90.7 FM over the air and online, the College's own student radio station.
PIONEERS ALL-ACCESS: If you can't make it out to Utica to watch the game in person, Pioneers All-Access is the place to be on game day, providing live video, audio (WPNR 90.7 FM) and stats for all UC home games on the turf …. Pioneers All-Access is a completely FREE service provided for those members of the Pioneer nation that might not be able to make it out to the game … Recent stories and social media are fully integrated into the Pioneers All-Access site for the most comprehensive viewing experience … Make sure to check out Pioneers All-Access at www.ucpioneers.com/watch.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: All UC football radio broadcasts on WTLB 99.1 FM can be heard on the My Hometown Sports Application available in the Google Play store and on Apple ITunes... After you download the application make sure to select the ESPN Radio coverage … It's a free application 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 #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers defense held up against a red zone threat in the final minutes of the game to defeat Frostburg State University, 20-12 … Saturday was the first Empire 8 matchup of the season for both teams… Freshman running back and return man
J'Von Evans (Utica, NY/Proctor) carried the ball six times for 29 yards and scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to earn the team's offensive player of the week honors … Sophomore return man
Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) had a 64-yard kick return in the first quarter to set up Evans' first touchdown run… Sophomore transfer quarterback
Will Kassar (Lattingtown, NY/Glen Cove) led the Pioneers on the ground with 67 rushing yards and a touchdown... The defense held Frostburg to nine points in the second half… Sophomore linebacker
Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) led UC with 14 tackles, tying his career-best from the previous week… Senior safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) recorded his second interception of the season… Junior defensive end
Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) now leads the defense with 3.0 sacks after adding one against Frostburg… The Pioneers have now won three straight games against the Bobcats.
FAST START: Utica, 3-0 for the third time in program-history, looks to advance to 4-0 for the second time in school-history... The last time the Pioneers won its third matchup of the season, the team also started the season 4-0 in 2010.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Utica has not scored a single point in the only two previous matchups against Brockport… Utica lost to the Golden Eagles 35-0 in 2002 and 49-0 in 2003.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior punter
Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden) earned Empire 8 Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his efforts on a windy afternoon against Frostburg State… Peel averaged 44.4 yards per punt, including a school-record punt of 74 yards… Peel totaled 222 punt yards and one touchback against the Bobcats… Peel is first in the Conference and fourth nationally in punting average with 43.8 yards… Peel has two punts over 50 yards this season and has pinned opponents inside the 20 yard line three times… He currently ranks second on the College's all-time list behind kickers coach
Ben Atwood with 3,904 career punting yards … Brockport's Jake Brickler is the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against No. 7 St. John Fisher… The sophomore linebacker recorded 14 tackles on Saturday… Brickler leads the Golden Eagles in tackles this season and he also led Brockport last season.
FAMILIAR FACES: UC Head Coach
Blaise Faggiano coached against the Golden Eagles multiple times while serving as defensive coordinator for St. John Fisher from 1998-2006… Pioneers kicking coach
Keith Scranton holds the Brockport school-record for most career field goals (23)… Scranton was an All-American kicker for the Golden Eagles in 1999.
STINGY DEFENSE: The Pioneers defense has allowed 9.33 points per game this season… The defense is anchored by linebacker
Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross), who has 36 tackles this season… Senior
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) has two interceptions as UC's ballhawk.
ACEVEDO EYEING ANOTHER RECORD: Utica senior wide receiver
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) needs three catches to break Jeremy Meier's '12 all-time record for receptions in a career … Acevedo currently has 185 … So far this season the preseason All-American has eight catches for 145 yards … He is the College's all-time leader with an average of 6.38 catches per game in 29 career contests.
BALDASSARE MOVING UP: Senior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) recently moved into third place on the College's all-time rushing yards list and he now has 1,202 for his career … He ranks third on the all-time list with 264 career carries and he ranks fourth all-time with an average of 54.6 yards rushing per game over the course of his career.
WATCH YOUR BLINDSIDE: Junior defensive end
Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) has his sights set on the College's career sack record … Woodman now has 7.5 career sacks and ranks seventh all-time at UC … The College's all-time leader is assistant coach
Tracy Branch, who finished his career with 18.0 sacks in four seasons as a Pioneer.
LENAHAN DOES IT ALL: UC senior saety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) does a little bit of everything for the Pioneer defense … He ranks second all-time at UC with 12 interceptions, seventh all-time with four fumble recoveries and seventh all-time with ten pass break ups.
WILSON JOINING A LONG LINE OF GREAT LINEBACKERS: Sophomore linebacker
Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) has 14 tackles in each of the past two games and he currently leads the Empire 8 Conference with 36 tackles (18 solo, 18 assists) … He also leads the Pioneers with three pass break ups.
KASSAR LEADS THE RUSHING ATTACK: Sophomore quarterback
Will Kassar (Lattingtown, NY/Glen Cove) leads the Pioneers with 173 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 33 carries … His four touchdown runs are tied for second in the Empire 8 ... His first collegiate carry was a 56-yard touchdown run against Misericordia in week one … He has completed 28-of-54 passes for 328 yards and one touchdown.
BENIQUEZ GUIDES THE RECEIVERS: Sophomore speedster
Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) leads UC with 13 catches for 198 yards and one touchdown grab this season … He caught an 80 yard touchdown pass from
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) in week one … He is averaging 15.23 yards per catch.
BIG GAIN PALMER: UC's Greg Palmer may only have three catches this season, but when he is targeted it usually results in a big gain … Palmer leads the team with an average of 26.33 yards per catch this season … He has caught three balls for 79 yards and one touchdown.
OTHER DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKERS: Brandon Burnham (Fulton, NY/Mexico) currently ranks third on the team with 22 tackles (16 solo, six assisted) this season … Junior safety
Mike Sullivan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has a knack for stripping the ball from opponents and he currently leads the team with two forced fumbles … Sullivan also ranks fourth on the team with 17 tackles and he has two tackles for a loss … Sophomore
Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor), former high school teammate of
Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor), currently ranks second on the team with 2.0 sacks for a loss of 12 yards.
WELCOME TO THE E8: Brockport is in its inaugural season as a member of the Empire 8 Conference… Brockport played in the New Jersey Athletic Conference for the past six seasons… Other former NJAC members that are nearby include SUNY Cortland, SUNY Morrisville and fellow Empire 8 member Buffalo State… Morrisville and Cortland will also join the Empire 8 next season.
SCOUTING BROCKPORT: The Golden Eagles received votes in the D3football.com national poll in each of the first two weeks of the season before suffering a loss to nationally-ranked No. 7 St. John Fisher, 36-20… The loss gave Brockport no votes in the national poll this week… Saturday's loss snapped a nine-game win streak… 9,320 fans saw the action for Brockport's Homecoming game, a school-record and the largest Division III crowd so far this season… Brockport is 2-8 on the road, after suffering a home loss the previous game, over the last seven seasons… The Golden Eagles will lean heavily on sophomore running back Dan Andrews, who has surpassed the 100-yard mark in eight of his 10 starts… Brockport is 7-1 when Andrews rushes for over 100 yards… Brockport's offense features a trio of receivers sharing most of the workload… Nate Wilkinson, Andrew Mrozek and Eric Malave each have at least 200 receiving yards and a touchdown so far this season… Wilkinson and Mrozek each have two receiving touchdowns… Brockport has scored 27 points a game so far this season while allowing 20 per game… Opponents have an easier time running the ball on Brockport than passing it… Opponents average 238.3 yards on the ground while allowing just 96.3 yards through the air… Brockport has allowed just one sack this season.
NEW STARTER UNDER CENTER FOR BROCKPORT: Brockport will feature junior Chase Venuto under center due to injuries to Wayne Bonsell and Ty Stoldt… Venuto's father and grandfather both played in the NFL… His father was ACC Player of the Year as a senior at Wake Forest.
FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS: Senior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) is one of four backs in program-history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a career… He is currently tied with Paul Hart '05 for fourth on the College's all-time list with 10 rushing touchdowns… Baldassare recently moved into sole possession of third place on the College's all-time rushing yards list with 1,201… Baldassare is one of five players in program-history to record 2,000+ all-purpose yards and he is fourth on the all-time list heading into the weekend… Senior receiver
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is the school-record holder with 2,629 yards receiving and he looks to extend his all-time lead over Jeremy Meier '12, who wrapped up his career with 2,477 yards receiving… Acevedo has 17 career touchdown catches and needs 13 this season to tie Meier's record of 30… Acevedo needs 546 all-purpose yards to surpass Cody Elliot '09 for the school's career-record; he has 3,223 career all-purpose yards… Junior kicker
Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) became just the sixth player in program-history to score 100 or more points in a career… Woodburn currently ranks second all-time with 57 extra points and needs five more this season to break Casey McNulty's '09 school-record of 61… Woodburn has made 15 field goals in his career and needs two to break the College's all-time record… Sophomore
Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) has totaled 788 return yards in two seasons and recently surpassed teammate
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) for third on the all-time list… Senior safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) ranks second on the College's all-time list with 12 career interceptions and he needs five more this season to tie the school-record of 17 set by Jon Klosner '06 … It took
J'Von Evans (Utica, NY/Proctor) just one game to become the program's career leader in punt return yards (226); he currently has 272 after three games.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Two of the Pioneers remaining scheduled opponents are ranked in the D3football.com week three national poll, including No. 7 St. John Fisher and No. 17 Ithaca… Brockport received votes in the first two weeks… The remaining schedule will feature Empire 8 Conference games only.
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