UTICA, NY – It's Adirondack Bank Night and High School Student Night under the lights on Saturday at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium as the Utica College football team hosts Morrisville State in the Empire 8 Conference opener for both teams at 7 p.m.
ADIRONDACK BANK NIGHT: The first 1,000 fans through the gates on Saturday night will receive a free seat cushion courtesy of lead sponsor Adirondack Bank.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT NIGHT: High school students will receive free admission to the contest if they wear a high school t-shirt, sweatshirt or jacket.
TICKETS: Tickets are sold at the gate … $4 for adults and $2 for any non-UC students … Utica students, faculty and staff are free with ID.
BROADCAST INFO: All Utica College football games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by Dave Peroni and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website,
www.espnur.com... Utica College home games are also broadcast over the air and online by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM… Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats on Pioneers All-Access:
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.
12th MAN CLUB: Get to campus early for the 12
th Man Tailgate in Parking Lot A … Mike Spellman and Rainzilla from ESPN Radio Utica/Rome and KROCK will broadcast live in the tailgate area to catch all of the pregame festivities.
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 and 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.
15TH ANNIVERSARY: The UC football program is in the midst of its 15
th season of varsity play … Proof of the program's maturation is that the Pioneers have posted a record of .500 or better in four of the last five seasons … In 15 years the Pioneers have racked up 52 victories, including 22 wins in the last five seasons alone … Head Coach
Blaise Faggiano is in his seventh season at the helm and has elevated the program to new heights … He has 34 victories under his belt and he has guided over 60 student-athletes to All-Conference status … He currently boasts a 20-8 mark in non-conference play.
LAST WEEKEND: (ADA, OH) - Ohio Northern University, which is receiving votes in the latest D3football.com National Poll, scored 15 unanswered fourth quarter points to rally from a 22-14 third quarter deficit on its way to a 29-22 victory over visiting Utica College last Saturday afternoon … UC led by 12 points, 19-7, midway through the third quarter before the Polar Bears outscored the Pioneers 22-3 in the final 21:37 of action.
WHERE WE STAND: UC is currently 1-1 overall headed into Saturday's Empire 8 Conference opener against newcomer Morrisville State on Saturday night … UC opened the season with a convincing 42-28 win over Misericordia at home before falling to Ohio Northern last weekend on the road.
OFFENSIVE NOTESACTING LIKE A VETERAN: Offensive Coordinator
Jim Kramer could not have asked for much more so far out of quarterback
Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), who will make just his third career start on Saturday night … VanGalen currently ranks second in the Empire 8 and 27
th nationally with 563 total yards passing … He has completed 61.29% of his passes for three touchdowns and he has thrown just one interception.
PALMER PLAYING BIG: Senior wide receiver
Gregory Palmer (Richland, NY/APW) has had two huge games to open up his final season in the blue and orange … His 317 total yards receiving ranks second in the Empire 8 and seventh in all of Division III football … He is averaging 158.5 yards receiving per game and he has two touchdown catches of 60+ yards … Palmer is tied for eighth on the College's all-time list with seven career touchdown passes and he recently cracked the top 10 with 763 career receiving yards.
BURNETT CARRIES THE LOAD: Junior captain
Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) currently ranks fourth in the Empire 8 with an average of 81.0 yards rushing per game … His 47 carries and 162 total rushing yards in two games lead the Empire 8 and the team … He ranks eighth on the College's all-time list with 701 career rushing yards and he needs 80 more yards to jump two spots up to No. 6 all-time.
OFFENSIVE LINE: The UC offensive line has done a great job of protecting VanGalen and through two games they are one of 26 units left in the country to have not allowed a single sack.
MR. ALL-PURPOSE: Utica junior
Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) has done a little bit of everything for the Pioneers so far this season … He ranks second in the team with 11 catches for 107 yards in his primary role as a receiver … He leads the conference with 191 total kick return yards and his average of 166.5 all-purpose yards per game ranks third in the E8 ... Beniquez ranks eighth on the College's all-time list with 855 career receiving yards and he needs 145 yards receiving to become the eighth player in program-history to compile over 1,000 yards receiving in a career … Beniquez also ranks ninth all-time with 76 career catches and needs five more to move into eighth all-time … He ranks fifth on the College's all-time list with 2,503 career all-purpose yards.
SPECIAL TEAMSLEADING THE NATION: Utica senior kicker
Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) currently leads all of Division III football with an average of 2.5 field goals made per game … He is 5-for-5 this season with a long of 36 yards … He was named the Empire 8 Conference and the ECAC North Player of the Week for his efforts … He needs 33 more points this season to break the school-record for career points scored currently held by Jeremy Meier … He is currently tied for second on the all-time scoring list with 162 points … He is the College's all-time leader with 90 career PAT's made and he also holds the school-record with 24 field goals made.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
WOODMAN SECURES HIS PLACE IN HISTORY: Senior defensive end
Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) tallied one sack last week and now holds sole possession of the school-record for career sacks (19.0) … His 2.5 sacks this season rank second in the Empire 8 … He also ranks second on the team with 15 tackles.
WILSON LEADS THE DEFENSE: No surprise here, junior linebacker
Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) leads the team and the conference with 24 total tackles through two games … Wilson now has 143 career tackles … He has posted at least 10 tackles in eight of his last 13 starts.
SEKUTERSKI STANDS OUT: Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) made a name for himself last weekend as he picked off an Ohio Northern pass, his first career interception, and set up an easy score for the UC offense … He currently has ten tackles and a team-best three pass break ups.
STUFFING THE MIDDLE: Interior defensive lineman
Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) ranks second on the team with 2.0 tackles for a loss of five yards and he also has one sack and a pass break up.
MORRISVILLE PROFILE
REMATCH OF THE ECAC NORTH CENTRAL BOWL: Saturday night's matchup between UC and Morrisville is a rematch of last year's ECAC North Central Bowl game, which marked the first time in program-history the Pioneers were selected to participate in week 11 … UC rallied from a 31-14 halftime deficit and trailed by just four points, with 3:42 to go, but host Morrisville's 568 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns proved to be too much as the Mustangs came away with a 52-41 victory in the first meeting between the two programs.
MEET MORRISVILLE: The Mustangs are entering their first season in the Empire 8 Conference after spending time as a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) … The Mustangs are currently 1-0 on the year after downing St. Lawrence University 28-20 on September 4
th … Quarterback Cory Benedetto completed 17 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns in the opener while Cristian Pena added 17 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown … Anthony Mella led all receivers with four catches for 137 yards and two scores … Richardson Dero totaled 13 tackles to pace the Mustang defense.
WELCOME BACK COACH FITZPATRICK: Morrisville Head Coach Curt Fitzpatrick spent five seasons as the offensive coordinator at Utica College before accepting the position to lead the Mustangs in 2013 … In just two seasons at the helm of the program, Fitzpatrick has compiled a 12-9 overall record … He guided the Mustangs to a program best record since becoming a member of the NCAA Division III as they wrapped up the regular season with a 9-2 overall record last season.
