Utica, NY – The Utica College football team is set to host the Indium Corporation Home Opener on Saturday as the Pioneers welcome nationally-ranked No. 18 Ohio Northern University to Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  The contest is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.

Indium Home Opener: For the third straight year Indium Corporation will be the proud sponsor of the Pioneers home opener at Gaetano Stadium … Indium Corporation is a premier materials supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin film, thermal management, and solar markets … Indium has locations right here in Utica, as well as locations in nearby Clinton and Rome … Founded in 1934, Indium also has global technical support and factories located in China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Students & Firefighters Against Cancer: The Pioneers will also host Students & Firefighters Against Cancer on Saturday and are offering free admission for all firefighters wearing a Fire Department shirt … UC's College's Against Cancer (CAC) student organization will be on hand with a bake sale table set up in the plaza and the Believe 271 Foundation will also have representation at the game … Believe 271 was founded in 2015 to assist firefighters battling cancer and life threatening illnesses in Oneida and Herkimer County.

Success in Home Openers: The Pioneers have won seven consecutive home openers headed into Saturday's matchup against Ohio Northern … UC has outscored its home opener opponents 278-124 in the last seven seasons … The Pioneers have scored 40 or more points in five of their last seven home openers. 

Broadcast Info:  All Utica College football games will be broadcast on www.espnur.com by Dave Peroni, in his 40th year of broadcasting, and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on ESPNUR'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… Fans can also follow live video and stats for all home games at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.

Week 1 Review: The Pioneers jumped out to a 23-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they topped host Misericordia University 40-6 in the season opener for both squads last Saturday … Utica senior Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) posted 261 all-purpose yards and one touchdown, while the Pioneer defense held the Cougars to -8 yards rushing on 18 carries on the afternoon.

Defense Wins Championships: The Pioneer defense currently ranks second nationally in rushing defense after holding Misericordia to -8 yards rushing last weekend … UC also ranks second nationally in yards allowed after holding the Cougars to just 131 total yards of offense … The Pioneers are fifth nationally in first downs allowed, having allowed just eight last week. 

In the National Spotlight: Senior Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) ranks seventh in the country with 261 all-purpose yards last weekend … He also ranks second nationally in average punt return yards (38.3) …Beniquez caught a team-best 10 balls for 92 yards and also rushed for a 55 yard touchdown.

Steady Teddy: Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) completed 23-of-33 passes for 264 yards and one touchdown in Saturday's win over Misericordia … He completed 69.70% of his passes and currently has an efficiency rating of 146.90.

Catching On Quick: Junior Shawn Marchant (Kingston, NY/Kingston) will see an expanded role in the receiving corps this season and came out of the gates with four catches for 61 yards and his first varsity touchdown on Saturday … Freshman tight end Alex Damiani (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) made his presence felt quickly and caught three balls for 46 yards. 

Sekuterski Getting it Done: Junior linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) made a team-best six tackles, recorded a half sack and broke up two passes in Saturday's opener against Misericordia. 

Big League Ready: Freshman running back Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) proved he has the goods to compete at the collegiate level after carrying the ball seven times for 49 yards and two scores in his debut on Saturday … He had touchdown runs of two yards and 25 yards to help the Pioneers earn a 34 point victory.

Running back By Committee: Five different running backs earned at least two carries last weekend … Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and sophomore Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) each carried the ball seven times, while seniors Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) and Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) combined for five carries … Freshman Tahj Clark (Medford, NY/Longwood) also carried the ball six times in week one.

History in the Making: Utica's Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) needs just three yards to move into fifth on the College's all-time rushing yards list (currently has 886 rushing yards) … He also needs 114 yards rushing to become the fifth back in school-history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a career … Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) needs 64 completions to become just the fourth quarterback in program-history to compile 300 or more career completions … Last weekend VanGalen became the fourth player in school-history to eclipse 3,000 career yards of total offense …  Beniquez needs 223 receiving yards to move into sixth on the College's all-time receiving yards list (currently has 1,341 receiving yards) … He needs just two more catches to move into fourth on the College's all-time pass receptions list (currently has 129 career receptions) … Beniquez now needs 164 all-purpose yards to surpass Cody Elliot '09 for second on the College's career all-purpose yards list … Matthew McCoy (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) needs three interceptions to move into third place on the College's all-time interceptions list … Senior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) needs 22 tackles to move into third place on the College's all-time tackles list.

Last Year Against ONU: Ohio Northern 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 in week two of the 2015 season ... 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 … Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) completed 20-of-36 passes for a career-high 300 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon.

Meet Ohio Northern:  Nationally-ranked No. 18 Ohio Northern is playing in its first game of the season on Saturday and will be traveling to Utica for the first time in program-history … In each of the past three seasons, the Ohio Northern football team has increased its win total from the year before … After a 4-win season in 2012, the Polar Bears won six games in 2013, seven games in 2014 and posted a 9-3 record with an NCAA playoff victory last year … ONU returns 32 lettermen and 13 starters from last year's team that finished second in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 7-2 mark and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

Get The App: Utica Athletics recently launched a fan rewards program to promote fan engagement for all 26 of UC's intercollegiate sports… Powered by SuperFanU, the "Pioneer Pride Points" Fan Rewards app uses GPS tracking to recognize where fans are located at specified home games… Points are earned by attending and "Checking In" to UC athletics games, participating in a variety of contests and interacting with social media platforms through the app… The app is available on all IPhone and Android devices by searching 'Pioneer Pride Points' in the Apple App Store or GooglePlay Market and is free to all Utica College students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and fans.

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 ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram or Snapchat by searching UCPioneers.