UTICA, NY -- The Utica College football team looks to keep the ball rolling on Saturday when the Pioneers travel to St. John Fisher College to take on the Cardinals in Empire 8 Conference action at Growney Stadium in Pittsford, NY. The contest is scheduled to kickoff at 6 p.m.

Follow the Game Live: St. John Fisher Athletic Communications will provide live video, and stats for Saturday's contest at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sjfc/ … Live audio will also be provided by ESPN Rochester 95.7 FM and on the call will be former WUTR (Utica) reporter Steve Bond … A link to the live audio can be found here: http://www.espnrochester.com/

Team Information
Brick By Brick: After starting the season with a win over St. Lawrence at home, the Pioneers came up just short in three consecutive weeks and saw their record fall to 1-3 … All three of the loses came by less than two scores … Two of the loses came against undefeated and nationally ranked No. 13 Brockport (28-14, Week 4) and No. 17 Alfred (24-17, Week 3) … The Pioneers are now back on track after a thrilling victory over Hartwick at home two Saturday's ago.

Week 5 Victory: Utica College sophomore quarterback Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) made his first collegiate start a memorable as he completed 14-of-21 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns through the air while adding the game-winning eight yard rushing touchdown with 28 seconds left on the game clock to lift the Pioneers to a 28-24 victory in Empire 8 Conference action at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium on Sept. 30th.

Bye Week:  The Pioneers were off last Saturday for their scheduled bye week … This week marks the first time in three years that UC has not played Alfred when coming off a bye week.

How Did You Spend Your Bye Week?: Utica College defensive lineman Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) joined fellow Construction Management classmates during the bye week and traveled to Santa Fe, Texas to help rebuild homes after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

Familiar Foe for Faggiano: Utica Head Coach Blaise Faggiano spent nine seasons as the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at St. John Fisher prior to accepting the head coaching position at Utica … He helped guide the Cardinals to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of his final two seasons … Faggiano spent all nine seasons at Fisher under the guidance of current SJFC Head Coach Paul Vosburgh.

All-Time Against SJFC: Saturday marks the 17th year in a row these two teams have met… Utica has played St. John Fisher every year since the program's inception back in 2001… In 2016 the Pioneers got over the hump, knocking off previously undefeated and nationally-ranked No. 13 St. John Fisher, 23-6, at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium ... The win marked the Pioneers third victory over a ranked opponent in 2016 and it was also the first time Utica had defeated St. John Fisher in program-history … Former running back and current assistant coach Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) totaled the fourth-best single game rushing effort in school-history, as he rolled up 204 yards on the ground and added one touchdown for the Pioneers.

Offensive Notes
Fresh Face Under Center: Utica quarterback Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) came on for Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) in the second half of the Pioneers game against Brockport and completed 10-of-17 passes for 103 yards, a performance good enough to earn him a starting role in week five against Hartwick … Aloi has also proven to be effective on the ground as he has rushed the ball 27 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Ground Game: Utica's Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) leads the team with 256 yards rushing on 42 carries to go along with two scores … His average of 6.0 yards per carry is tied for fourth in the league … Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) ranks second on the team with 39 carries for 173 yards and one touchdown … Sophomore Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has found pay dirt twice for the Pioneers this season and now has 14 career touchdowns.

Brunson Coming On Strong: Wide receiver Donovan Brunson (White Plains, NY/White Plains) had his best collegiate game against Hartwick as he hauled in five catches for 89 yards and two scores … He also caught a career-long 29 yard pass that set up the game-winning score for Utica. 

Protecting the QB: Utica's offensive line led by center Dan Busold (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), Tyree Coble (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon), senior guard Ryan Alphonse (Rock Tavern, NY/Washingtonville), junior Brendan Jones and sophomore Matt Nell have held opponents to just three sacks all season. 

The Ariel Assault: Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood) leads all UC receivers with 19 catches for 198 yards … Josh Hood (Oneida, NY/Oneida) has also put together a nice season so far as he has 12 catches for 133 yards … Tight End Alex Damiani (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) had 10 catches for 126 yards. 

Defensive Notes
Tackling Machine: Senior linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) leads the team and ranks second in the Empire 8 with 48 tackles this season … He now has 135 tackles over the course of the last three seasons. 

Another Stellar Year for ABA: Senior Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) ranks second on the team with 31 tackles and he also has one interception to go along with three pass breakups.

Career Year for Lyndaker: Senior Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River) ranks third on the team with 30 tackles to go along with one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and two pass breakups.

In the Trenches: Utica's defensive line is littered with talent across the board … Jack Derby (Fonda, NY/Fultonville Fonda) has 17 tackles to go along with 1.5 sacks … Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) has 16 tackles and knocked down a pass … Robbie Schempp (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) is playing arguably the best football of his young career as he ranks second on the team with 5.0 tackles for a loss and he also has 2.0 sacks … Nick Pizzarelli (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) adds to the defensive front with 12 tackles and one sack.

Meet St. John Fisher: St. John Fisher (0-5, 0-3), a tradition eastern power in the last decade of Div. III football, is surprisingly winless through five games this season … Last week the Cardinals faced off with nationally-ranked Alfred University and nearly came away with the upset win over the top-twenty Saxons, but ultimately fell 21-14 … James Chambers leads the rushing attack with 390 yards and three touchdowns … The Cardinals are trying to find their best option under center, as Joshua Michels and freshman Johnathan Letta have each taken snaps this season … Michels has more experience, but Letta saw the bulk of the action last weekend for the Cardinals and is likely to start again this week after going 12-for-19 for 112 yards and a TD pass against Alfred … Letta also gives the Cardinals a mobile option as he has carried the ball 38 times in the past two weeks.