UTICA, NY -- The Utica College football team is set to host Buffalo State on Homecoming Saturday in an Empire 8 Conference contest at 1 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. Saturday's contest will be sponsored by Indium Corporation. 

Indium Corporation: For the fourth straight year Indium Corporation will be the proud sponsor of a UC football game … 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.

Follow the Game Live: All Utica College football home games will be broadcast on the radio locally by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM… Fans can also follow live video and stats provided by Pioneers All-Access: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.

Team Information
Home Sweet Home: Utica returns home for three of its final four games of the regular season … The Pioneers are unbeaten on their home turf this season with victories over St. Lawrence (Week 1) and most recently Hartwick (Week 5) … UC is 8-4 at home over the course of the last three seasons … The Pioneers are currently 2-4 overall and 1-3 in Empire 8 play this season.

Instant Classic at Fisher: Utica kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) tied the school and Empire 8 Conference record with five field goals, including four in overtime alone, but the gutsy effort by the freshman was not enough as host St. John Fisher scored a touchdown in the fifth overtime to lift the Cardinals to a 39-36 victory at Growney Stadium last Saturday night … Utica rallied from an 18-9 fourth quarter deficit, scoring 11 points in the final 5:43 of regulation to force overtime. 

1,000+ Yards on the Ground: As a team the Pioneers cracked the 1,000 yard barrier after last week's 306 yard performance at Fisher … UC has 1,027 yards rushing on 249 attempts through six games … The Pioneers 306 yards on the ground at Fisher marked their first 300+ yard single game rushing effort since 2009. 

All-Time Against Buffalo State: Utica is 3-2 against Buffalo State all-time, including a 26-13 victory on the road last season … The Pioneers have never lost at Buffalo State, earning road victories over the Bengals in 2012, 2014 and 2016 … The Pioneers are in search of their first home victory over the Bengals at Gaetano Stadium in program-history.

Offensive Notes
Ground & Pound: UC has four players with at least two rushing touchdowns this season … Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) is coming off a season-high 136 yard rushing effort at Fisher last weekend … He leads the team with 309 yards on 62 carries … Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) is always a threat to break a big run out of the backfield as he is averaging 5.9 yards per carry this season … Gambill has 288 yards rushing on 49 carries … Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) leads UC with three rushing touchdowns … He has been called upon in short yardage situations as he has 36 carries for 85 yards.

Under Center: Utica's starter under center Saturday will be sophomore Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) who has come on as the Pioneers main option in the past two weeks … In his first collegiate start against Hartwick in week five he punched in the game-winning score to guide the Pioneers to a 28-24 victory at home … Aloi has been dangerous on the ground, piling up a team-best average of 84.33 yards rushing per game to go along with two rushing scores … He is also averaging a team-high 131.0 yards passing per game to go along with three touchdowns through the air.

New Favorite Target: Donovan Brunson (White Plains, NY/White Plains) has caught nine balls for 118 yards and three touchdowns in his last two games for Utica … He also earned five carries for the Pioneers last week against Fisher … In week five against Hartwick he put together a career-best performance as he caught five balls for 89 yards and two touchdowns. 

Receiving Corps: Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood) leads all receivers with 19 catches for 198 yards this season … Tight end Alex Damiani (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) has 13 catches for 146 yards and Josh Hood (Oneida, NY/Oneida) also has 13 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. 

Defensive Notes
Empire 8 Standout: Senior linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) ranks second in the Empire 8 with an average of 10.5 tackles per game … He also has two sacks to his credit … He has 28 tackles in his last two games and he has 10+ tackles in four of six games. 

Oh Captain, My Captain: Senior captain Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) ranks second on the team with 36 tackles in six games this season … He also has three pass breakups and one interception. 

Breakout Season: ­Senior Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River) ranks third on the team with 31 tackles … He has 3.0 tackles for a loss, two pass breakups and one forced fumble to his credit. 

Strong on the Line: Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) leads all defensive lineman with 26 tackles this season … He also has one sack and a pass breakup … Jack Derby (Fonda, NY/Fultonville Fonda) has 24 tackles and Robbie Schempp (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) is not far behind with 22 tackles and a team-high 2.5 sacks. 

Special Teams Notes
Empire 8 Player of the Week: Freshman kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) was named the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week and the College's Male Athlete of the Week on Monday … Medici was responsible for 16 points with his foot in Saturday's game against St. John Fisher, as he tied the school-record and conference record with five field goals, including four in overtime alone … Medici finished the night with field goals of 27, 33, 36, 31 and 39 yards for the Pioneers … He tied the school and conference-record of five field goals originally set by Utica's All-American kicker Thomas Woodburn back in 2015 … His 39 yarder in the fifth overtime was also a career-long … Medici is now 7-for-11 on field goal chances this season … He leads Utica with 33 total points (seven field goals, 12 extra points) … His seven field goals made are tied for first in the Empire 8.

Upcoming Events
Inaugural New York State Tool Believe Bowl: UC is set to host the inaugural New York State Tool Believe Bowl on Saturday Oct. 28^th when the Pioneers host Ithaca College in a non-conference affair at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium (1 p.m.).

Bowl Talk: The Pioneers will have to begin to turn things around in order for a bowl opportunity to come their way … Utica has a new postseason opportunity to play for in the 2017 season as the Empire 8 has partnered with the Liberty League to create the New York State Bowl Game which will match the top team from each conference not selected for the NCAA playoffs.

Buffalo State
Meet the Bengals: Buffalo State snapped a two-game skid last week erasing a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat St. Lawrence, 24-21, in a non-conference road game to improve to 4-2 … Buffalo State pitched a second-half shutout and Kyle Hoppy scored on a 20-yard quarterback keeper with just over a minute remaining to allow the Bengals defeat host St. Lawrence, 24-21, at Leckonby Stadium … Buffalo State has erased two-score half-time deficits thanks in large part to pitching second-half shutouts in wins over both RPI and St. Lawrence … The Bengals are outscoring their opposition 78-49 in the second half this season … Buffalo State is being outscored 119-67 in the first half of games.