UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team returns to action on Saturday when the Pioneers host Morrisville State on First Source Federal Credit Union Veterans Appreciation Day at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium at 1 p.m.

Feed Our Vets: First Source Federal Credit Union and Express Employment Professionals will be collecting donations to help feed veterans in our area at Saturday's game … All donations stay in our community and will benefit local organizations such as Feed Our Vets, The CNY Veterans Outreach Center, and Sitrin Healthcare's Veterans' Rehabilitation programs.

Follow the Game Live: Utica Athletic Communications will provide live video and live stats for Saturday's contest … WPNR 90.7 FM will broadcast the game live over the radio airwaves, while links for live video and stats can be found here: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica

Team Information
Last Time Out: SUNY Cortland's Dakym Davis returned a blocked punt 35 yards for a touchdown with 11:10 left to play in the fourth quarter to help lift the host Red Dragons to a 24-23 victory over visiting Utica College on Saturday at Cortland's Stadium Complex … Utica's Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) completed 27-of-48 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked seven times … Donovan Brunson (White Plains, NY/White Plains) and Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) each caught eight passes, with Miller and Josh Hood (Oneida, NY/Oneida) making TD grabs … Utica Freshman kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) made all three of his field goal attempts, highlighted by a 44-yarder in the first half.

Senior Day: Before the start of Saturday's game the Pioneers will honor their 13 graduating seniors for their efforts over the course of the last four seasons … The senior class is arguably one of the most successful classes in program-history, guiding the Pioneers to 21 wins in four seasons as well as two ECAC Bowl bids … Utica will honor seniors Jack Anten (Rochester, NY/Hilton), Ryan Alphonse (Rock Tavern, NY/Washingtonville), Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport), Travis Flanagan (Northport, NY/Northport), Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High), Chancellor Harris (West Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta), Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood), Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River), Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew), Patrick Shea (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park), Cameron White (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle), Alfonzo Whitehurst (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville) and Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) … Senior cheerleader's Anealle Amy and Jackie Henz will also be honored.

Final Game of 2017: Utica (3-6, 2-5 Empire 8) dropped its first home contest of the season two weekends ago against Ithaca … UC started the season with a win at home over St. Lawrence before dropping three straight on the road at Catholic, Alfred and Brockport … The Pioneers returned home to defeat Hartwick before falling in a memorable five overtime contest at St. John Fisher … The Pioneers then dominated Buffalo State at home on Homecoming (34-12), before losing against Ithaca and Cortland.

Last Time Against Morrsiville: The Utica College football team used one touchdown in each quarter to defeat host Morrisville State 28-21 in the Empire 8 Conference opener on September 17^th at Morrisville's Drake Field … The turning point in the game was a 99-yard kickoff return by Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) to tie the score 21-21 just 14 seconds after the Mustangs scored the go-ahead tally on an 89-yard TD run … Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) had 11 carries for 24 yards and two touchdowns.

All-Time vs. Morrisville: Utica and Morrisville will be meeting for the fourth time in program-history on Saturday … The record stands at 2-1, with Utica earning two straight wins over the Mustangs … Back in 2014, Morrisville got the better of the Pioneers, 52-41, in the ECAC North Central Bowl.

Familiar Face On The Sidelines: 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 … He is completing his fourth season at the helm of the Morrisville football program … He guided the Mustangs to a program best record since becoming a member of the NCAA Division III as they wrapped up the 2014 regular season with a 9-2 overall record … During his playing days as a quarterback at St. John Fisher College, Fitzpatrick was a student-athlete while Utica Head Coach Blaise Faggiano was the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals.

Offensive Notes
Ground & Pound:  The Pioneers currently have 1,429 yards rushing this season on the ground … Junior captain Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) leads the team with 501 yards rushing on 113 carries to go along with three TD's … Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) ranks third on the team with 366 yards rushing and three touchdowns … Gambill is a threat to break loose at any time, averaging 6.8 yards per carry … Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) is a key for the Pioneers in short yardage situations as he has three rushing touchdowns this season.

Under Center: Sophomore quarterback Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) leads the team with an average of 61.33 rushing yards per game … He also has three rushing touchdowns … Through the air he has completed 89-of-163 attempts for 857 yards and six touchdowns.

Receiving Options: Donovan Brunson (White Plains, NY/White Plains) leads Utica with 31 catches for 287 yards and three touchdowns … Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood) ranks second on the team with 21 catches for 206 yards while tight end Alex Damiani (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) has been a consistent threat with 18 catches for 201 yards … Josh Hood (Oneida, NY/Oneida) has 18 catches and two touchdowns on the season.

Defensive Notes
Tackling Leader: Senior linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) is one of just three players averaging over 10 tackles per game in the Empire 8 … He ranks third in the league with 10.1 tackles per game … He has 91 total tackles on the season.

Senior Leaders: Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) ranks second on the team with 50 tackles this season … He also has one interception and seven pass breakups … Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River) ranks fifth on the team with 39 total tackles … Chancellor Harris (West Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta) ranks second in the Empire 8 with an average of 1.29 passes defender per game … He has a team-high eight pass breakups and one interception.

Defensive Line: Defensive lineman Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) has come on strong as of late, recording 29 tackles and 3.5 sacks in his last four outings … His 45 tackles this season currently rank third on the team … Robbie Schempp (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) leads the team with 4.5 sacks, while Jack Derby (Fonda, NY/Fultonville Fonda) has racked up 35 tackles … Utica ranks second in the league with 23 sacks this year.

Holding it Down: The Utica defense ranks third in the league allowing an average of 20.9 points per game.

Special Teams
Empire 8 Player of the Week: Freshman kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) was named the Empire 8 Conference Specials Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday … Medici was 3-for-3 on field goal opportunities and also converted two extra points as the Pioneers traveled to Cortland on Saturday for Empire 8 action … He made a career-long 44 yarder and also made field goals of 24 and 37 for the Pioneers … He leads the league with 10 field goals this season and is also tied for the longest field goal in the E8 this year (44 yards) … He averages 1.1 field goals per game.