UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team wraps up a three game road trip on Saturday when the Pioneers travel to nationally-ranked No. 19 SUNY Brockport to take on the Golden Eagles in Empire 8 Conference action at 4 p.m.

Must Shake the Road Blues: The Pioneers will look to snap a two game losing streak on Saturday at Brockport after falling to Catholic (16-10, Week 2) and nationally-ranked No. 23 Alfred (24-17, Week 3) in consecuitve weeks … Last week at Alfred, the Pioneers rallied from a 17-3 third quarter deficit and made it a seven point game with 2:05 left in the contest, but the Pioneers' comeback bid fell short as the host Saxons hung on for a 24-17 victory in conference play … In the conference opener for both teams, Alfred (2-0, 1-0 Empire 8) piled up more than 400 yards of offense, while the AU defense held the visiting Pioneers (1-2, 0-1 E8) to 267 yards.

Second Straight Week Against a Ranked Opponent: Saturday will mark the second straight week that the Pioneers will square off against the nationally-ranked No. 19 team in the country according to D3football.com … Alfred headed into week three ranked No. 19 and Brockport moved up this past week after a convincing win over St. John Fisher and now holds the No. 19 ranking in the national poll.

All-Time Against Brockport: UC and Brockport have met five times in the 17 year history of the Pioneer football program … The Golden Eagles hold a slight 3-2 edge through the first five … The Golden Eagles snapped a two-game slide against Utica in 2016 when they earned a seven point win, 35-28, last season at Gaetano Stadium … The last time Utica traveled to Brockport in 2015 the Pioneers came away with a 22-19 overtime victory by way of a five field goal effort from All-American kicker Thomas Woodburn … The gutsy effort by Woodburn culminated with a game-winning 35 yard field goal in OT to hand the Pioneers a three point win.

Broadcast Information: Brockport Athletic Communications will produce live video and live statistics for Saturday's contest at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/brockport/

Defensive Notes
Low Scoring Affair: A quick look at the stats would tell fans to expect a low scoring contest on Saturday as Brockport boasts the top scoring defense in the conference allowing just 9.0 points per game … Utica ranks second in the conference in scoring defense allowing an average of just 15.1 points per game.  

Oh So Close: UC has lost its last two games by an average of just 6.5 points … The Pioneers have been within one score of their opponent in the closing minutes of each game.

Turnovers Gained: The Utica defense leads the Empire 8 and is ranked 26th nationally with eight turnovers gained this season.

Tough on Third Down: The Pioneers have one of the stingiest defenses in the nation on third down, leading the conference, and they also rank eighth nationally holding opponents to a 19.1% (9-of-47) success rate on third downs.

Pick City: The Utica secondary currently ranks second in the Empire 8 with five interceptions through three games played … Five different players have one interception including Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport), Mark Taylor (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West), Sean McKean (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot), Elijah Belle (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) and Chancellor Harris (West Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta). 

Leading the Way: Senior linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) leads the team with 27 total tackles this season … He has 12 solo tackles and 15 assists … He also has 1.5 sacks for a loss of 12 yards … Senior safety Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) is having a banner year for the Pioneers as he ranks second on the team with 19 total tackles to go along with one interception and two pass breakups … Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River) ranks third on the team with 18 tackles and he also has two pass breakups.

On the Mark: Mark Taylor (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West) leads the team and is tied for first in the Empire 8 with six passes defended this season … He has four pass breakups and one interception.

Young Blood: Freshman Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) is tied for fourth on the team with 14 tackles this season … He also has 1.5 tackles for a loss to go along with a half sack.

In The Trenches: Defensive Lineman Robbie Schempp (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) leads the d-line with nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and one pass breakup this season … Nick Pizzarelli (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) and Jack Derby (Fonda, NY/Fultonville Fonda) have combined for 16 tackles while JP Gilroy (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) and Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) have combined for 14 tackles. 

Offensive Notes
Big Gainer: Utica senior running back Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) currently leads the team with an average of 8.0 yards per carry this season … Gambill also leads the team with 167 yard rushing and two touchdowns, both which came in a week one win over St. Lawrence … A two-sport athlete, he is a four-time NCAA Division III All-American and an eight-time national qualifier over the course of his sprinting career for the track program … He also recently qualified for the USA Bobsled & Skeleton rookie camp which took place August 21-27 in Lake Placid, NY.

Ground and Pound: Utica's running backs rank fourth in the Empire 8 in rushing offense with an average of 156.0 yards rushing per game … Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) came on strong against Catholic in week two and posted 130 yards rushing to go along with a touchdown … Sophomore Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), who led Utica with 12 rushing touchdowns in his freshman season, returned last week and rushed 12 times for 52 yards while catching a touchdown pass. 

Receiving Corps: Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood) leads the team with nine catches for 119 yards this season … Josh Hood (Oneida, NY/Oneida) has eight grabs for 89 yards and one score while tight end Alex Damiani (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) ranks third on the team with six catches for 84 yards.

Under Center: Sophomore quarterback Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) has taken every snap under center so far this season … He has completed 40 passes for 425 yards and two touchdowns but he has also thrown four interceptions … Miller is also a threat on the ground having rushed for 95 yards on 31 carries this year. 

Special Teams Notes
Shifty Steele: Zach Steele (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) leads the team with eight punt returns for 94 yards this season … He has an average of 11.75 yards per return, which ranks second in the Empire 8.

Kicking Game: Freshman kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) has made two field goals for the Pioneers this season … His long is 36 yards … Punter Brandon Few (Lockport, NY/Lockport) ranks second in the Empire 8 with an average of 37.4 yards per punt … He also had the longest recorded punt in the conference this season with a long of 57 yards.

Meet the Opponent
The College at Brockport: The rushing attack has been strong again this year for Brockport, averaging 243.3 yards-per-game, and accounting for nine of the teams 13 touchdowns … Justin Morrison has led the way in that category, averaging 153.0 yards-per-game on the ground, including 227 and three scores last weekend against St. John Fisher … The 38-7 win over Fisher marked the first time in four tries that Brockport came out victorious in the annual Courage Bowl … Overall, the Brockport offense has over matched all three defenses they faced, averaging 34.3 points-per-game and 536.3 total yards per-game … They've also been dominant on the other side of the ball, as the defense is allowing just 278 yards-per-game, and has given up only three touchdowns thus far in 2017.