Brockport, NY – The Utica College football team lost to host and nationally-ranked No. 19 Brockport 28-14 in Empire 8 Conference action on Saturday at Bob Boozer Field.
The Pioneers have dropped three straight as their record moved to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in E8 play. Brockport's record remained unblemished as it improved to 4-0 and 2-0 in conference play. Utica returns home on Saturday when the Pioneers host Hartwick College in Empire 8 Conference action on Indium Corporation Night at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium (7 p.m.).
Utica came out of the gates hot and capitalized on a Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) 78 yard interception return to the Brockport two yard line to set up a one yard touchdown run by sophomore Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy). Reed now has two touchdowns in two games played this season and he has 14 career touchdowns in the blue and orange. UC held a 7-0 advantage after freshman kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) converted the extra point at the 8:27 marker of the first quarter.
Brockport answered with three straight scores before the half and held a 21-7 lead through 30 full minutes of action. Justin Morrison knotted the score at 7-7 with a 12 yard touchdown run with 4:41 to go in the first quarter. DaQuan Hubbard caught a 74 yard touchdown pass with 8:40 to go before the half to make it 14-7 and Joe Germinerio added a two yard TD plunge with 2:03 left in the first half to give the Golden Eagles a 14 point lead at the intermission.
Brockport pushed its lead to 28-7 with 8:55 to go in the fourth quarter to squander the Pioneers chances of a comeback.
Utica would not go down without a fight as quarterback Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) punched in a three yard run with 31 seconds left on the game clock to close out the scoring on the afternoon with the score set at 28-14.
Aloi was seeing his first action of the year under center as he took over for traditional starter Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) at the half. Aloi finished the day with 10 completions for 103 yards to go along with a team-high 47 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Senior Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood) caught a team-high six balls for 58 yards. Junior captain Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) caught two balls for 33 yards for the Pioneers.
Senior Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River) led the Utica defense with nine tackles and one forced fumble. Senior linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) added to his team-lead with eight tackles while Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) finished the day with seven tackles and one interception. Senior Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport), Ryan Oliver (Vernon Center, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), Jack Derby (Fonda, NY/Fultonville Fonda) and Dylan Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) each added six tackles for the Pioneers.
Germinerio finished the day with 20 completions for 241 yards in the air. The Golden Eagles did most of their damage on the ground as they totaled 233 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Morrison led all rushers with 127 yards and two scores. Hubbard led the Brockport receivers with four catches for 94 yards.
