UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team returns to the friendly confines of Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Saturday evening as it hosts Hartwick College for Adirondack Bank Night and Coach to Cure MD game.  Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Promotional Events
ADK Bank Night: Fans are encouraged to come early to receive a free blanket courtesy of Adirondack Bank ... Blankets will be distributed on first come first serve basis until they run out ... For more information about Adirondack Bank please visiit: https://www.adirondackbank.com/. 

Coach to Cure MD Game: For the tenth year in a row college's across the nation have joined together to support the Coach to Cure MD program …The rapidly growing effort has raised more than one million dollars to fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy… At Saturday's game the Utica College coaching staff will be rolling up their sleeves to show off their "Coach to Cure MD" armbands…College football fans will be asked to donate to research projects supported by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused entirely on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy…Fans can donate to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research by either going online to www.CoachtoCureMD.org or by texting the word CURE to 90999 (a $5 donation will automatically be added to your next phone bill and standard text message rates apply).
 
Broadcast Info:  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/.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers are coming off a 28-14 loss to nationally ranked No. 16 Brockport on Saturday… UC got on the board first thanks in part to a 78-yard interception return by Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack), and a one-yard TD run by Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy)… Brockport responded, however, to score four straight touchdowns before the Pioneers capped off the scoring on the day with a three-yard TD run by Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) with 31 seconds remaining in the game… Senior Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River) led the Utica defense with nine tackles and one forced fumble, while linebacker Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) added to his team-lead with eight tackles. 
 
Home Sweet Home: After a tough three-game road trip, including two meetings against nationally ranked teams, the Pioneers return home Saturday… Utica is 4-2 at Gaetano Stadium since the beginning of last year… The Pioneers have scored at least 20 points in each of their last six home games… UC defeated St. Lawrence 20-7 at home on Sept. 2 to open the season. 
 
Defensive Notes
Lock Down in the Red Zone: Utica ranks second in the conference and 11th nationally in red zone defense, allowing opposing teams to score in just 50 percent of their trips to the red zone. 
 
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 22nd nationally holding opponents to a 25% (15-of-60) success rate on third downs.
 
Turnovers Gained: The Utica defense leads the Empire 8 and is ranked 21st nationally with 10 turnovers gained this season.
 
Pick City: The Utica secondary currently ranks second in the Empire 8 with six interceptions through four games played … Six 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), Chancellor Harris (West Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta), and Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack). 
 
Veteran Defense: Senior Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew), Erik Lyndaker (Beaver River, NY/Beaver River), and Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) lead the team in tackles this season… Sekuterski has a team-high 35 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks… Lyndaker is second on the squad with 27 tackles and he also has two pass break ups and one fumble recovery… Bierria-Anderson has 25 tackles, one interception and three pass breakups. 
 
Offensive Notes
Thunder and Lightning: Senior Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) and junior Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) lead the team in rushing so far…  Gambill has a team-high 169 yards on 25 carries and he has scored two touchdowns… Stowe is right behind Gambill with 166 yards rushing on 36 carries. 
 
Receiving Corps: Darrell Jones II (Coram, NY/Longwood) leads the team with 15 catches for 177 yards this season … Josh Hood (Oneida, NY/Oneida) has ten grabs for 105 yards and one score while tight end Alex Damiani (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) ranks third on the team with eight catches for 93 yards.

Special Team Notes
Return Game: Sophomore Dan Kehrer (Albany, NY/Colonie) leads the team with an average of 14.86 yards per punt return… Freshman Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) has a team-high five kick returns, while Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) leads the squad with 66 kick return yards and an average of 22 yards per return.
 
Kicking Team: 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 39.3 yards per punt … He also holds the longest recorded punt in the conference this season with a long of 57 yards.
 
Meet the Opponent
Hartwick College: The Hawks are off to a 2-2 start with a 1-1 mark in the Empire 8… Hartwick is coming off a 24-21 win over St. John Fisher College on Saturday… Both of Hartwicks losses have come by just one point… Senior wide receiver Brad Garcia recently broke the Conference's record for receiving yards in a career… Garcia currently has 3,841 receiving yards in four years as a Hawk… The Hartwick offense has been dangerous this year as the Hawks leads the conference and rank eighth nationally with an average of 373 passing yards per game.   
 
Against the Hawks: Utica is 3-2 against Hartwick in the last five years, with the visiting team winning each match up… Last year, the Pioneers came away with a 52-40 victory to clinch their seventh win of the season… These two teams have met every year since 2002 … Hartwick holds the all-time series lead with a 9-6 advantage… It is usually a very competitive game between these two rivals, with 8-of-16 meetings being decided by 10 points or less … Four of the meetings have been decided by three points or less.