The Utica College football team caps off a four game homestand with the second annual New York State Tool Believe Bowl on Saturday. The Empire 8 matchup against St. John Fisher kicks off at 2 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

About the Believe Bowl: The Believe Bowl was created by the Believe 271 Foundation, New York State Tool, and Utica College football to assist children at the Thea Bowman House as well as firefighters battling cancer and life-threatening illnesses. Honorary captains will attend practice and join the Utica and St. John Fisher captains at the 50 yard line for the game's opening coin toss. The honorary captains include: Yorkville Fire Department Assistant Chief David Morosco, who is battling Hairy Cell Leukemia, Verona Fire Department's Ron Winn, who is battling melanoma, and Blair Kahler, Jr. a sophomore at Whitesboro High School who is in remission from Burkits Lymphoma. The honorary captains and cheerleaders from the Thea Bowman House include: Donovan Elementary's Kimora Jones, Alexis Armstrong and Nyanna Garnett, as well as Columbus School's Travis Stubbs, Albany School's Jayden Edwards and JFK's Tayvion Carter. All first responders will receive free admission to Saturday's game and are welcome to join New York State Tool in the hospitality tent in the end zone.

Broadcast Information: Saturday's game will be broadcast over the radio airwaves by WPNR 90.7 FM. Utica College senior James Den Bleyker will be on the play-by-play, with Nick Ahles on color commentary this weekend. Sports information assistant Ray Biggs will be on sideline duties, bringing us closer to the action, throughout the contest. Fans can also follow the contest via Pioneers All-Access live video and stats: http://bit.ly/2wtxUV5. Fans interested in viewing the game on their televisions are also offered a streamlined experience for their television connected devices through the Empire 8 digital apps. The apps are available for popular devices including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire. See your respective app store for availability.

The Series: Saturday marks the 18th year in a row these two teams have met. Utica has played St. John Fisher every year since the program's inception back in 2001. In 2016 the Pioneers got over the hump, knocking off previously undefeated and nationally-ranked No. 13 St. John Fisher, 23-6, at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The win marked the Pioneers third victory over a ranked opponent in 2016 and it was also the first time Utica had defeated St. John Fisher in program-history.

Last Season Against Fisher: Utica kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) tied the school-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 Empire 8 Conference victory at Growney Stadium last season. Utica rallied from an 18-9 fourth quarter deficit, scoring 11 points in the final 5:43 of regulation to force overtime.  The stingy Pioneer defense forced a safety with 5:43 to go to make it a seven point game and the Pioneers followed with an 11 play 54 yard scoring drive to tie the game at 18-18 with 40 seconds left in the 4th quarter.
 
Familiar Foe for Faggiano: Utica Head Coach Blaise Faggiano spent nine seasons as the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at St. John Fisher prior to accepting the head coaching position at Utica. He helped guide the Cardinals to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of his final two seasons. Faggiano spent all nine seasons at Fisher under the guidance of current SJFC Head Coach Paul Vosburgh. Coach Faggiano has been stuck at 49 career victories for two straight weeks and will look to secure his milestone 50^th career win against the Cardinals on Saturday.

Last Time Out: Utica rallied out of a 17 point hole in the second half to tie the game at 38 with just over two minutes to go, but a 65 yard drive capped by a touchdown pass to Nick Anderson from Brett Segala was enough to propel Cortland to an Empire 8 win by a 45-38 count at Gaetano Stadium last Saturday. The Pioneers offense was explosive en route to a new school record 688 total yards, eclipsing the previous record of 667 set in 2010 in a blowout of Castleton. Freshman quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) set new school records with 461 passing yards and 61 passes attempted while also throwing for four touchdowns in just his third start. Senior running back Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) rolled up a career day on the ground with 211 yards and a touchdown. The Pioneers outgained Cortland by a 688-438 margin for the afternoon, but were ultimately done in by four turnovers that included an interception return touchdown and an offensive fumble at the one yard line, and two passing touchdowns of over 70 yards from the Red Dragons. The Pioneers defense rendered the Cortland running game virtually invisible at just 1.8 yards per carry. Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) was tremendous for that unit at linebacker with nine solo tackles, three tackles for loss, and two pass breakups.

Where We Stand: Utica came out firing this season with two consecutive victories over St. Lawrence (9-6, OT) and Catholic (45-21). Since the 2-0 start, the Pioneers have dropped two straight heartbreakers at home. UC dropped a triple OT thriller against nationally-ranked RPI, 23-20, before falling by a slim seven point margin against Cortland, 45-38, last weekend. UC currently stands at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Empire 8 play.

The Best Keeps Getting Better: After a career high 158 yards against RPI, senior running back Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) did not stop there. The four-year running back raised his game yet again following the bye week with his 211 yard performance to set a new career high, along with his first touchdown of the season. The performance was the fourth best single game rushing total in school history, the best since 2005, and the top performance by a back other than former Pioneer Mike Capra. For the season, he has rushed for 460 yards while averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Stowe currently ranks second in the E8 with an average of 157 all-purpose yards per game. He now has 1,348 career rushing yards (5^th all-time at UC). He is one of just six players in program-history to eclipse 1,000 career rushing yards.  He also needs 529 more yards rushing to become the College's all-time leading rusher, a record currently held by former Pioneer great Ryan Burnett '16.

He's a Playmaker: Utica linebacker Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) has been all over the field through four games for the Pioneers. He is a top 10 tackler in the E8, averaging 8.0 tackles per contest.  He also ranks second on the team with four pass breakups and he has 2.5 TFL's, one sack and one fumble recovery.

Rocket Arm: In three starts at quarterback, Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) has Utica well on its way to eclipsing their total of eleven pass touchdowns from a season ago. Through three games played, the freshman has thrown for 933 yards and nine touchdowns. Wilcox leads the Empire 8 with an average of 311 yards passing per game. Wilcox also ranks 12^th nationally with an average of 25.33 completions per game.

Get Out the Tape Measure: A 78 yard touchdown pass from Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) to Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) in the first quarter of Saturday's game not only brought the homecoming crowd to its feet, but also cracked the record books for the Pioneers. The completion was the second longest pass play in school history, and also was the longest completion ever by a Utica College quarterback.

Welcome Back: Utica got a strong contribution downfield on Saturday from two veteran receivers who were expected to invigorate the Pioneer offense in 2018 after one year absences. Senior Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) and graduate student Josh Connor (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) each had two touchdown receptions each, and both also posted 100 yards or more receiving on Saturday.

Big Time Target: Utica receiver Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) currently leads the Empire 8 Conference with 36 receptions through four games. His average of 93.5 yards receiving per game leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference. Miller is no stranger to the end zone this season and is tied with Vincent for the team lead with three TD catches.  He also ranked seventh nationally with an average of 9.0 receptions per contest.

Try to Get By Him: Sophomore Kwasi Adoo has performed well beyond his years thus far and currently ranks second on the team with 26 tackles. He also has 2.0 sacks and one forced fumble to his credit this season.

Lock it Up: Utica defensive back Matt Stone (Rochester, NY/Brighton) has five pass breakups and two interceptions to lead the team this season. Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) has excelled since returning from a season ending injury a year ago. Beaubrun ranks third on the team with 21 tackles and he also has two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup. Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) ranks fourth on the team with 20 tackles and he also has two pass breakups.

Looking to Re-Write History: The current record for average total yards per game in a single season (465.0) was set back in 2012 when the Pioneers finished the year 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the Empire 8. This season Utica is averaging 460.3 yards of total offense per game.

Don't Sleep on Fisher:  Don't let the Cardinal's 0-3 record this season fool you.  All three of SJFC's contests this season have come against nationally-ranked opponents.  Fisher's week one opponent Washington & Jefferson is currently ranked No. 12 nationally. Ithaca College has cracked the top 25 and currently sits at No. 23 nationally, while last week's opponent Brockport is touted as one of the top teams in all of Division III football. After a national semifinal appearance last Fall, Brockport is currently undefeated and ranks No. 4 in the latest d3football.com national poll. Through three games this season, Fisher boasts three receivers in the top 10 in the conference in terms of receiving yards and remember - they've played one less game than everyone else to this point.  Junior Will Blake leads the group with 250 receiving yards on 18 catches while Pat Galer has amassed 236 yards through the air with 18 catches.  Cam Cleveland had a breakout game against Brockport with a career-high 158 receiving yards on nine grabs as the sophomore owns 224 yards with 16 catches including a career-best 75-yard touchdown last weekend.

Not Far From Home: Although Utica's four game homestand will come to a close following Saturday's bout with Fisher, the Pioneers will not have to travel far for their sixth regular season contest.  Utica will travel to nearby Morrisville State next Saturday when the Pioneers take on the host Mustangs at 12 p.m.