Utica, NY - The Utica College football team will head to nearby Oneonta, NY to wrap up the regular season as they visit Empire 8 rival Hartwick on Saturday, Nov. 10. Opening kickoff at Wright Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. for the Week 11 contest.

The Series: This will be the eighteenth meeting between Utica and Hartwick all-time. The Pioneers are 10-7 all-time against their foes from the City of the Hills, and have won the last two meetings by scores of 28-24 in 2017, and 52-40 in 2016. Utica has claimed 3 of the last 5 meetings. Perhaps the most notable meeting of all not involving current players came on November 10th, 2007, when the Hartwick Hawks posted a 72-70 win in four overtimes. That game set a NCAA All-Division record for total points scored in a game, a mark that still stands to this day as the NCAA Division III record. That matchup featured a combined 20 touchdowns, 1,042 yards of total offense and 52 first downs. Utica punters coach Ben Atwood and Hartwick defensive coordinator Mark Theophel will the only two individuals on the sideline Saturday to have played in that contest.

Follow Along: Fans can follow along with live video and stats provided by Hartwick College Athletic Communications. Live Stats are available at http://livestats.hartwick.edu/FootBall/MFB1718/xlive.htm, and live video is available at portal.stretchinternet.com/hartwick/. Alternatively, fans can also watch Saturday's game on the free Empire 8 conference apps available for Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Android TV.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers dashed out of an 0-3 first quarter hole with 36 unanswered points as they rolled past Buffalo State 36-3 in Buffalo. The Pioneer defense got Utica's first points on a safety for a second straight week, and a Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) touchdown pass to Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) and a 19 yard field goal for Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) built a 12-3 advantage for Utica at halftime. The defense also sparked Utica's second half scoring when Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) fell on a wayward punt snap from Buffalo State in their endzone for a fumble recovery touchdown. The Pioneers never looked back as Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) found Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) on a pair of second half touchdown passes, Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker)
booted a second field goal, and the Utica defense pitched a second half shutout as Utica posted a dominant performance to step back over the .500 mark. The Pioneers outgained Buffalo State in total yards 470 to 265. The Utica defense had a monstrous day while limiting the Bengals to meager yardage and just three points. They capped the Bengal rushing attack to just 30 net rushing yards in the win, picked off two passes, sacked the quarterback six times, recovered three fumbles, forced three turnovers on downs, and did not allow a touchdown. Linebacker Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) was a versatile force defensively with 15 tackles, one sack, and an interception, and fellow linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) posted 11 stops with 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. On offense, running back Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) produced one of his best performances of the year, going off for 178 yards on 24 carries for a 7.4 yards per carry average. Quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) was 14-of-30 on the day with 276 yards and three passing touchdowns, and Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) caught two of those touchdowns on his only two grabs of the day. Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) posted seven catches for a career best 155 yards and a touchdown.

Where We Stand: Utica is now 5-4 on the season after Saturday's win, and 3-3 in the Empire 8 conference where they stand in a tie for fourth place with Alfred. Brockport has won the Empire 8 Conference Title and will represent the conference in the upcoming NCAA Division III Football Championships. Second place Cortland could wind up in a bowl or in the NCAA Division III tournament, while Alfred and Morrisville will be competing with Utica for a bowl bid exclusively.

Can We Go Bowling?: The Pioneers would like to have their bowl hopes realized after this week, but need to do all they can to help themselves first with another win to finish 6-4. The minimum requirements include a .500 or better record, but the Pioneers need to stand out among the multitude of teams competing for just six spots in ECAC bowl games this season. The conference also sends its top non-NCAA tournament team to the New York State Bowl game against the top available opponent from the Liberty League.

It's A Pattern: If you're looking for a historical pattern as an encouraging sign for Utica's bowl hopes, you're in luck. The Pioneers have attended their last two bowl games in two year increments in 2014 and 2016. If that trend continues, Utica would be due to receive a bid again this season.
 
Saving Gas Money: Utica is playing just its fourth road game of the season, and is 2-1 in such contests after last week's win against Buffalo State. Utica opened the season on the road in a 9-6 overtime thriller at St. Lawrence, and had its lone road loss on Oct. 13 at Morrisville State.

And Stay Down: Utica held Buffalo State on Saturday to just 0.8 yards per carry as the Bengals were limited to 30 net yards on 37 attempts even in spite of a 32 yard carry by Martin Bailey for the Bengals. The Pioneers had nine tackles for loss and six sacks for the day. The performance marked the second lowest rushing yardage total by an opponent this year, and the fifth sub-100 yard rushing game of the year by an opponent. That season total includes a negative rushing effort by St. John Fisher that stands as the lowest rushing total allowed by a Utica defense in program history. Saturday's rush yardage total is the fourth lowest against the Pioneers in the last four years. Utica stands fourth against the run in the Empire 8 with 108.4 yards against per game.
 
I Award You No Points: Buffalo State's three points on Saturday was the lowest total by one of Utica's opponents since Utica shut out Misericordia by a 55-0 score to open the 2014 season, and is the second lowest point total ever allowed in the history of the program behind the 2014 shutout.
 
Super Scala: Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) doesn't just lead Utica in tackles, he also is among the conference leaders. After his performance on Saturday, Scala stands fifth in the Empire 8 in tackles per game at 8.7. He has 78 total for the season with 30 solo stops. His 15 tackle total on Saturday was the second best by a Pioneer this season.

Heedram the Hammer: Defensive lineman Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) has been performing impressively all season long, as his 4.5 sacks in nine games rank sixth in the Empire 8 conference. He had three tackles and a fumble recovery against Buffalo State. In the Brockport game, Heedram's 14 tackles were the most by an Empire 8 lineman this season.

Gimme That: Xyier Woodard (Albany, NY/LaSalle) stands in second in the Empire 8 conference with three fumble recoveries, and Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) and Robbie Schempp (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) have each forced two loose footballs this season to stand in a tie for second in the E8.

The Pocket is Closing For Business: The Pioneers have been making quarterbacks uncomfortable at a frequent rate in 2018, as they stand second only to Brockport in the Empire 8 in sacks with 23. Six of those wrapups came on Saturday. That total is the seventh best in team history, and a duplicate performance would put Utica's 2018 team in second on the school's record books with at least one game to go. Twelve different Pioneers have been involved in sacking the quarterback at least once this season.

This Guy's Got The Goods: Freshman Logan Wilcox's (Utica, NY/Proctor) three touchdown passes on Saturday tied him with four year starter Andrew Benkwitt for the most in a single season by a freshman Utica quarterback with 19. For the season, he has thrown for 2,107 yards. His 263.4 yards per game passing are second in the Empire 8 conference and he also is second in the Empire 8 with his 19 touchdown passes. He has attempted a league high 329 passes.  He is 46th in the nation in total passing yards and tied for 47th in touchdown passes.

I Just Felt Like Running: Senior running back Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) continues to move up the career record book at Utica as he now stands fourth in program history in career rushing yards after Saturday's win. Stowe now has 1,671 yards in his career. This season, Stowe is third in the conference with 87 rushing yards per game and has averaged 5.1 yards per carry. He has rushed for 783 net yards and two touchdowns, with his yardage standing as the sixth best single year total in school history with at least one game left. A 212 yard performance on Saturday would tie the single season school record set by Ryan Burnett in 2016, and a 217 yard performance would make Stowe the school's first 1,000 yard rusher for a single season. Stowe also ranks fourth in the Empire 8 with 109.1 all purpose yards per game.

Deliver His Mail To The Endzone: It sure seems like wide receiver Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) has been living in the endzone this season. Vincent's two touchdowns on Saturday give him a total of nine receiving touchdowns for the season. That total now stands in sole possession of second on the college's single season list all time as he broke out of a tie for that spot in Buffalo. The single season record is 15 held by Jeremy Meier in 2012. Vincent is in a tie for the Empire 8 lead in receiving touchdowns and has caught at least one touchdown pass in his last six appearances.

Miller Time: Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) continues to provide all kinds of issues for opposing coverages this season. The junior is averaging 7.4 receptions per game to rank 20th in the nation. His 67 catches this season are fourth on the College's single season list, and he can easily advance up to second with six or more catches on Saturday. He also is primed for a mad dash up the school's single season yardage leaderboard, where he currently stands in ninth with 837 receiving yards this season. A 100 yard receiving effort would move him all the way up to third.

Bringing it Back: Wide receiver Zach Steele (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) continues to pick up solid yardage in the return game as he averages 11.7 yards per punt return. That average stands second in the Empire 8 conference.

Das Boot: Sophomore kicker Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) made two field goals last week from 19 and 25 yards, and has blossomed into quite the punter as well. Medici leads the Empire 8 Conference in punting average at 37.1 yards per game.

About Hartwick: The Hawks are 2-7 this season under the direction of head coach Mark Carr. They started the season 2-0, but have dropped their last 7 games by 17 points or more. They are scoring 19.89 points per game, and allowing 43.56 points per game against. Opponents are converting 51 percent of third downs against the Hawks this season. Onondaga Central grad Bryce Macina is the team's starting quarterback and has thrown for 1,465 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Grant Harman has split a share of time under center with Macina and has thrown for 781 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Ronald Ballard has amassed 565 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. Wide receiver Dylan Mucci has caught 26 passes for 542 yards and eight touchdowns. The defense is paced by the linebacking corps of Mark Hackett, Dylan Williams-Bachman, and Josh Wilcox, who all have 50 tackles or more this year. Defensive back Tom Peabody has four interceptions.

What's Next: The Pioneers will wait and see what awaits them for a possible bowl bid, which would be their third in six years.