UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team took its first loss of 2019 in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday night. The Pioneers rallied from the majority of an eight point hole late in the contest on a touchdown pass, but Utica could not capitalize on two additional opportunities to tie or win the game late as the host RPI Engineers prevailed by a 35-33 score in non-conference football action at the ECAV Stadium in Troy, NY.
Down in the final minutes, the Pioneers fought until the very end of the contest with a gutsy effort in a tough defeat. After a six yard rushing score by the Engineers broke open a one point game to an eight point game at 35-27, the Pioneers set to work on a promising comeback trail in the fourth quarter. The Utica defense got the ball back on a three-and-out and consequent RPI punt with just under three minutes to play. From there, quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) engineered a crisp 10-play, 67-yard drive that took just 2:38, capped off by a one-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) to trim the score to 35-33. With the Pioneers searching for the tie on the conversion, a Wilcox pass was batted down at the goal line to preserve a two-point lead for the hosts.
However, the Pioneers still had one final gasp left in them yet. A resilient last ditch effort nearly paid off in what would have been a dramatic victory for all time. With the Utica hands team on the field, kicker Dan Tette (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) angled a near-perfect onside kick to his left and it bounced into the arms of a charging Miller, who proceeded to run the kick all the way into the RPI end zone for what would have been the winning score. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the runback would not stand in the scoring. Game officials convened and ruled that the kick had been touched just inches short of the requisite ten yards. That resulted in an illegal touching penalty, and the Engineers smothered the re-kick to finish off the clock and a non-conference win.
The Pioneers fall to 2-1 heading into their 2019 bye week. The loss halted a five-game winning streak for Utica, and also denied the Pioneers their first chance at the 75th win in program history. The Pioneers are on the precipice of Empire 8 conference play, and will meet Cortland in two weeks' time in their conference opener on October 5th. That game will take place at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex in Cortland, NY.
Utica was narrowly out-gained by the Engineers in total offense by a margin of 370 yards to 368 yards. Utica converted on ten different third down situations on offense. The wild game featured six different lead changes.
The passing game was key with the Utica rushing attack capped at just 44 yards for the evening. Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) turned in his best performance of the season at quarterback for Utica, logging a career-high 32 completions on a season-high 51 pass attempts for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came to Miller, who made an exceptional twelve catches for 105 yards. Keegan Wright (Cicero, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) had a breakout day while catching Wilcox's other scoring strike, as the veteran receiver had his first 100-yard game with 102 yards on seven catches.Tight End John James O'Connor (Auburn, NY/Weedsport) built on his strong outing against Buffalo State with six catches for 62 yards on Saturday.
The Utica defense kept the RPI rushing attack relatively compact as well with just 108 yards conceded on the ground. Linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) paced the unit with eight total tackles, while safety Mark Taylor (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West) and rover John Nish (Canastota, NY/Oneida) notched seven stops apiece. Nish also added a forced fumble to the proceedings. Linebacker Ryan Oliver (Vernon Center, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) had the team's lone quarterback sack of the evening, and cornerback Marquis Simpson (Middle Island, NY/Longwood) added his second career interception in just his third game on defense.
Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) had a wondrous day in the kicking game, making both of his field goal attempts including a season-long of 43 yards that stands as the second longest field goal of his career. He punted six times for 230 yards with a long of 48, and the Pioneers held the Engineers without a punt return yard on the day. Also on special teams, Utica returner Robert Nicholas (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) had two kickoff returns for 42 yards.
The Pioneers set the tone for a tight game early on with a well-executed opening possession, as Wilcox utilized a bevy of options in the short passing game to help the offense march down the field on a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ate 7:38 off the first quarter clock. That drive was keyed by a 27 yard completion to Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) in its early stages, and running back Brad Dougherty (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) set the table for a five yard touchdown connection from Wilcox to Miller. The kick was good, and Utica led 7-0 out of the gate.
The lead was stretched to ten points early in the second quarter after Nish forced a fumble in RPI territory. The Pioneers waltzed to the five yard line as Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) hauled in a 19 yard pass, but the visitors were walled off from the end zone with a goal-to-goal situation and had to settle for a 22 yard field goal by Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) to grab a 10-0 lead.
RPI responded with two scores to take the lead at 14-10. The rally was started by a touchdown pass from quarterback George Marinopoulous to Tommy Avery from 24 yards out to cut the Utica lead to 10-7. The Engineers then took the lead on a one yard touchdown run by Marc Meislahn that finished out a 69 yard scoring drive.
Utica would have one more reply before halftime to hold a 17-14 lead at the break. Simpson set the wheels in motion with a brilliant interception where he dove for the football on a Marinopoulous pass to get possession back at the Engineer 43. With 1:45 left in the half, throwing the ball became the vehicle of choice for Utica to manage the time left with a short field created by the turnover. Wilcox completed three straight passes to Miller, O'Connor, and Wright to propel Utica to the RPI 14 yard line.
The Pioneers then flirted with danger as the fifth pass attempt of the drive was intercepted, but a penalty for defensive holding on RPI before the potential change of possession rendered the turnover null and void to give Utica another chance. They took to the ground game to finish the job on a seven yard touchdown run by Dougherty, and the Pioneers led by three points at the break.
The teams exchanged passing touchdowns in a third quarter that hoisted RPI back ahead. Marinopoulous threw for a short touchdown to Nick Smith, with Wilcox providing a response with a 27 yard delivery to Wright to pull Utica back in front, 24-21. A missed assignment on the next RPI series was costly for Utica, as RPI's Sterling Walter-Sutton was left wide open on a vertical route and took a Marinopoulous pass 65 yards on the lone play of the series to nab another RPI lead by a 28-24 score.
Utica pulled back within a point on Medici's 43 yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The Engineers opened their eight point lead with their final scoring play of the night on a touchdown run by Meislahn, which led to a bedlam-laden finish in Troy as the Pioneers tried mightily to close the gap. A promising Utica series stalled out in Engineer territory on an interception with 3:26 left. The Pioneers stood tall with a quick three-and-out to stay alive on defense and set up Utica's pivotal final drive.
With 2:57 left, Wilcox and the offense went to work to give the Pioneers a fighting chance on a vital drive. The signal caller hit Wright with a pair of completions to make up the distance into Engineer territory. He then lasered a ball into the hands of Miller for a gain of 20 yards to park the Pioneers on the cusp of the red zone. A pair of short gains to Palmer and Brad Dougherty (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) set up a third down for Utica at the 17, and the offense delivered with a sixteen yard pass to Miller to get to the RPI one yard line. On the next play, the Pioneers got what they were looking for as Miller was motioned out into the right side flat and caught a wide open pass for the all-important touchdown. That left Utica to go for the tie, but a two point conversion pass to the left side by Wilcox was batted down at the goal line to preserve the RPI lead and set up the dramatic final kickoffs.
RPI now leads the all-time series four wins to three over Utica. The game was the seventh all-time meeting between the upstate institutions.
The Pioneers will have two weeks to prepare for Empire 8 play as they visit Cortland on October 5th.
