UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team plays a big game for a big cause on Saturday, October 30th as it hosts the Mustangs of SUNY Morrisville in the fourth annual New York State Tool Believe Bowl. The Empire 8 Conference matchup kicks off at noon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
The Best Price of All: Admission to all 2021 Utica College football home games is free of charge.
Who It Benefits: The game helps to benefit the missions of the Believe 271 Foundation and the Thea Bowman House. The Believe 271 Foundation was created in March of 2014 as a means of helping members of the fire service who are affected by cancer. The organization aims to help local firefighters, who are often at increased cancer risk because of their work in the line of duty, with the immense financial and personal burdens that can come with battling cancer. The Thea Bowman house is an area non-profit that serves disadvantaged children and families throughout the Utica area. The organization provides quality care to children throughout the community in the form of daycare, after school care, and a pre-kindergarten program. Two local firefighters will join children from the Thea Bowman House as this year's honorary captains. Firefighter Gabe Streiff has been an active member of the Floyd Volunteer Fire Department for 43 years, and was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in May of 2020. Lieutenant Kelby Ueltschi of the Barneveld Fire Department was diagnosed with stage four Nodular Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the age of 30. The duo were introduced by head coach Blaise Faggiano at a press conference on Thursday inside the Cynkus Family Welcome Center.
A Change of Clothes: Utica will start a new chapter in the Believe Bowl tradition by wearing a special edition Believe Bowl jersey for this Saturday's game. The jerseys are navy blue with light green accents that mirror the foundation's color scheme. The foundation worked closely with the UC football staff and the Wilsey family, who owns New York State Tool, to make these uniforms a reality.
Follow Along: Fans can follow the contest via live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. This week's broadcast is presented in association with WPNR 90.7 FM, Utica College Pioneer Radio, who will also have the call of the game over local airwaves and at PioneerRadio.org. 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: This will be the seventh all-time meeting between Utica and Morrisville. The Mustangs lead the series, four wins to two, and have won the last three outings.
In the Believe Bowl: Utica is 2-1 in the first three Believe Bowl games. In the inaugural event, the Pioneers fell by a 14-0 score to Ithaca College. UC has since won the last two by scores of 33-7, and 34-28 against St. John Fisher. In 2019's 34-28 win, running back Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) had the second 100 yard rushing performance of his career for the offense, while Jordan Weaver (Goshen, NY/Goshen High School) and Antonio Scala had two sacks each while leading the defense to an eight sack afternoon. The UC defense also recovered three fumbles.
Last Time Out: Utica fell to nationally-ranked #17 SUNY Cortland by a 45-0 score at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Utica defense was paced by Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) (Menands, NY/Shaker) and Dan Amady (Suffern, NY/Suffern), who had nine tackles apiece. Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) added six tackles and an interception in the defensive backfield. James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) had 52 net rushing yards to pace the offense.
Where We Sit: Utica is now 4-3 overall, and 1-2 in Empire 8 play after last week's game. The Pioneers have dropped their last two games, and finished their three game road swing at 1-2, with the win coming on some fourth quarter heroics against Hartwick by a 16-10 score. UC also had a great chance to win against Brockport, as they rallied from an early deficit to trail by just three points, 17-14 in the fourth quarter. The hosts scored the final nine points to send UC to a 26-14 loss.
Home Cooking: After playing their last three games on the road, the Pioneers are hopeful that home field advantage can push them to their sixth winning season, with two of the team's final three matchups taking place at Gaetano Stadium. This season, Utica is 1-1 at home with a 37-28 win over Western New England, and a 30-9 loss against nationally-ranked Union, who is still undefeated at 7-0 and ranked twelfth.
On Offense: The Pioneers are third in the Empire 8 in total offense at 295 yards per game, and sixth in scoring offense at 15.3 points per game. They are fifth in rushing offense, and third in passing offense. Quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) is third in the conference in passing yards per game with 205.9 per game, and ranks second among Empire 8 quarterbacks with ten passing touchdowns. He is tied for the tenth most passing touchdowns in a single season in program history alongside Connor Butkiewicz's 2014 campaign. Wide Receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) is third in the conference with 496 receiving yards. He also has three receiving touchdowns to join teammates Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) and Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) in a tie for fourth among E8 receivers in receiving touchdowns. Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) is Utica's leading rusher at 165 net yards, while James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) has 138 net rushing yards and a touchdown.
On Defense: Utica is third in the conference in scoring defense at 21.3 points allowed per game, and third in total defense this season at 332 yards per game. They are third against the run at 115 yards per contest, and seventh against the pass at 216 yards in a season where offensive yardage in that area has been at a significant premium around the conference. Utica is second in the Empire 8 in sacks with 20, which places this year's team just one away from a top ten single season effort in that category in school history. UC is also fourth in the conference with nine interceptions. Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) now has 60 tackles this season after Saturday's game, and 258 for his career. He needs three more to tie Eric Kahl for fourth on the school's career list, and is just the fifth player in program history to eclipse 250 career tackles. Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has 43 tackles to go with a team-leading four interceptions, and his interception total is tied for second in the conference. Chris Washington (Suffern, NY/Suffern) is tied for third in the E8 with two interceptions, and Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) has defended eight passes this year. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) have each recorded three sacks apiece, and Warren is also third on the squad in tackles.
On Special Teams: Utica's Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) continues to lead the E8 in kick return average at a 24.8 yard average per touch this season. Graduate student Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) is averaging 37.66 yards per punt, and has a season long of 56 yards with two punts over 50 yards this season. On field goals, the 2019 All-American is 7 of 10 with a long of 45 yards.
About Morrisville: The Mustangs are 1-6 overall, and 0-3 in the Empire 8 this season. They did not compete during the 2020-21 academic year. They have lost their last two games by a combined ten points, losing to Fisher 28-23, and to Alfred by a 21-16 score. They are coached by Ed Raby, in his first season. Pioneer fans may spot some familiar faces on the Mustang sidelines, as former UC assistants Walter Burks and Matt Rogers now work on the Morrisville staff. Rogers is in his first season as offensive coordinator. Rookie quarterback Alek Britten has thrown for 807 yards and three touchdowns this season, while Alex McBurnie is the leading rusher with 477 net rushing yards. Justin Donnelly has rushed for four touchdowns. Linebackers Ernesto Mitchell and Joe Miller-Labar are over 50 tackles each, and defensive lineman Basil Watson has four quarterback sacks to his name.
Up Next: The Pioneers head to Alfred University on Saturday, November 6th for an Empire 8 game.
