UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team wraps up the 2021 regular season with a winning record and sole possession of fourth place on the line as it hosts St. John Fisher on Saturday, November 13th. The team will celebrate Senior Day, as well as Veterans' Day, as part of Saturday's game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. 

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.

Veterans' Day Celebrations: Typically, the team offers free admission to all veterans. With admission free for all this season, the Pioneers are working on other initiatives to benefit our local veterans. Feed Our Vets will be on hand collecting food donations ahead of the upcoming holidays, and the Pioneers will also host 23 veterans from the Sitrin Military Rehabilitation Program. For more on the Sitrin Military Rehabilitation Program, visit https://www.sitrin.com/veterancare/militaryrehabilitation/. Saturday's Veterans' day observance is presented in partnership with GPO Federal Credit Union. 

Senior Day: The Pioneers will salute twelve graduating senior players and two graduating senior student assistants on Saturday. The 2021 senior class for UC football features a number of players who have continually elevated the program, including their roles on Utica's first ECAC bowl championship team in 2018. Four-year seniors in the program have produced 18 wins in their time here, while those continuing to compete as fifth-year graduate students have been a part of 21 victories. Saturday's honorees include linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker), running back Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove), kicking specialist Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker), defensive lineman Marquez Lott-Douglas (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena), running back Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor), running back Lamont McGriff (Yonkers, NY/Iona Prep), wide receiver Connor Darmetko (Menands, NY/Watervliet), defensive back Amari Abraham (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East), defensive back Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), defensive lineman Ben Lake, offensive lineman Chris Bernardine (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), tight end Brock Blecha (Machias. NY/Franklinville/Ellicottville), and student assistants Dom Walborn (Jordan, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) and Taji Hargrove (Mohegan Lake, NY/Panas). 
  
Where It Sits: Utica is 5-4 overall, and 2-3 in the Empire 8 Conference this season. The Pioneers have split their last two contests, with a 20-3 home win against Morrisville, and a 24-17 road loss at Alfred. Utica is 2-1 when playing at home this season, and need a win to ensure the program's sixth winning season, and a third in the last five full seasons of play for the program. Utica has wins over Alfred State, Kean, Hartwick, Morrisville, and Western New England this season. Both teams are 2-3 in the Empire 8 Conference and in a tie for fourth place, with the winner holding sole possession of that spot. 
  
Last Time Out: Utica fell at Alfred last Saturday. The Pioneers reduced the depth of a 24-7 hole with a ten point rally to pull within a touchdown, but host Alfred held off Utica by a score of 24-17 in an Empire 8 football game at Yunevich Stadium. Alfred had 480 yards of total offense to Utica's 194. The Saxons piled up 345 net rushing yards to Utica's 17, while the Pioneers held a 177-135 yardage advantage through the air. The teams were a combined 5-of-24 on third downs.
  
On Offense: UC enters Saturday's game fourth in the Empire 8 in total offense at 286.8 yards per game, and third in scoring offense at 16.0 points per game. They are fourth in red zone percentage at 77.8 percent, with fifteen touchdowns and six field goals in 27 trips. The Pioneers are sixth in the conference in rushing at 80.7 yards per game, and third in passing offense at 206.1 yards per game.
 
Taking it Airborne: Quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) has completed 160 passes for 1,829 yards and twelve touchdowns. He is second in the conference with 203.2 passing yards per game, and second in passing touchdowns as well. He also has the longest completion in the conference this season at 67 yards, which he completed to Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) for a game-icing touchdown against Western New England. His passing yard total ranks as the eighth highest for a single season in program history. In the receiving game, Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) has 579 yards and four touchdowns this season to lead the team. His 1,383 receiving yards are eighth in program history, as he has passed Jamie Murphy, Greg Palmer, and Imani Vincent on the college's career top 10 list this season. Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) ranks seventh in the Empire 8 in receiving yards per game, and has logged 319 yards and three touchdowns. Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) also has three receiving scores. In recent weeks, the UC tight ends have come into view catching the football, with Tobey Callender (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) scoring a touchdown against Morrisville, and Clifton Manns (Albany, NY/Albany) putting up three catches for 32 yards in the loss to Alfred. 
  
What Can Ground Do For You? In a crowded backfield stable that features multiple graduating players, rookie James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) has emerged as Utica's top backfield threat this year. In just four games, the newcomer from Long Island has become the team's leading rusher with 252 net rushing yards and two touchdowns. The only other players on the roster with multiple rushing scores are wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), who has two, and quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's), who has five. Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) has 212 net rushing yards in his final season with Utica, and also has a touchdown to his name. Establishing the run is a key tenet of winning in the cold weather, and in general for Utica this season. The Pioneers have not lost a game in which they have averaged over three yards per carry, and have lost the four games in which they have averaged under three yards per carry. 
  
Kicking It: Graduate student Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) has been an omnipresent focus of the Utica special teams since his arrival on campus. Kicking specialist Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) is 9-of-16 on field goal attempts this season, and has the conference's longest field goal at 45 yards. He leads the E8 in field goals per game, and has 44 career made field goals to rank tops in school history in that category. Medici has also averaged 37.1 yards per punt this season, and has a season-long of 56 yards. Corey Lichtman (Bellemore, NY/Mepham) has booted twelve touchbacks as the kickoff man this season. 
 
Return Policy: The word may be out now about Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms), who is averaging an Empire 8 best 24.33 yards per kickoff return. In the Alfred game, he was not allowed to return a kick for the first time this season after getting at least one return touch in each game. Joey Nare (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) also leads the conference in punt return yards at 10.2 yards per runback. 

On Defense: The Pioneers are fifth in the conference in scoring defense at 19.6 points conceded per game, and fourth in total defense at 327.0 yards allowed per game. They are third in the conference against the run, and fifth against the pass. 

From the Linebacking Corps: Linebacker Kwasi Addo's (Menands, NY/Shaker) 77 total tackles ranks fifth in the conference while also leading the team. He has the fourth-highest tackle total in school history with 275 career stops, and can move into a tie for third if he can get fifteen wrap-ups on Saturday. Pioneer Hall of Famer Marcus Maroney occupies that spot with 290 career tackles.

The Swat Team: Defensive backs Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) and Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) have had a great go of knocking passes out of the air this season, with nine pass breakups apiece. They rank in a tie for second in the conference, and are tied for the third-highest total in school history for a single season. Toussaint has twelve pass breakups in his career, which ties him for eighth in the history of the program. 

Pick Party: Defensive back Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has four picks in nine games to lead UC in his final season, and that is tied for sixth-most in school history. Bryant is also second on this year's team with 59 total tackles. Chris Washington (Suffern, NY/Suffern) has added two interceptions for the Pioneers this year. 

Watch Your Back: The Pioneer defense has a conference-best 25 sacks this year.  Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) and Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) share the team lead in quarterback sacks with four apiece. Warren is also third on the team in tackles with 44, including a squad-best 9.5 tackles for loss. He was named the E8 Defensive Player of the Week for his outing against Morrisville. John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity), Josh Powell (Tampa, FL/Sickles), and Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) have two sacks each. 

About St. John Fisher: The Cardinals are 4-5 overall, and 2-3 in the Empire 8 Conference this season. Fisher has thrown for 1,635 yards to rank second in the conference, and the run game is averaging just 83.2 yards. Dahmir Pross is the leading rusher with 495 yards and seven touchdowns. Four different quarterbacks have taken a snap, led by Jonathan Torrillo's 821 yards and three touchdowns, while Michael Krafty has tossed five touchdowns of his own. Sophomore linebacker Joe Miscia leads the nation at 13.3 tackles per game. 
  
The Series: Utica is 3-16 all-time against Fisher on the gridiron. Utica has won the last two meetings by a score of 33-7 in the 2018 Believe Bowl, and by a score of 34-28 in 2019. This will be the third straight trip to Utica for Fisher, who has had all three of their losses in the all-time series come at Gaetano Stadium. In the 2019 meeting, Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown, and Peyton Miller had 87 receiving yards and two touchdowns. With UC up 34-14 in the fourth quarter, Fisher rallied with two touchdowns, but the Pioneers sacked Cardinals quarterback Hunter Walsh three times on the final possession for the visitors to shut down the comeback and preserve the win.