UTICA, NY - After locking up its sixth winning season, the Utica College football program will play in a postseason game for the fourth time in the history of the program. The Pioneers have earned a bid into the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl against host Grove City College. The game will be played at noon on Saturday, November 20th.
Follow Along: Live video and stats of Saturday's game will be made available by Grove City College Athletic Communications. Video can be viewed at https://livestream.com/accounts/13431056/events/9784597, while live stats are available at http://www2.gcc.edu/sports/FBlive/xlive.htm.
The Series: This will be the first-ever meeting between Utica and Grove City.
How We Got Here: The 2021 season has been a roller coaster ride for the Pioneers, but one they won't soon forget with a postseason berth capping their first full season of competition in two years. The Pioneers wrapped up the regular season with the sixth winning season in program history at 6-4 overall, and UC was 3-3 in the Empire 8 Conference, where they finished in sole possession of fourth. The Pioneers began the season by rattling off three straight wins. They grinded out a 39-21 win over Alfred State, pummelled Kean by a score of 27-7, and had an offensively explosive outing in a 37-28 win over Western New England. Utica was within five points of nationally-ranked Union entering the fourth quarter, but the visiting Dutchmen pulled away late to deal Utica its first loss on September 25th. The Pioneers rebounded with a win the following week, as a late rushing score by James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) got Utica a 16-10 conference victory at Hartwick to go into the bye week on a positive note. Two tough losses faced Utica following the bye, as a chance to win slipped away at Brockport, and E8 Champion SUNY Cortland picked up a wire-to-wire win. Home cooking was the key for the Pioneers the rest of the way, as home wins over Morrisville and St. John Fisher helped Utica overcome a road loss to Alfred to make the postseason.
Last Time Out: The Pioneer offense went off for 359 net rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns as Utica topped visiting St. John Fisher on Saturday by a 35-14 score in an Empire 8 matchup at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The Pioneers had the edge in total offense, 414-197. For the first time this season, Utica had two 100-yard rushers in one game. Newcomer James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) led the way with a season and career high 159 net rushing yards to go with a rushing touchdown. Graduate student Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) rushed for a career-high 112 yards on just 13 carries, and produced three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Brandon Belott (Rexford, NY/Shenendehowa) (Rexford, NY/Shenendehowa) completed five passes and rushed for a touchdown in his first career start. On defense, graduate linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) (Menands, NY/Shaker) had 12 tackles and a forced fumble. James Prastio had an emergent performance with 11 tackles. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) (Suffern, NY/Suffern) had eight tackles and a team-high two sacks.
In Bowl Games: Utica is 1-2 all-time when playing in the ECAC Bowl Championships. The Pioneers debuted in postseason play in 2014 when they received an invitation to the ECAC North Central Bowl. That day, host Morrisville prevailed in a wild offensive shootout by a 52-41 score. In 2016, Utica returned to the ECAC Bowl Series to play Westminster at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, a game which the Titans won 33-6. UC finally grabbed hold of its first bowl game win on a cold afternoon in Ithaca, NY, downing Ithaca College at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field by a 44-42 score. Since their first appearance in 2014, Utica has made the postseason once out of every two seasons in which bowl games were held.
In The All-Conference Vote: Eight Pioneers were honored a total of ten times by the Empire 8 Conference as the conference announced its 2021 Football All-Conference teams on Thursday. Utica's lone first team selection was senior linebacker Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern). The second team was led by three selections for versatile wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), who earned accolades as a receiver, returner, and all-purpose player. He was joined by quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's), graduate defensive lineman Marquez Lott-Douglas (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena), graduate linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker), and graduate safety Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy). Sophomore offensive lineman John Aliberti (Bellmore, NY/Mepham) was chosen to the third team, and graduate running back Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) was chosen as the program's representative on the Sportsman of the Year team.
In Total: Utica finished the regular season averaging 17.9 points per game on offense, which ranked third in the E8. Their total of 19.0 points per game allowed was also third in the E8. Utica was also third in total offense and total defense, with the offense averaging 299 yards per game, and the defense conceding 314 yards per matchup.
Player of the Week: Graduate linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) was named the E8's Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after his performance against St. John Fisher. Addo was a force defensively as he led the team with 13 tackles including seven solo and 1.5 for a loss. As if Addo's senior day couldn't get any sweeter, he was able to force a timely fumble with under four minutes remaining to ice the game and help secure the senior day win. Addo capped off the regular season finishing fourth in the conference with 90 total tackles while finishing third with 48 solo tackles. He also placed in the top-25 in the Empire 8 with 7.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks. Addo, the fourth-leading tackler in the history of the program, has 288 career tackles and needs just two more to tie Pioneer hall-of-famer Marcus Maroney for third most all-time at UC.
Through the Air: Starting quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) turned in a solid season helming up the Pioneer offense. The second team all-conference pick was second in the conference in passing yards with 1,829, and in passing touchdowns with 12. Badyna also rushed for five touchdowns. He did not play in the win over Fisher, with Brandon Belott (Rexford, NY/Shenendehowa) getting the start in his place. Senior wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) led the team and was fourth in the conference with 593 receiving yards, and also had a team-best four receiving touchdowns. Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) and Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) have three receiving touchdowns apiece. Tight ends Tobey Callender (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) and Clifton Manns (Albany, NY/Albany) have caught one touchdown apiece. This season, Utica was second in the E8 in passing offense at 191.0 yards per game.
On The Ground: Fueled by improved performances against Morrisville and Fisher, the Pioneers improved to an average of 108.5 rushing yards per game to rank fifth in the Empire 8 conference. Freshman James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) did not get a carry until the Hartwick game, but is Utica's leading rusher with 411 net yards and three touchdowns. He is averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) has 257 net yards, and Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) has 243 net rushing yards to go with the three touchdowns he rushed for on Saturday.
On Defense: Utica was third against the run among Empire 8 squads this season with 138.6 yards per game allowed, and was just one of three E8 teams to hold opponents under ten rushing touchdowns for the year. Conveniently, those are also the three teams playing a postseason game. Utica is fifth in the E8 in passing yards allowed per game at 175.4. The unit leads the Empire 8 with an outstanding 29 sacks, which currently is the third most in a single season by any team in school history. Including Addo, six different Pioneers have 30 or more tackles this season. Graduate student Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) collected his first all-conference selection at safety after landing second on the team with 59 tackles. His four interceptions were tied for third in the conference. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) was Utica's lone first team selection at 52 tackles, six sacks, and 11.5 tackles for loss. Anthony McDonald's (Huntington, NY/Huntington) breakout campaign included 41 tackles, Dan Amady (Suffern, NY/Suffern) has made 36 tackles to go with an impressive seven pass break-ups. The latter total is ranked in a tie for eighth in the Empire 8.
On Special Teams: Saturday marks the swan song for one of Utica's all-time greats in kicking specialist Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker). Medici, a 2019 All-American and the program record holder for career field goals made, has turned in a serviceable final season. Medici has connected on 8 of 14 field goal attempts, including a long of 45 yards. He has also averaged 37.2 yards per punt. In the return game, Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) leads in the punt return category at an average of 34.86 yards per return in seven attempts, while Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) has averaged 24.3 yards per kickoff return.
What's Next: The Pioneers look forward to a full and fulfilling 2022 season.
