UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team plays its final road game of the regular season on Saturday, November 6th as it travels to Empire 8 rival Alfred University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Alfred's Yunevich Stadium.
Follow Along: Fans can follow the contest via live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/alfred.
The Series: After the teams met twice to comprise a short Spring 2021 season, Alfred is now the only team Utica has played in all 21 seasons of the football program's existence. This will be the 22nd all-time meeting. Alfred leads the series 16-5, and has won nine of the ten meetings at Yunevich Stadium. Utica scored its first win at Alfred by a 19-10 score in the 2019 season, and was within a touchdown in a 17-10 loss this past Spring at "The Pit".
The Spring Twinbill: The two sides split a pair of springtime games as the only two E8 programs to get a football season off the ground in the 2020-21 academic year. Each team won their home leg of the series. In Utica's 30-17 win at Gaetano Stadium, running back LaMont McGriff had a career day with 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Utica defense intercepted three passes, and held the Saxon offense to a 1-of-15 conversion rate on third down. In a 17-10 loss at Alfred, the Saxons scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 5:00 to go to break a 10-10 tie. The Utica touchdown belonged to Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) (Rochester, NY/Eastridge), who hauled in a pass in the end zone from Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) for a first quarter score
It's Go Time: Utica is now 5-3 overall, and 2-2 in the Empire 8 Conference. The Pioneers are in a tie for fourth in the E8 standings alongside next week's opponent, St. John Fisher. The Pioneers need to win one of their final two games for their sixth winning season. A winning season makes the team bowl-eligible, while wins in the final two games would greatly increase the chances of a bowl selection. A sweep of the final two games would also mark a second three-game winning streak this season.
Last Time Out: Utica topped Morrisville 20-3 in the fourth edition of the New York State Tool Believe Bowl on Saturday at Gaetano Stadium. The Mustangs kicked a field goal on the opening series, but the Pioneer defense held the visitors scoreless for the final three quarters, and contained the Mustangs to just 150 yards of total offense. The UC defense had four quarterback sacks, and the Morrisville passing game was capped at 59 yards for one of the lowest passing totals ever allowed by Utica's defense. Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Tobey Callender (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) had five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) had the best rushing effort of the season by a Utica running back, going for 121 net rushing yards and a touchdown. He did so on a season-high 31 carries. Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) led the Pioneers with 11 total tackles while Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) (Menands, NY/Shaker) finished with 10 including a team high six solo tackles. Addo moved up to fourth in school history in career tackles, surpassing Eric Kahl. Josh Powell (Tampa, FL/Sickles) put together 1.5 sacks to lead the team while Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) had one each. NY/Archbishop. Ben Arthur (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) tacked on a half sack.
On Offense: Utica is fourth in the conference in scoring offense at 15.9 points per game, and is third in total offense at 298.4 yards per game. They are sixth in rushing at 88.6 yards per game, and second in passing at 209.8 yards per game. Quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) has completed 139 passes for 1,652 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is second in the Empire 8 in passing yards and passing yards per game, along with passing touchdowns. With two games to go, he has recorded the tenth-most passing yards in a single season in school history, with a chance to grab a few more spots on the leaderboard with quality performances. He has also rushed for a team-best five touchdowns, which is also tops among E8 quarterbacks. With 259 rushing yards and two touchdowns, James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) is now the team's leading rusher. Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) has a team-best 538 receiving yards to go with four touchdowns. He also has 86 career catches, and needs just four to catch Imani Vincent for tenth on the school's career list. Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) and Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) have caught three touchdowns apiece. Tobey Callender's (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) touchdown grab marks the first time since the season opener that a UC tight end has caught a touchdown. The offensive line is second in the E8 in sacks allowed with seven this season.
On Defense: Utica is third in the Empire 8 in scoring defense and total defense this season. They are allowing an average of 309.3 total yards per game, and 19 points per game. They rank third against the run, and sixth against the pass. Graduate Student Linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) is fifth in the conference in total tackles with 70 this season, and is now a top four tackler in school history. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) each have four sacks to rank in a tie for second in the E8 in that category, and the Pioneers have 24 sacks to rank second in the conference, and the unit also has the sixth-highest total in school history. UC has set opponents back a conference-best 137 yards on sacks this season. Warren is also third on the squad with 41 total tackles, and fifth in the conference in tackles for loss. Safety Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) leads the defensive backfield, and is second on the team with 41 total tackles. His 4 interceptions are the third-most in the Empire 8 conference. Bryant, Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange), and Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) have each defended eight passes this year. The defense's 40 pass breakups this season is fifth in school history.
On Special Teams: Kicking specialist Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) is 8-of-14 on field goal attempts this season, and has the conference's longest field goal at 45 yards. He is tied for the E8 lead in field goals per game, and has 43 career made field goals to rank tops in school history in that category. He set a new school mark in the team's win over Hartwick. He also has attempted 67 field goals in his career, which also ranks as a school record. He has made 64.1 percent of his field goals. Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) continues to hold the conference's highest kickoff return average at 24.0 yards per runback. That is currently the seventh-best average in school history.
About Alfred: Alfred is 4-4 overall, 3-1 in the Empire 8 Conference, and 2-2 when playing at home this season. In their last game, they had a four game winning streak snapped with a 47-3 loss against nationally-ranked Cortland. They are sixth in the conference in scoring offense, and seventh in scoring defense. Running back Max Freeman leads the conference's third-best rushing attack as part of a committee approach that has averaged 138 yards per game. Kevin Bragaglia has 324 net yards and a touchdown. The Saxons are having a tough year by their high standards defensively, and are seventh in the conference in total defense. Joe Copp and Christopher Cox are second and third in the conference in total tackles.
Up Next: The Pioneers will celebrate Veterans Day and Senior Day with a matchup against St. John Fisher on November 13th at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
