UTICA, NY - The Utica University football team enters the final week of the regular season as the team travels to Rochester, NY to take on the St. John Fisher University Cardinals on Saturday, November 12 at 1 p.m.
Follow Along: Fans unable to make the trip to Fisher on Saturday can watch live through
https://bit.ly/2HB1Fes or keep up with live stats at
https://bit.ly/3hlysqe.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers celebrated senior day last Saturday with a 65-16 win over the Alfred University Saxons. The 49 point win marked the largest margin of victory for either team over the 23 games played in series history. In the win,
Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) tied the single season program record for receiving touchdowns at 15 after reeling in three while
Braeden Zenelovic (Ontario Center, NY/Wayne Central) tossed a single game program record seven touchdowns, also tying the Empire 8 single game record. Overall, Zenelovic's seven touchdowns came on 372 passing yards and 29-of-40 passing. Palmer led the receivers with 110 yards, seven catches and three touchdowns while
Joey Nare (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) had six catches for 67 yards and a score. On defense,
Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and
Anthony Novello (Mepham, NY/Mepham) led the team with seven tackles while Warren also had 2.5 tackles for a loss and a sack. Novello added an interception to his line as well.
Rewriting the Books: With its week 10 win over Alfred on Saturday, Utica secured the winningest season in program history with its eighth victory of the year. The win also ensured the Pioneers will finish no worse than second in the Empire 8 which will be the program's best finish all-time in the conference.
It's All in the Arm: Another week, another
Braeden Zenelovic (Ontario Center, NY/Wayne Central) jaw-dropping performance. Zenelovic's record-setting seven touchdown day helped him earn Empire 8 Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors for what was his third E8 weekly honor of the year. The quarterback also jumped to second all-time in program single-season touchdown passes with 24 which also ranks him tied for 15th amongst Division III slingers. Zenelovic also finds himself 13th in the country with a 173.28 efficiency rating, 19th with 2,353 passing yards and 22nd with a 67.8 completion percentage.
Nearing the Top: Nate Palmer's (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) magical farewell tour continued on Saturday as the graduate student tied a single season program record with his 15th touchdown reception. His 15 receiving touchdowns has also rocketed him into a tie for second all-time in program history while he ranks second in DIII with that mark. Currently at 1,117 receiving yards, Palmer finds himself third in the country while he is less than 100 yards away from a single-season program record and roughly 500 yards away from an Empire 8 single season record. After reeling in 110 receiving yards last week, he also moved into second all-time in program history with 2,549 yards.
More the Merrier: Zenelovic's options of
Joey Nare (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie),
Travis Decker (Oneida, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) and
Izzy Maldonado (Island Park, NY/Long Beach) continue to make the most of their opportunities. The senior Nare has set career highs with 37 receptions, 419 receiving yards and three touchdowns while his yards rank seventh in the E8. Decker is tied for 10th in the league with 374 receiving yards which are also a career high for him as well as his 28 receptions and three touchdowns. The sophomore Maldonado has come on the scene as of late with seven of his 11 receptions coming over his last three outings while he scored his first career touchdown in Saturday's win over Alfred.
One Two, Jimmie's Coming for You: For nine games,
Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) has terrorized opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks. The defensive end leads the Empire 8 and is tied for 18tth in the country with nine sacks which are also the third most in a single-season in program history. Warren has also jumped up to third all-time in career sacks at 17 as well as fourth in tackles for loss thanks to his Empire 8-leading 14 through nine outings. Overall, Warren leads the Pioneers with 75 tackles, which is good enough for fifth in the E8, coming from a team-leading 26 solo tackles and 49 assisted take downs.
Three's Company: While Warren has controlled the line of scrimmage, the linebacker trio of
Anthony McDonald (Huntington, NY/Huntington),
Anthony Novello (Mepham, NY/Mepham) and
Anthony Fasano (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) have provided protection at the second level. The three of them have combined for 140 tackles this season, which accounts for over 20 percent of the team's total tackles, with Novello totaling 48, McDonald 46 and Fasano 45. They each also rank within the top25 in the conference in total tackles.
Taking Flight: The Pioneers have created its own legion of boom with its secondary led by Terrence Toussaint,
Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms),
Joey Lipani (Rochester, NY/Hilton) and
Dan Amady (Suffern, NY/Suffern). The four of them have helped the Utica defense rank top-50 nationally in pass defense with 175 yards allowed per game. Toussaint is tied for the Empire 8 lead with eight pass breakups while Smith (six), Lipani (four) and Amady (three) are all ranked within the top-20 in the E8. With that, Toussaint and Lipani lead the team with two interceptions each followed by Smith and Amady with one apiece.
About Fisher: The Cardinals enter week 11 with a 4-5 overall mark and are tied for fourth in the Empire 8 at 2-3. Fisher ranks fourth in the Empire 8 in both points per game (18.3) and opponents points per game (21.4). The team averages roughly 310 yards of offense per outing while teams have gained 340 yards per game against its defense. A balanced attack, Fisher nets 172 yards through the air and 138 on the ground per game with the passing attack led by Chase Aaron (1,092 yards, nine touchdowns, eight interceptions, 59.2 completion percentage). The ground game features Duvall Malachi, who is fourteen the E8 averaging 83.2 yards per game, while teammate Nolan Peyton is eighth in the league rushing for 44.6 yards per contest. Linebacker Joe Miscia anchors the defense as the junior is one of the defenders in the conference averaging double-digit tackles per game (10.6) while no other Cardinal averages more than 5.2 tackles per game. Not prone to pressuring opposing quarterbacks, Fisher ranks last in the E8 with nine total sacks in as many games, however, Zach Dreisbach has accounted for nearly half of the team's sack total as he is eighth in the conference with four. The Pioneers have had a leg-up in the all-time series lately as the team has won four of the last five meetings with its only loss in that span coming in five overtimes at Fisher in 2017.
Up Next: The Pioneers will turn their eyes to the NCAA Division III football selection show at 5 p.m. on Sunday hoping to earn an at-large bid into what would be the program's first-ever NCAA postseason appearance.
