UTICA, NY - The Utica University football team put together its second shutout of the season on Saturday afternoon with a 14-0 win over the visiting St. John Fisher University Cardinals on GPO Federal Credit Union Veterans Day.
This game not only marked the Pioneers' second shutout of the season, but also the third game in which the defense did not allow an offensive touchdown.
The defensive unit was led by
Nick Billand (Towaco, NJ/Montville) and
Nick Maritato (Clarkstown, NY/Clarkstown North) who finished with a team high seven tackles.
Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley),
Anthony Fasano (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park),
James Lanier (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) and
Aedan McDonald (Huntington, NY/Huntington) all had five-plus tackles as well.
For the secondary,
Mason Payton (Hopewell, NY/John Jay) and
Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) each had an interception in the game while Douglas broke up a pair of passes.
The front four and the second level were disruptive all afternoon as the Pioneers finished with a total of six sacks and 13 tackles for a loss. Lanier powered the group with two sacks and three TFL's while
Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) continued his monstrous season with a pair of sacks and TFL's as well.
Anthony Fasano (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) and
John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) had one sack each in the win too.
Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) had a fantastic outing on the ground as he accounted for 129 yards on 19 touches for 6.8 yards per carry.
Brett Fuller (Port Jervis, NY/Port Jervis) completed 14 of 20 passing attempts for 98 yards while
Joey Nare (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) led the receiving corps with six catches for 62 yards.
Utica's scores both came through
Sam Florio (Port Jefferson, NY/Port Jefferson) one way or another as he threw one to
Tyler Kolenda (Harwinton, CT/Lewis S. Mills) on a jump pass before later rushing one in from seven yards out.
Each team began the game with an opening drive turnover as Payton picked off Fisher quarterback Aaron Chase and brought it back to the Cardinal 14. However, Florio went on to fumble on a 3rd and 3 from the Fisher seven as the Cardinals regained possession.
In fact, the defensive battle on the first drives were only beginning as the rest of the first, the second and third quarters were scoreless for both teams as well. However, the first scoring chance of the game for either side came in the opening stages of the fourth quarter.
During a drive in which the offense made its way over midfield for the first time on the day, Fisher lined up for a 39 yard field goal attempt. Following a high snap, the kick sailed wide right to keep the score 0-0.
Although the Pioneers came away empty on the ensuing drive, special teams made a play that would ultimately decide the game. On
Freddie Callo's (Milton, NY/Marlboro Central) punt, Cardinals return man Ryan Romagnoli botched the ball and after it bounced around,
Nick Billand (Towaco, NJ/Montville) came out with it to give Utica possession on the Fisher 21.
Four plays later, Florio came in and found Koldena in the corner of the end zone for the first points of the day with 7:27 to go in the game.
Following another Fisher punt,
Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) took over the game. The Pioneers regained possession on their own 18 with 5:30 to play. From there, Brantley proceeded to rush for 58 yards on three touches to set the team up around the Fisher 20.
A few plays later, Florio's number was called again as he bulldozed his way in for six more. Following
Corey Lichtman's (Bellmore, NY/Mepham) point after, Utica held a 14-0 lead.
And that score from Florio would essentially seal the contest as the Cardinals next five plays resulted in -11 yards as the Pioneers went on to take the regular season finale.
Utica wraps up its regular season with an 8-2 overall record and a 4-2 mark in league play. The team will set its focus towards the ECAC Bowl selections on Monday with hopes of being picked to play in one of the three games.
