MORRISVILLE, NY - The Pioneers ventured to Morrisville on Saturday for a mid-season Empire 8 battle against a rugged and gritty Mustang squad. Although the clock drained quickly during the bout, the game was a steadily paced one, characterized by a first quarter that contained only two and a half possessions throughout. In a game that would eventually be decided on the basis of efficiency and composure, Morrisville rode their steady momentum to a late 28-20 lead, and survived an unbelievable last gasp from Utica, snuffing out a game-tying two-point attempt to secure a 28-26 victory over the Pioneers.
 
Despite the close loss, Utica outgained Morrisville in the matchup, stacking up 395 total yards. It was the Mustangs however, who dominated possession mainly due to their superior rushing offense, carrying the ball 42 times and accruing 256 yards of offense on the ground.
 
Aerial combat was a different story, as Pioneer Quarterback Brett Fuller (Port Jervis, NY/Port Jervis) gashed a superb Mustang secondary for 238 yards and three touchdown passes, outgaining the Morrisville passers by nearly 200 yards. Fuller had another extremely efficient outing, completing 24 of 27 attempts for a 89% completion percentage, the greatest all-time mark by a Pioneer quarterback in team history. Fuller was 10 for 11 in the first half, with his only incompletion coming on a spike to stop the clock near the end of the second quarter. 
 
Of Fuller's three passing scores, two of them saw Pioneer receiver Tyshawn Taylor (Syracuse, NY/Institute of Technology) making the scoring reception, as the Sophomore wideout hauled in seven passes for 99 yards and the two important touchdowns.
 
Taylor caught a 44-yard touchdown pass just before the half for the Pioneers' longest reception of the afternoon. The Pivotal catch also brought the Pioneers within one score of the Mustangs.
 
Taylor's second touchdown reception occurred with zero seconds remaining in the matchup, as he somehow latched onto a last second 38-yard score to give the Pioneers a chance to force overtime on an untimed two-point conversion.
 
Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) led the ground game for Utica, with the veteran back picking up 63 yards to go along with a rushing touchdown. Brantley also caught a nine-yard touchdown for the Pioneers first score, ending with 72 total scrimmage yards and the two total touchdowns.
 
Darius Johnson (Webster, NY/Webster) and James Lanier (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) led the defensive effort, each gaining 12 total tackles during the game. Lanier also tallied the only Pioneer sack of the day, an uncharacteristically quiet showing from the Pioneer defensive line that makes more sense when Morrisville's 12 total passing attempts is factored in. The Mustangs rushed the ball on 78% of plays, giving a recently sack-happy Pioneer line few chances to boost their sacking statistics.
 
Despite the few passing attempts, the Pioneer secondary still managed to force 3 pass breakups, a hefty number when leveraged with the amount of total attempts.
 
The game started off with three-straight scoring drives which spanned the first 18 minutes of the contest. Morrisville began the matchup with a six-play 57-yard touchdown drive that lasted 3:21. The Mustangs employed smashmouth football tactics on their first possession, rushing the ball five times before passing on the final play for the opening score.
 
Utica then punched back, doubling the Mustangs' time of possession in a 12-play 71-yard touchdown drive of their own, capping off the possession with a Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) 7-yard touchdown reception. The Pioneers' opening possession nearly doubled that of the first Morrisville drive, clocking in at 7:38. The visitors also employed mostly rushes in their opening offensive possession, running the ball eight times and passing four times.
 
Morrisville then launched yet another steady offensive volley, marching right back down the field to take a 14-7 lead after the third-straight long possession to start the game. This Mustang drive was 12 plays, 74 yards and lasted 6:33. Morrisville's second possession consisted of 10 runs and two passes, meaning that both teams carried the ball a combined 23 times over the first three drives, contributing to the quick but steady nature of the contest.
 
The matchup, although steady in pace for most of the day, was not without its big momentum shifting moments.
 
The first momentum shift came off of a Mustang punt that was mishandled by the Pioneers, giving Morrisville the ball at the Utica 1-yard line and allowing the hosts to bash into the endzone on the ensuing play for a 21-7 lead.
 
Utica fought back, with Fuller finding Taylor for the aforementioned 77-yard score before halftime to cut the Mustang lead to 21-14 at the break.
 
The Pioneers shut Morrisville out in the third quarter, with the only points of the frame coming courtesy of a Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) touchdown in the waning seconds of the period.
 
Morrisville widened the gap to eight points after scoring midway through the fourth quarter, taking a 28-20 lead with around seven minutes remaining.
 
Utica, now needing a touchdown to stay alive, mounted a 15-play 80-yard drive, marching all the way down to the Morrisville seven-yard line with just over a minute left. The Mustang defense held on a pivotal 4th and 2, forcing a turnover on downs and inching their way to the win.
 
The Pioneers would have one more chance after Morrisville drained the clock down to just 13 seconds. The orange and blue had two attempts to try and find a miracle and bring the game to overtime.
 
Fuller's first attempt was flushed out, as the Junior had to scamper out of trouble and threw a pass out of bounds with only enough time left remaining for one play.
 
The Pioneer signal caller managed to get the ball off, sending it hurtling towards the endzone where it was met with a sea of hands attempting to bat it down or catch it.
 
Somewhere in the chaos, Taylor plucked the ball away from the Morrisville defenders, securing a last second score and giving the Pioneers one more chance to tie the game on the two-point conversion.
 
Utica was pushed back on the final untimed down due to a false start, and saw their last chance fall just short as an incompletion sealed the final score at 28-26 in favor of Morrisville.
 
Both teams ended the day at 3-3, with Morrisville improving to 2-1 in the Empire 8 and the Pioneers falling to 1-2 in-conference.
 
Pioneer Football will return home next week to challenge the Alfred University Saxons during Utica's homecoming weekend. That game will begin at 1:00 PM on ABM Field and will also serve as the Breast Cancer Awareness Game Presented by GKG Sullivan Contracting.