UTICA, NY - Utica and Alfred University met on Saturday afternoon in a heart-racing Homecoming matchup for the ages. With fans lining every square inch of Gaetano Stadium, the two teams did battle in a back and forth affair that resulted in an amazing Homecoming atmosphere. Compared to the slow and steady game against Morrisville last week, this contest against Alfred University was an absolute track meet complete with big plays, laterals, blocked punts, and 72 combined points between the two squads. At the end of all the madness, it was the Saxons that weathered the storm, escaping with a 38-34 lead after a last second touchdown by Saxon superstar Dion Anderson.
 
Save for the many momentum-swinging plays in the afternoon, the Pioneers and Saxons played pretty evenly throughout, with both teams racking up over 400 yards of offense.
 
The Pioneers gained 295 of their 417 yards by the hand of Brett Fuller (Port Jervis, NY/Port Jervis), who had another great day with 295 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Fuller was called upon quite often for a Pioneer team that spent the majority of the afternoon trailing, with the Junior quarterback completing 29 passes off of a very plentiful 52 attempts.
 
Antonio Cianfarani (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) caught a touchdown on a great fade route in addition to his nine receptions and 102 yards receiving. Cianfarani led the Pioneers in receiving yards and made some very clutch plays including a huge 4th down conversion late in the proceedings.
 
Izzy Maldonado (Island Park, NY/Long Beach) and Matt Kaires (Saint James, NY/Smithtown East) also caught touchdown passes in the game, with Maldonado hauling in a 40-yard pass to give the Pioneers an early 7-3 lead, and Kaires catching a 2-yard rollout pass late in the 4th quarter to bring Utica within one score of the Saxons.
 
The Utica defense had a very balanced day, with Mekhi Bailey (Auburn, NY/Auburn) notching a team-high nine tackles, followed by four players who each captured seven takedowns in John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity), Darius Johnson (Webster, NY/Webster), James Lanier (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran), and Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac).
 
Stroughn procured the lone sack for the Pioneer defense and is now only two sacks away from the all-time Pioneer record.
 
Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley) finished with five tackles, and also found his fourth interception of the year which also happened to become his third pick-6 of the season. Douglas picked off Alfred signal-caller Chris Kelly early in the third quarter and housed the ball from the Saxon five yard line, bringing the Alfred advantage down to three points and stealing back some momentum after the Pioneers were stopped just a few moments earlier on a crucial fourth down conversion. On the interception return TD, Douglas also etched his name into the Pioneer record books, with the Junior now owning the single-season Utica record for interception return touchdowns at three.
 
Jason LaScala (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) had some exciting stops against the Saxons, getting three tackles for loss and having an even bigger impact on the energy of the matchup, with his stops coming at very opportune moments.
 
On special teams, the Pioneers had two huge recoveries, the first of which came due to a muffed punt by Alfred University in the later stages of the third cover. The loose ball was immediately covered by Dameon Charles Jr. (Ridge, NY/Longwood) and gave the Pioneers a fresh set of downs at the Alfred 19.
 
The loudest moment of the afternoon came on a blocked punt that was registered by Nicholas DeForrest (Rome, NY/Holland Patent). Jimmy Polito (Hull, MA/Hull) was Johnny-on-the-spot, scooping up the football and running it back for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Pioneers a late 34-31 lead after a Gavin Fisher (Tioga, NY/Tioga Central) extra point.
 
The Saxons drew first blood with just over seven minutes to play in the first quarter as Owen Bishop hit a 29-yard field goal, giving Alfred an early 3-0 lead.
 
On the following drive by Utica, Fuller pulled a QB read for 32 yards, faking out the entire Saxon defense and setting the Pioneers up in great field position. On the next play, Fuller stepped back and threw a 40-yard missile to Maldonado in the endzone, giving Utica their first lead of the game in quick and concise fashion.
 
Utica finished the first quarter up 7-3 while also collecting 135 total yards compared to Alfred's 84. However, despite the early dominance from the Orange and Blue, it was Alfred who would be the aggressor in the second quarter, as the visitors picked up three rushing touchdowns during the frame to give themselves a 24-14 cushion at half.
 
The third quarter began with Alfred stalling out on their own 27 yard line as LaScala stopped a 4th and 1 rush in the backfield to cause a turnover on downs.
 
Then with great field position on the ensuing drive, it was the Pioneers turn to come to a halt, seeing their drive end at the Alfred 12 after their own failed 4th down conversion.
 
Utica as a whole struggled to convert on the afternoon, going 4 of 14 on third down and just 1 of 5 on a couple very integral fourth down attempts.
 
Douglas' pick stole the momentum back immediately after that last Pioneer drive, bringing the score to 24-21 Alfred.
 
Two scoring drives later, with the score sitting at 31-27 Alfred, the Pioneers had their Homecoming moment, with DeForrest getting two hands on a Saxons punt that sent the ball directly to the feet of Polito, resulting in the scoop and score to give Utica a 34-31 lead.
 
With hundreds of Pioneer fans causing a huge amount of noise, Alfred stared overpowering adversity right in the face and drove down the field to score a game-sealing touchdown, taking a 38-34 lead and all but ending the affair.
 
Fuller looked for another hail mary after his huge touchdown last Saturday, but had no such luck this weekend as his pass was caught about 10 yards short of the endzone, ending the game with Alfred picking up a 38-34 conference victory.
 
The Pioneers fell to 3-4, and 1-3 in the Empire 8. They host SUNY Brockport on Saturday, November 2 at noon. The game will be sponsored by GPO Federal Credit Union and the team will honor its Seniors on ABM Field at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium during the pregame festivities.