UTICA, NY - Utica Football will be back at ABM Field this Saturday at noon for their final home contest of the regular season against the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles. The Pioneers will honor their valued seniors around 25 minutes prior to kickoff, with the ceremony starting at around 11:35 AM. The battle between Brockport and Utica will also be this season's Veterans Day Game presented by GPO. The game will benefit the Sitrin Military Program.
How to Watch: Follow along live with this Saturday's action by clicking the "Watch" tab on our homepage, football schedule page, or by following the link below.
You can stream this weekend's contest here:
https://www.empire8network.com/utica/?B=1145654
Live Statistics: Get live statistics updates for every Football matchup by following the link below to our new live stats page, or by selecting the "live stats" tab under each matchup on our 2024 football schedule page.
Follow along with Live Statistics here:
https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
Alfred University Recap: 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 win 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.
Pioneer Prestige: Douglas' pick-6 in the third quarter vaulted him ahead of former Pioneer Defensive Back Eli Belle for the most interception return touchdowns in a single season in Utica history. Douglas' record-breaking snag was his third interception return touchdown of the season after the defensive standout notched pick 6's in both the Moravian and Lycoming games before Saturday's matchup.
Douglas is now tied with former Utica player Lazarus Morgan atop the leaderboards for interception return yards in a season, as both players now have the same stat line at four interceptions and 125 interception return yards.
The Ausable Forks native's four interceptions place him in a seven-way tie for sixth in single-season interceptions, three short of the top spot which is held by 2002 standout Jon Klosner.
Douglas is currently in the midst of one of the all-time great ball-hawking seasons in Pioneer history, and with three games remaining on the schedule, the impact Junior has ample time to add to his already impressive 2024 resume.
Empire 8 Elite: Fuller's recent string of excellent starts has landed the Junior signal-caller in great standing for many of the Empire 8's Quarterback statistics. Fuller currently ranks second in passing yards (1,426), second in passing touchdowns (16), second in passing yards per game (203.7), and first in completions (134). In addition to leading the conference in completions, Fuller has 22 more of those than the next closest Quarterback in the Empire 8 - Zac Boyes of Cortland with 112. Fuller is completing just over 19 passes per game and has the chance to once again produce a top-10 completion season in team history if he keeps up the current rate.
Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) is still third in the conference for total rushing yards, having gained 612 yards on the ground this season. The Pioneer Captain has rushed for an average of 87.4 yards per game and has an average of six yards per attempt. Brantley is also still sixth in the conference for all-purpose yards per game, with the Rochester native checking in at 94 total yards per contest.
John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) picked up the Pioneers' lone sack of the contest on Saturday against Alfred, bringing him even closer to the all-time Pioneer record for which he now trails by two QB takedowns. Stroughn also tied Mike Talbert Jr. of Brockport atop the Empire 8 sack standings, with both players having five each during the 2024 season. They will go head-to-head this weekend in an attempt to establish sole possession of the Empire 8 lead in sacks.
Douglas leads the entire Empire 8 in interceptions with four. He leaped ahead of Brockport's Elijah Grooms for the league lead after his record-breaking pick-6 in the third quarter of Saturday's game against Alfred University. He also leads the league in interception return yards and interception return touchdowns, having 125 return yards and three pick 6's. Douglas is also tied for 11th in the country with his four total interceptions and is tied for first in all of Division III for interception return touchdowns with three. Douglas and Donell Mackey-Woodson of Wilkes are tied atop the pick-6 standings and will battle for the ball-hawking title over the last few weeks of the season.
Rewind Time: Utica traveled to Brockport for a late-season matchup with the Golden Eagles in 2023. The Pioneers had a tough day on offense and ended up falling in a rout to a tough Brockport team. Here's a peek at last year's matchup:
|
Brockport |
Utica |
| 1st Downs |
26 |
4 |
| Rushing Yards |
288 |
-19 |
| Passing Yards |
137 |
83 |
| Total Offense |
425 |
64 |
| Punts |
4 |
10 |
| Time of Possession |
40:36 |
19:24 |
| 3rd Down Conversions |
8 of 13 (62%) |
1 of 14 (7%) |
2024 SUNY Brockport Outlook: The Golden Eagles have been a formidable force in the 2024 season, shutting down all challengers save for Susquehanna University who was ranked 11th in Division III at the time of their week 2 clash. Brockport is 6-1 this season, with their only falter being at the hands of the previously mentioned River Hawks. The Golden Eagles are currently tied for first in the Empire 8 with the #2 ranked Cortland Red Dragons and are receiving votes in both the D3football.com poll (14 votes) and the AFCA Coaches Poll (2 votes) after their fourth-straight shutout victory against SUNY Morrisville this past weekend.
You heard that right, Brockport has left four-straight opponents without points, shutting out Fisher, Hartwick, Hilbert, and Morrisville over the past four weeks, meaning that the Golden Eagles will have officially not allowed any points in the entire month of October when the calendar turns on Friday.
Brockport also shut out Buffalo State in their season-opening game, meaning that two out of their seven contests have ended with zeroes on the scoreboard for the other team. All this is to say that the Golden Eagles run through their defense, and it will be on that side of the ball that the Pioneers will face the greatest challenge.
Brockport ranks first in nearly all defensive categories within the Empire 8 this season while the Pioneer offense ranks third in the league for most statistics. The Pioneers have already shown they can get it done against a rugged defensive unit, putting up a solid 26 points on a very solid Morrisville defense.
Brockport is very dangerous on the defensive line, with lineman Ben Robinson and Mike Talbert Jr. ranking first and third in the Empire 8 respectively for sacks. Robinson has five while Talbert Jr. has four and a half. These two stars lead a Brockport unit that tops the league with 22 total sacks. Although
John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) and
Doug Simmons (White Plains, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) have put up similar numbers to the two head QB hunters on the Golden Eagles, with the two Pioneers standing atop the sack standings alongside the Brockport disruptors.
Another area of expertise for the Golden Eagle defense is their superb coverage, as they lead the league with 11 total interceptions. Elijah Grooms, Malik Kelly, and Kyle Haettich all sit right behind Pioneer standout
Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley) on the interception leaderboards, with all three players having three picks each.
On offense, lead-back Isaiah Simmons leads the conference in total rushing yards with 802 yards gained on 109 attempts, good for an average of 7.4 yards per game. Simmons is also second in the conference for rushing touchdowns with 12.
Ben Gocella is the main man under center for the Golden Eagles and has thrown for 198.6 yards per game along with 14 touchdowns, good for third in the conference behind Boyes and Fuller.
Statcast: Here's a breakdown of Brockport and Utica's 2024 statistics.
| OFFENSIVE |
Brockport |
Utica |
| Points Per Game |
34.6 |
32.57 |
| First Downs Per Game |
20 |
18.1 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game |
193.6 |
154.1 |
| Yards Per Carry |
5.4 |
5.2 |
| Rushing Touchdowns |
16 |
9 |
| Fumbles Lost |
3 |
4 |
| Passing Yards Per Game |
213.3 |
218.7 |
| Yards Per Attempt |
7.8 |
6.46 |
| Passing Touchdowns |
14 |
17 |
| Interceptions Thrown |
5 |
6 |
| Sacks Allowed |
9 |
9 |
| Total Yards Per Game |
406.9 |
372.9 |
| Total Touchdowns |
33 |
32 |
| Time of Poss. Per Game |
29:50 |
30:09 |
| 3rd Down Conversions |
37-86 (43.02%) |
38-94 (40.43%) |
| DEFENSIVE |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
6.29 |
25.57 |
| 1st Downs All. Per Game |
11.3 |
19.6 |
| Rushing Yards All. Per Game |
47.3 |
147.6 |
| Rushing Touchdowns All. |
1 |
13 |
| Passing Yards All. Per Game |
152.7 |
204 |
| Passing Touchdowns All. |
4 |
11 |
| Total Yards All. Per Game |
200 |
351.6 |
| Touchdowns All. |
5 |
25 |
| Interceptions Created |
11 |
7 |
| Fumbles Recovered |
7 |
6 |
| Sacks |
22 |
17 |
| Record |
6-1 |
3-4 |
After Brockport: The Pioneers will hit the road for the last two games of the year, traveling due west on the thruway for contests against St. John Fisher and Hilbert.
Tune in this weekend when the Pioneers take on SUNY Brockport!
