UTICA, NY - The Utica University football team continued its tear through the Empire 8 on Saturday afternoon, using an outstanding defensive effort to hold a plucky St. John Fisher squad to just seven points in a 31-7 victory.
 
Utica improved to 6-2 with the win, also advancing to 4-1 in conference play. The Pioneers won their third straight game, also remaining undefeated at home as they improved to an impressive 4-0 on ABM Field. Utica has outscored its opponents by a 144-55 margin at Gaetano Stadium. St. John Fisher fell to 5-3 on the season, also dropping to 3-2 in the Empire 8.
 
Saturday Spotlight: The Pioneers' defensive front dominated in the win, creating a wall at the line of scrimmage that gave the orange and blue an edge in the near-shutout. This tenacious attack up front was led by 6'6 edge rusher Mason Miranowicz (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush), who used a blend of speed and size to stop the Cardinal offense in a variety of different ways. The junior edge did it all in Saturday's showdown, recording a variety of statistics including four solo tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble that was recovered by Luke Sheldon (Lake George, NY/Lake George Central) for a momentum-changing turnover.
 
Miranowicz proved to be the engine of a Pioneer front that allowed just 65 yards to a St. John Fisher ground game that had rushed for over 150 yards per game in their previous seven outings. The Cardinals were held to just 2.2 yards per rush, a factor that contributed to the Utica defense allowing just one third down in nine total tries for St. John Fisher. Miranowicz wasn't the only defensive line member who had a massive outing, though, as Jordyn Davis (Hempstead, NY/Uniondale) (six tackles, four solo, two tackles for loss, one pass breakup, one QB hurry), Nicholas DeForrest (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) (three tackles, one solo, one sack), Mason Mascari (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) (three solo tackles, one sack), and Austin DeGroat (Oneida, NY/Oneida) (three tackles, two solo) all contributed in major ways during the win.
 
The defensive line was also active in much more than just the rushing game, with the Pioneer front notching three out of the four pass breakups that the hosts had in the matchup. Their impact on the game helped set the tempo and allowed the orange and blue to build and maintain a big lead.
 
Scoring Summary:
 
1st Quarter
9:49 | 7-0 UTC | Logan Frederick (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) - 32-yard pass from Matthew Pallouras (Rochelle Park, NJ/Hackensack) (Nico Duarte (Kearny, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) XP) - 9 plays, 75 yards (5:11)
2:18 | 14-0 UTC | Logan Frederick (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) - 22-yard pass from Tyler Szalkowski (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) (Nico Duarte (Kearny, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) XP) - 7 plays, 80 yards (3:55)
 
2nd Quarter
10:05 | 17-0 UTC | Nico Duarte (Kearny, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) 24-yard field goal - 10 plays, 57 yards (5:57)
6:17 | 17-7 UTC | Christian Beason - 2-yard rush (Logan Laratta XP) - 7 plays, 62 yards (3:41)
0:27 | 24-7 UTC | Bryce Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) - 19-yard pass from Tyler Szalkowski (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) (Nico Duarte (Kearny, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) XP) - 5 plays, 47 yards (1:25)
3rd Quarter
7:22 | 31-7 UTC | Matthew Pallouras (Rochelle Park, NJ/Hackensack) - 1-yard rush (Nico Duarte (Kearny, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) XP) - 9 plays, 88 yards (5:59)
 
Offensive Highlights: It was another efficient day at the office for the Utica offense, as they produced a similar performance to all of their previous home games. Like their previous outings at ABM Field, the orange and blue attack embarked on an array of long scoring drives, possessing the ball for over 33 and a half minutes while logging three scoring drives of over five minutes each. They even managed to log a successful two-minute drill, notching a touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the first half to mark their fourth straight home game with a last-second touchdown ahead of the half. The team also went a perfect three for three on their redzone opportunities, once again turning in an effective outing near the endzone.
 
Leading the offense was the dynamic duo of Tyler Szalkowski (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) and Logan Frederick (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls), with each player having yet another standout showing to continue their respective all-star caliber seasons. Szalkowski was 22-29 in the contest, passing for 270 yards and two touchdowns. The signal-caller adapted his game to a Fisher defense that was preventing his favored deep ball, as he continued to deconstruct the opposing secondary with some medium-level passing looks instead.
 
Szalkowski's main look on the afternoon was the tight end Frederick, who made it seem as if he wanted to extend National Tight End Day into National Tight End Month. The Little Falls native, fresh off his second D3football.com Team of the Week honor, turned in another nationally good performance, catching eight passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
 
One of those touchdowns wasn't from the Pioneers' main passer, though, as Matthew Pallouras (Rochelle Park, NJ/Hackensack) continued to excel in his role as the team's gadget guru, rushing four times for 16 yards and a touchdown while also completing his only pass of the afternoon - a 32-yard touchdown to Frederick. Pallouras also converted the final fourth down, sealing the victory for Utica.
 
Antonio Cianfarani (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) and Bryce Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) also had great outings in the receiving game, as the former caught three passes for 81 yards, while the latter hauled in six receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown.
 
The offense also continued its string of great blocking performances, seeing 148 of the 302 total receiving yards registered after the catch. The Pioneers have been a powerful blocking unit this season, making long runs after short catches in each of their games so far.
 
Defensive Highlights: The rest of the Pioneer defense complimented a stellar showing by the defensive line, as the secondary and linebacking corps also turned in solid showings. In total, St. John Fisher was held to just 216 yards of total offense and was also stumped in clutch situations as the Pioneers held the visitors to one for nine on third down, one for four on fourth down, and one for three in the redzone.
 
Isaiah Thomas (Kingston, NY/Kingston) logged a team-high in tackles once again, continuing to cement his status as the highest-volume tackler for the orange and blue.
 
Not far behind was the reigning Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week, Mason Payton (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay), who had seven tackles (five solo).
 
Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley) matched Payton's tackle number, although with a few fewer solo tackles (just two).
 
Luke Sheldon (Lake George, NY/Lake George Central) had a great outing, logging four tackles (two solo) and recovering the fumble forced by Miranowicz for the team's only takeaway of the game.
 
Ronaldo Lewis (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) rounded out another disruptive game for the Pioneer defense, having three total tackles (two solo) along with a quarterback hurry.


The Specialists: Nico Duarte (Kearny, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) continued his stretch of accurate kicking, nailing all his tries including going four for four on PATs and landing a 24-yard field goal. Devin Taylor (New Port Richey, FL/Wendell Krinn Technical) punted three times, racking up 106 air yards and averaging 35.3 yards per game.
 
Who's Next?: The Pioneers will return to Gaetano Stadium next weekend, where they'll honor their seniors against Hartwick College. That game is scheduled for a 1:00 PM kickoff next Saturday and is also the Veterans Day Game sponsored by GPO Federal Credit Union.