SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (3-1, 3-1 NJAC) vs. Montclair St. Univ. Red Hawks (4-0, 3-0 NJAC)
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011; 1 p.m.; Sprague Field; Montclair, N.J.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)

Follow the game online:
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THE MATCHUP: Cortland travels to Montclair State in a battle of nationally ranked teams for a key New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) showdown. The 3-1 Red Dragons enter the game ranked 15th nationally by D3football.com and 24th by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). The 4-0 (3-0 NJAC) Red Hawks are ranked 11th by D3football.com and seventh by the AFCA.

Last season, Cortland and Montclair were two of three schools, along with Rowan, that finished in a tie for first in the NJAC standings. Montclair won the 2009 league crown and Cortland was the 2008 NJAC champion.


THE SERIES: Cortland leads the overall series between the schools 16-10-1. The Red Dragons won five straight games in the series from 2004-08 before losing at Montclair in 2009, 16-7.

Last year, Cortland scored 10 points in the final 12 minutes, including a 19-yard TD pass from Dan Pitcher to Mike Humphrey with 1:03 remaining, to rally for a 10-9 victory at home. Montclair missed a potential game-winning field goal on the game's final play. Justin Autera rushed for 122 yards and Cody Allen made eight tackles for Cortland. Montclair scored its points in the first half on a Matt Jimenez 8-yard TD run and a Jake DelVento 33-yard field goal.

The teams have played every season since 1992, as well as eight times between 1964 and 1975. In the first meeting between the schools in 1964, Montclair defeated Cortland, 7-0. Both teams were unbeaten (Cortland was 8-0, Montclair was 6-0) entering that final game of the regular season.


CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland scored touchdowns on seven of its first eight possessions to build a 48-0 halftime lead and the Red Dragons defeated Morrisville State, 55-14, under the lights at home last Saturday night. The game was Cortland's second-ever home night game – the first was a 71-7 win over Morrisville in the 2007 season opener.

Senior tailback Dorian Myles rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, sophomore wide receiver John Babin caught seven passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns and graduate student quarterback Dan Pitcher completed 12-of-18 passes for 212 yards and three scores. All of those stats were registered prior to halftime. Freshman tailback Bronson Greene ran for four touchdowns and finished with 12 carries for 59 yards. Cortland outgained the Mustangs 506-194 in total offense.

Senior linebacker Bill Smith led the defense with nine tackles and junior linebacker Mike Wilson made eight tackles, including one of Cortland's five sacks. Senior cornerback D.J. Romano and freshman Lucas Myer each registered an interception – Cortland's first two picks of the season.

Through four games, Pitcher is 67-of-110 passing (60.9 percent) for 961 yards. He's thrown 10 TD passes and has been intercepted twice. Myles is averaging 99.7 rushing yards per game in the three games he's appeared in and Babin leads the squad with 27 receptions for 469 yards and six touchdowns.

Smith leads Cortland with 24 tackles, followed by senior linebacker Cody Allen and junior safety Steven Lenhart with 23 stops apiece. Eight different Red Dragons have recorded at least half a sack. Senior placekicker Marc Corrado is 4-of-5 on field goal attempts and 14-of-15 on point-after kicks. Junior Pete Furey averages 37.4 yards per punt.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 15th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 93-53 (.637) ranks him second at Cortland in career victories and first in winning percentage. He was the NJAC Coach of the Year and a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Div. III Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Red Dragons to the league title and the NCAA quarterfinals.

MacNeill has guided Cortland to the NCAA playoffs in 1997, 2005, 2008 and 2010. His 2008 squad was honored with the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy and the ECAC Div. III Team of the Year awards. MacNeill is a 1979 Cortland alumnus and played linebacker and defensive tackle from 1975-78. An assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University from 1984-1996, MacNeill is Cortland's 11th head coach since the school's modern era of football began in 1924. MacNeill served as linebackers coach at Villanova and was the team's defensive coordinator from 1988-96.


A LOOK AT...MONTCLAIR ST. UNIVERSITY: Montclair improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the NJAC with a 20-13 victory at Brockport last week. Tom Fischer, the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week, completed 23-of-38 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Chris D'Andrea rushed 22 times for 128 yards and Dan Keegan caught seven passes for 105 yards and two scores.

The Red Hawks trailed 13-10 in the second quarter before taking the lead for good on an 8-yard TD pass from Fischer to Keegan with 13 seconds left before halftime. Middle linebacker Dan Avento paced the Montclair defense with 14 tackles, nine solo, along with an interception, pass breakup and half a sack. Cornerback Kevin Cloghessy recorded 10 tackles, nine solo.

Montclair opened the season with an 18-7 non-league home win over Salve Regina, then narrowly escaped with a 20-19 win at Morrisville State after stopping a Mustangs' two-point conversion attempt with 21 seconds remaining. The Red Hawks followed that with a 53-24 home blowout versus Buffalo State and its win at Brockport.

D'Andrea leads the NJAC and ranks fifth nationally with 154 rushing yards per game. He's run 84 times for 616 yards and four touchdowns. Fischer is 65-of-106 passing (61.3 percent) for 774 yards and five touchdowns and Keegan has 23 catches for 326 yards and four scores.

Avento and free safety Chad Faulcon lead the team with 25 tackles each. Cloghessy has two interceptions, while defensive linemen Matt Trivigno and Bobby Skinner each have 2.5 of Montclair's 14 sacks. Jake DelVento is 9-of-11 on point-after kicks and 8-of-10 on field goals. Two of his made field goals are from 46 and 42 yards. Joe Liscio averages 36.5 yards per punt, with 10 of his 16 punts pinning opponents inside their 20-yard line.

Rick Giancola is in his 29th season as Montclair's head coach. His current record is 205-89-2 (.696), including a 133-40-1 mark (.767) in NJAC play. The most successful coach in program history, Giancola led the Red Hawks to the NJAC title outright in 2009 (9-0 league record, 10-2 overall) and an NJAC tri-championship (with Cortland and Rowan) last year. His squads advanced to the second round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs in each of those seasons.

In all, Giancola has led Montclair to nine NCAA Division III playoff appearances and has been named NJAC Coach of the Year seven times, including each of the last two years. He graduated from Glassboro State (now Rowan) in 1968. He played football and baseball for the Profs, was an All-East selection at tight end and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1991.


NOTEBOOK:

* Freshman tailback Bronson Greene was chosen as the NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week after rushing for four touchdowns in Cortland's win against Morrisville. He finished with 59 yards on 12 rushes, including a 19-yard TD run, two 3-yard scoring runs and a 1-yard TD rush. His four rushing TDs were one shy of tying the school record for single-game record. Mike Bowe ran for five TDs versus Canisius in 1980 and Dave Book ran for five TDs at Brockport in 1984. Greene rushed for 3,518 yards, a school record, in his three-year varsity career at Shenendehowa High School.

* Senior linebacker Cody Allen earned a spot on the D3football.com national Team of the Week for the second straight week. His first honor came for his play at linebacker in a win at Rowan on Sept. 24. For Oct. 1, he was chosen as a special teams player after blocking two punts in a win over Morrisville. Both blocks helped set up Cortland first-half touchdown drives.

* Cortland has accumulated a combined 1,367 yards of total offense in its last three games (455 vs. Kean, 406 at Rowan, 506 vs. Morrisville). This is the highest offensive output for the Red Dragons over a three-game stretch since 2002 when Cortland gained a combined 1,393 yards in a loss at Rowan (428) and home wins vs. William Paterson (464) and Utica (501).

* Sophomore wide receiver John Babin has 27 receptions through four games this season (6.8 per game), putting him on pace to reach the school single-season record of 68 receptions set by Steve Ellis in 1994 (Ellis' total does not include four catches he made in an ECAC playoff game that year since the NCAA did not begin recognizing postseason stats in their records until 2002). Babin has led Cortland in receptions every game this fall (five vs. Buffalo State, seven each vs. Kean and Morrisville and eight vs. Rowan).

* John Babin's three touchdown receptions last weekend tied a school single-game record set seven times previously. Most recently, Anthony Giuliano caught three TD passes in a win at The College of New Jersey last season. The only player to catch three TD passes in a game twice in school history was Eric Hajnos, who turned the trick at Brockport in 2009 and home versus Western Connecticut State in 2007.

* Cortland and Montclair rank in the top 30 nationally in Division III in the following team and individual categories:

CORTLAND:
9th, Rushing Defense, 68.3 yards/game
Tied 12th, Fewest Sacks Allowed, 0.5/game
25th, Total Defense, 261.8 yards/game
27th, Passing Efficiency, 156.3 rating
28th, Sacks, 3.0/game
30th, Kickoff Returns, 22.9 yards/return
John Babin, 15th, Receiving Yards, 117.3/game
Dan Pitcher, 24th, Passing Efficiency, 160.7 rating
John Babin, Tied 29th, Receptions, 6.8/game

MONTCLAIR ST.:
Tied 12th, Fewest Sacks Allowed, 0.5/game
16th, Sacks, 3.5/game
24th, Punt Returns, 15.2 yds./return
Jake DelVento, Tied 2nd, Field Goals, 2.0/game
Chris D'Andrea, 5th, Rushing, 154.0 yds./game
Dan Keegan, Tied 13th, Punt Returns, 15.7 yds./return
Chris D'Andrea, 30th, All-Purpose Running, 161.5 yds./game

* Cortland's five sacks last Saturday vs. Morrisville increased the team total to 12 through four games and puts them on pace for 30 in the regular season. Cortland has recorded at least 30 sacks each of the last 10 seasons, including 31 last year and 50 or more in both 2005 and 2006. Cortland's 50 sacks in 2006 were the best nationally in Division III. The Red Dragons set a school record with 52 sacks in 2005 (sacks have been officially tracked at Cortland since 1982).

* Cortland is in its 12th season as a football-only member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). The Red Dragons compete in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) in most of their other sports. Cortland was the first non-New Jersey school to join the NJAC for football, starting in the 2000 season, and has since been joined by Western Connecticut State, Buffalo State, Brockport and Morrisville. Cortland has finished at least tied for first in the NJAC five of the last six years (2005-08, 2010).

* The Montclair State football program is joining the fight against cancer during the 2011 season by teaming up with the Keep Pounding Fund, named in honor of former Montclair standout and NFL star Sam Mills. Throughout the season at all home games, the Red Hawks will be selling “Keep Pounding” bracelets with the proceeds going toward the Keep Pounding Fund at the Carolinas Medical Center. Bracelets are $2.00 and can be purchased on gameday at a special table located next to the main entrance to Sprague Field. More information is available online at: http://www.tinyurl.com/SamMillsKeepPounding


Cortland's Weekly Award Winners (game date/opponent in parentheses)

Cody Allen, Sr., Linebacker
D3football.com Team of the Week (Sept. 24 at Rowan)
D3football.com Team of the Week (Special Teams) (Oct. 1 vs. Morrisville St.)

John Babin, So., Wide Receiver
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 3 vs. Buffalo St.)

Pete Furey, Jr., Punter
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 3 vs. Buffalo St.)

Bronson Greene, Fr., Running Back
NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 1 vs. Morrisville St.)

Dan Pitcher, Gr., Quarterback
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 24 at Rowan)

Andrew Tolosi, Fr., Cornerback
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 24 at Rowan)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (3-1, 3-1 NJAC)

Sept. 3      * BUFFALO ST.                         W 28-12
Sept. 17    * KEAN (NJ)                             L 16-21
Sept. 24    * at Rowan (NJ)                        W 31-28
Oct. 1        * MORRISVILLE ST.                   W 55-14
Oct. 8        * at Montclair St. (NJ)               1:00
Oct. 15      * at Western Connecticut St.      12:00
Oct. 22      * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)         1:00
Oct. 29      * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY  1:00
Nov. 5        * at Brockport                           1:00
Nov. 12         at Ithaca                               12:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


MONTCLAIR ST. (4-0, 3-0 NJAC)

Sept. 10       SALVE REGINA (RI)                  W 18-7
Sept. 17     * at Morrisville St.                      W 20-19
Sept. 24     * BUFFALO ST.                           W 53-24
Oct. 1         * at Brockport                           W 20-13
Oct. 8         * CORTLAND                             1:00
Oct. 15       * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)         6:00
Oct. 22       * at The College of New Jersey    2:00
Oct. 29       * WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST.    2:00
Nov. 5         * at Rowan (NJ)                         1:00
Nov. 12       * KEAN (NJ)                              1:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. MONTCLAIR ST. – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 16-10-1)


Year                  Winner             Score            Site
1964                  Montclair           7-0                Montclair
1965                  Cortland            20-0              Cortland
1967                  Cortland            23-14            Cortland
1968                  Cortland            21-14            Montclair
1972                  Cortland            13-10            Cortland

1973                  Montclair           27-14            Montclair
1974                  Montclair           26-7              Cortland
1975                  Tie                    15-15             Montclair
1992                  Cortland            23-17            Montclair
1993                  Montclair          17-7               Cortland

1994                  Cortland           24-17             Montclair
1995                  Cortland           24-17             Cortland
1996                  Cortland           13-10             Montclair
1997                  Cortland           28-14             Cortland
1998                  Montclair          20-3               Montclair

1999                  Montclair          41-16             Cortland
2000                  Montclair          15-3               Montclair
2001                  Montclair          28-24             Cortland
2002                  Cortland           20-16             Montclair
2003                  Montclair          28-17             Cortland

2004                  Cortland           16-12             Montclair
2005                  Cortland           39-14             Cortland
2006                  Cortland           41-3               Montclair
2007                  Cortland           43-13             Cortland
2008                  Cortland           23-17             Cortland

2009                  Montclair         16-7               Montclair
2010                  Cortland          10-9               Cortland