SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (4-1, 4-0 NJAC) vs. The College at Brockport (4-2, 2-2 NJAC)
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012; 1 p.m.; SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex; Cortland, N.Y.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)
TICKETS: $6 adults, $5 students with ID (SUNY Cortland students free with ID), Children 12 and under Free

Follow the game online:
WXHC Radio Broadcast (Smartphone apps to listen to broadcast)
Live Stats


THE MATCHUP: Cortland tries to maintain its hold on the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) lead as it hosts long-time intrastate rival Brockport. The Red Dragons have won four straight games since losing their season opener and are currently tied with Rowan for first in the NJAC with a 4-0 mark. Brockport brings a 4-2 overall record and 2-2 NJAC ledger into the contest.


THE SERIES: Cortland and Brockport are meeting for the 64th time. The teams have played every season since 1948 except for 1950. Cortland leads the overall series 47-14 with two ties and has only lost once in the series since 2005 – a 28-14 setback at Brockport in 2007.

In three of the last four meetings, the teams have combined to score more than 70 points. Cortland won 42-30 at home in 2008, and in 2009 the Red Dragons' 56-42 win at Brockport set a school record for most combined points in a game with 98.

However, that record fell last November when Cortland won 64-43 at Brockport for a combined 107 points. Cortland scored 35 straight points in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter to break open a close game. Quarterback Dan Pitcher completed 18-of-23 passes for 221 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns. He also ran for two scores. Mike Humphrey caught seven passes for 71 yards and two scores and John Babin finished with seven receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown. Dorian Myles rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries. Bill Smith led the defense with 15 tackles and one of Cortland's four interceptions. Pete Furey returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown, while Vaughn Labor and D.J. Romano also picked off passes.

Brockport quarterbacks Dylan Umbra and Joe Scibilia combined to pass for 325 yards and three scores. Scibilia started and was 7-of-12 passing for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Umbra went 10-of-19 through the air for 172 yards and a score. He also ran 28 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns. John O'Hagan led the Golden Eagles with 17 tackles.


CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland scored 21 straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters to break a 21-21 tie and the Red Dragons defeated The College of New Jersey on the road, 42-28, to stay perfect in NJAC play. The Red Dragons held an early 21-7 lead on a Mike Humphrey 21-yard TD catch, an Andrew Tolosi 32-yard interception return for a score and a Jack Delahunty 33-yard TD reception. TCNJ scored late in the first half and early in the second half to tie the game.

Cortland took the lead for good on Bronson Greene's 1-yard TD run with 2:36 left in the third quarter. A Kordel McInnis 12-yard scoring catch with 10:31 remaining and a Dorian Myles 29-yard screen pass catch-and-run for a score with 5:35 left helped seal the win.

Chris Rose completed 26-of-40 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns. He set career highs for completions and yardage and matched his career best for TD throws. Delahunty enjoyed a career day with 10 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. Humphrey made eight catches for 105 yards and a score. In the process, he became the 15th player in school history to reach 100 career receptions (he's exactly at 100). Myles carried the ball 16 times for 69 yards.

Freshman linebacker Troy Beddoe led the defense with 14 tackles, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and two half-sacks. Tolosi, freshman safety Andre Green and sophomore linebacker Jesse Scanna made eight tackles apiece. Sophomore linebacker Anthony Bayer intercepted a pass to end TCNJ's final drive. Junior Mike DeBole averaged 43.8 yard per punt, and three of his four attempts pinned TCNJ inside the 20-yard line with no touchbacks. He also made all six of his point-after kicks.

Through five games, Rose is 98-of-158 passing (62 percent) for 1,219 yards and 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Myles averages 108.6 rushing yards per game and 8.5 yards per carry. Humphrey has 30 catches for 420 yards and four touchdowns. Green is the team's top tackler with 38 stops, followed by Scanna with 32 tackles. Beddoe's 28 tackles include 3.5 sacks and seven total tackles for losses. DeBole is 4-for-4 on field goal attempts and 25-of-26 on PAT kicks, and he averages 38.7 yards per punt with 12 inside the 20-yard line.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 16th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 103-55 (.652) 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, and his teams have also played in six ECAC bowl games. 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...THE COLLEGE at BROCKPORT: Brockport snapped a two-game losing streak with a 35-14 home win over William Paterson last Saturday. The Golden Eagles took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on TD runs by Tyrone Nichols and Joe Scibilia and extended the margin to 21 early in the second quarter on a Scibilia TD pass to Eric Malave. The Pioneers fought back to within 21-14 in the third quarter, but the Golden Eagles used a Shireem Cobb TD run late in the third quarter and another Nichols' TD run with 3:27 left in the game to clinch the victory.

Nichols rushed 24 times for 165 yards and Cobb gained 86 yards on 10 carries. Scibilia completed 15-of-21 passes for 120 yards and Jake Spalik made four catches for 41 yards. Junior safety Anthony Bianchi and junior linebacker John O'Hagan led the Golden Eagles with 10 tackles each and junior cornerback Colby Morabito registered his team-high fourth interception of the season along with three pass breakups.

Over six games, Nichols averages 107 yards per game on the ground and has scored five touchdowns. Scibilia is 128-of-215 through the air (59.5 percent) for 1,612 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. He threw for more than 300 yards in Brockport's first three games – wins over Lycoming, Buffalo State and The College of New Jersey. Spalik is the team's top receiver with 36 grabs for 432 yards and two touchdowns.

Bianchi paces the defense with 55 tackles, followed by O'Hagan with 50 stops. In addition to his four interceptions, Morabito also leads the squad with 11 pass breakups.

Brockport's 18th-year head coach Rocco Salomone has an overall record of 101-78-1 (.564). Brockport's career victory leader, Salomone led the Golden Eagles to four straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2000-03. He also served as an assistant coach at Brockport for five seasons before taking over as head coach in 1995. Salomone was a two-year starter at Brockport (1986-87) after stints at Juniata College and East Stroudsburg.


NOTEBOOK:

* During halftime, fans will be introduced to 2-year-old Clara Violet Boyle, the girl from Menlo Park, Calif. whose life was saved by the bone marrow donation from Cortland junior linebacker John Stephens. Since 2009, the Cortland football program has conducted an annual “Get in the Game, Save a Life” bone marrow registry program.

Stephens, while on a recruiting visit to the College in May 2010, joined the registry at the program by having the inside of his cheek swabbed. He proved to be a perfect match for Clara, who was battling leukemia. She won that fight, and a recent fundraising effort has helped allow Clara and her family to fly to New York to meet John. Members of the Boyle and Stephens families will be on the field for the halftime ceremony.

* Junior kicker/punter Mike DeBole and freshman linebacker Troy Beddoe each earned weekly honors for the second straight week. DeBole repeated as both the NJAC and ECAC Southeast Special Teams Player of the Week, while Beddoe repeated as the NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week. DeBole's punts pinned TCNJ's offense inside its own 20-yard line three times without a touchback last Saturday. His four attempts averaged 43.8 yards per punt, including a 58-yard effort, and he was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points. Beddoe collected a team-high 14 tackles on the day, six of them solo. He registered 1.5 tackles for a loss and a pass breakup.

* Senior tailback Dorian Myles is averaging 8.5 yards per carry on 64 rushes. The school record for best yard-per-rush average (minimum 100 carries) in a season is 5.7 yards per carry by Scott Berent in 1990 (1,181 yards on 208 carries in 10 regular-season games).

* Cortland is averaging 44.2 points per game through five games. The school record for scoring average in the regular season is 38.0 points per game in 1990.

* Cortland has gained more than 400 yards of total offense in each of its first five games this fall. The Red Dragons set a school record last year with six straight games with more than 400 yards of total offense.

* The Red Dragons have 13 sacks in five games, including four in each of the last two games. Cortland has recorded at least 30 sacks each of the last 11 seasons, including 39 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 13th 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 was joined by Western Connecticut State, Buffalo State, Brockport and Morrisville.

However, Buffalo State has since left the league for the Empire 8, Western Connecticut will leave after this fall to join the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) for football only (the MASCAC is sponsoring the sport for the first time in 2013), and Brockport will leave the NJAC after the 2013 season to join the Empire 8. Cortland has finished at least tied for first in the NJAC five of the last seven years (2005-08, 2010). The Red Dragons tied for second last year with a 7-2 record.

* Cortland and Brockport rank in the top 40 nationally in Division III in the following team and individual categories:

CORTLAND:

8th, Scoring, 44.2 yds./game
16th, Total Offense, 472.8 yds./game
34th, Rushing Offense, 223.6 yds./game
34th, Kickoff Returns, 23.3 yds./return

Justin Autera, 25th, Kickoff Returns, 28.2 yds./return
Dorian Myles, 34th, Rushing, 108.6 yds./game

BROCKPORT:

17th, Sacks Allowed, 0.7/game
22nd, Pass Efficiency Defense, 95.8 rating against
28th, Scoring Defense, 14.7 pts./game
33rd, Total Offense, 449.0 yds./game
37th, Passing Offense, 270.3 yds./game

Joe Scibilia, 25th, Total Offense, 298.5 yds./game
Corey Morabito, tied 27th,  Interceptions, 0.7/game
Tyrone Nichols, 38th, Rushing, 106.8 yds./game


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

Troy Beddoe, Fr., Linebacker
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 29 vs. Montclair St.)
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 6 at The College of New Jersey)

Chris Bright, Sr., Linebacker
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 22 at Morrisville St.)

Mike DeBole, Jr., Kicker/Punter
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 29 vs. Montclair St.)
ECAC Southeast Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 29 vs. Montclair St.)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Oct. 6 at The College of New Jersey)
ECAC Southeast Special Teams Player of the Week  (Oct. 6 at The College of New Jersey)

Matt Deiana, Fr., Kickoff Returner/Tailback
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 15 vs. Western Conn. St.)
ECAC Southeast Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 15 vs. Western Conn. St.)

Andre Green, Fr., Safety
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 22 at Morrisville St.)

Dorian Myles, Sr., Tailback
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 15 vs. Western Conn. St.)
ECAC Southeast Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 15 vs. Western Conn. St.)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (4-1, 4-0 NJAC)

Sept. 1      at Buffalo St.                             L 31-49
Sept. 15    * WESTERN CONN. ST.               W 72-14
Sept. 22    * at Morrisville St.                      W 56-14
Sept. 29    * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)                W 20-0
Oct. 6        * at The College of New Jersey   W 42-28
Oct. 13      * BROCKPORT                            1:00
Oct. 20      * ROWAN (NJ)                           12:00
Oct. 27      * at Kean (NJ)                            1:00
Nov. 3       * at William Paterson                   1:00
Nov. 10     ITHACA                                      12:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS

BROCKPORT (4-2, 2-2 NJAC)

Sept. 1     at Lycoming (PA)                         W 24-2
Sept. 8     BUFFALO ST.                               W 38-24
Sept. 15    * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY  W 41-17
Sept. 22    * at Kean (NJ)                           L 6-14
Sept. 29    * at Rowan (NJ)                         L 3-17
Oct. 6       * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)          W 35-14
Oct. 13     * at Cortland                              1:00
Oct. 20     * WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST.    1:00
Nov. 3      * at Montclair St. (NJ)                  1:00
Nov. 10    * MORRISVILLE ST.                     1:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. BROCKPORT – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 47-14-2)

Year                Winner                  Score             Site
1948                Cortland                19-6                Cortland
1949                Cortland                27-6                Brockport

1951                Cortland                35-13              Cortland
1952                Cortland                45-6                Brockport
1953                Cortland                62-0                Cortland
1954                Tie                        12-12              Brockport
1955                Cortland                32-0                Cortland
1956                Cortland                45-0                Brockport
1957                Tie                         0-0                 Cortland
1958                Cortland                20-6                Brockport
1959                Brockport              19-6                Cortland

1960                Cortland                22-0                Brockport
1961                Cortland                39-0                Cortland
1962                Cortland                13-6                Brockport
1963                Cortland                49-0                Cortland
1964                Cortland                54-8                Brockport
1965                Cortland                26-0                Cortland
1966                Cortland                59-6                Brockport
1967                Brockport              27-20              Cortland
1968                Cortland                7-6                  Brockport
1969                Cortland                73-6                Cortland

1970                Cortland                28-0                Brockport
1971                Cortland                20-7                Cortland
1972                Cortland                19-7                Brockport
1973                Cortland                23-6                Cortland
1974                Cortland                28-7                Brockport
1975                Cortland                56-0                Cortland
1976                Cortland                24-0                Brockport
1977                Cortland                28-0                Cortland
1978                Cortland                20-15              Brockport
1979                Brockport              25-13              Cortland

1980                Brockport              41-26              Brockport
1981                Cortland                24-3                Cortland
1982                Cortland                45-20              Brockport
1983                Cortland                17-13              Cortland
1984                Cortland                42-21              Brockport
1985                Cortland                41-6                Cortland
1986                Cortland                21-16              Brockport
1987                Cortland                14-10              Cortland
1988                Cortland                28-13              Brockport
1989                Cortland                49-0                Cortland

1990                Cortland                31-7                Brockport
1991                Cortland                52-14              Cortland
1992                Cortland                62-12              Brockport
1993                Brockport              26-14              Brockport
1994                Cortland                20-14              Cortland
1995                Cortland                21-13              Brockport
1996                Brockport              23-16              Cortland
1997                Brockport              30-28              Brockport
1998                Brockport              28-27              Cortland
1999                Brockport              28-24              Brockport

2000                Brockport              14-0                Cortland
2001                Brockport              17-14              Brockport
2002                Cortland                21-12              Cortland
2003                Brockport              28-14              Brockport
2004                Brockport              42-26              Cortland
2005                Cortland                20-10              Brockport
2006                Cortland                17-10              Cortland
2007                Brockport              28-14              Brockport
2008                Cortland                42-30              Cortland
2009                Cortland                56-42              Brockport

2010                Cortland                35-0                Cortland
2011                Cortland                64-43              Brockport