SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
NCAA Div. III Tournament – Second Round
Cortland Red Dragons (9-1) vs. Wesley College Wolverines (9-1)
Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012; Noon; Scott Miller Stadium; Dover, Del.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)

Follow the game online:
WXHC Radio Broadcast (Smartphone apps to listen to broadcast)
Live Video
Live Stats
Wesley's "Gameday Central" Page


THE MATCHUP: Cortland travels to Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, for an NCAA Div. III tournament second-round contest. Both teams enter the game with 9-1 records. Cortland is ranked 18th nationally by D3football.com and 16th by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Wesley is ranked sixth by D3football.com and fifth by the AFCA. The winner will face either the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) or Franklin College (Ind.) in the national quarterfinals Dec. 1.


THE SERIES: Cortland and Wesley are meeting for the first time.


CORTLAND CAPSULE: The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) champion, Cortland edged visiting Framingham State University, 20-19, in the NCAA first round last Saturday. Framingham scored a touchdown with 3:38 remaining to pull within a point, but its point-after kick hit the left upright. Cortland gained two first downs on its ensuing possession to run out the clock and win its ninth straight game after a season-opening loss at Buffalo State.

Junior tailback Justin Autera rushed for 121 yards on 31 carries starting in place of injured senior Dorian Myles. Senior quarterback Chris Rose completed 15-of-30 passes for 189 yards, including two touchdown throws of 53 and 10 yards to sophomore Kordel McInnis. Senior Mike Humphrey caught 10 passes for 94 yards.

Freshman linebacker Troy Beddoe made a team-high eight tackles, five solo. Cortland's secondary intercepted the Rams four times – one pick each by senior cornerback Pete Furey, sophomore cornerback Andrew Tolosi, senior safety Phil Bossman and freshman safety Andre Green.

Junior Mike DeBole made two field goals – a career-best 37-yarder late in the first half to put the Red Dragons up 10-6 and a 23-yarder with 5:24 remaining that gave Cortland a 20-13 lead and proved to be the winning points. DeBole also averaged 40.7 yards per punt on seven attempts.

Rose has completed 61 percent of his passes (206-of-340) for 2,264 yards and 21 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. Humphrey has caught 63 passes for 726 yards and six touchdowns and McInnis has 49 receptions for 641 yards and nine touchdowns. Cortland tailbacks Myles, Autera and sophomore Bronson Greene have combined for 1,648 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 308 total carries. Myles has 111 rushes for 731 yards and four scores, Autera has carried 115 times for 471 yards and three TDs and Greene has 82 carries for 446 yards and eight touchdowns.

Green leads the team with 73 tackles and also has three interceptions, three pass breakups and 6.5 tackles for loss. Furey paces the squad with five interceptions and is tied for second with senior linebacker Chris Bright with 61 tackles. DeBole has made 14-of-20 field goals and 36-of-37 point-after kicks, including his last 28 attempts. He also averages 40.2 yards per punt with seven kicks of 50 or more yards and 17 that have pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line.

Head Coach Dan MacNeill is in his 16th season with the Red Dragons. He has an overall record of 108-55 (.663) and is Cortland's career leader in victories and winning percentage. MacNeill was named the NJAC Coach of the Year this fall after guiding the Red Dragons to the league title with a 7-0 mark. In 2008, he was also the NJAC Coach of the Year and was one of five finalists for Liberty Mutual National Div. III Coach of the Year honors after leading the Red Dragons to the league title (9-0) and the NCAA quarterfinals.

MacNeill has guided Cortland to the NCAA playoffs in 1997, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012, 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...WESLEY COLLEGE: Wesley routed visiting Mount Ida, 73-14, in the NCAA first round last Saturday. The Wolverines led 27-14 with four minutes left in the first half before scoring the game's final 46 points.

Senior quarterback Justin Sottilare completed 15-of-23 passes for 267 yards and six touchdowns. Five different receivers caught at least one TD pass, led by sophomore Steve Koudossou with four receptions for 101 yards and two scores. The Wolverines also rushed for 247 yards on 40 carries (6.2 yards per attempt), led by senior Askia Jahad's 14 carries for 83 yards and a score.

Sophomore linebacker Matt Capetola led the team with nine tackles and junior linebacker Jordan Westcott finished with seven stops. Senior safety Mike Brandenburg and sophomore defensive end Aamir Petrose each intercepted passes.

Sottilare is 203-of-333 passing (61 percent) this season for 2,626 yards and 29 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. Eight players have caught at least 12 passes, with Koudossou leading the way with 45 grabs for 617 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Matt Barile has 32 catches for 445 yards and five scores and Jahad is the team's rushing leader with 472 yards and four touchdowns.

Sophomore linebacker Sosthene Kapepula is easily the team's leading tackler with 95 stops, 10.5 for lost yardage. He has also forced three fumbles and leads the team with six pass breakups. Junior safety Jared Morris has recorded six of the Wolverine's 21 interceptions.

Wesley does not play in a conference for football, and therefore the Wolverines earned the lone “Pool B” bid into the national tournament reserved for independents or schools in conferences that don't qualify for automatic bids. Wesley played schools from six different states during the regular season (two games each versus schools from Texas, Alabama and Virginia and one each against schools from Maryland, Louisiana and California). The Wolverine's lone loss was a 32-25 home setback to current nationally second-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor on Sept. 15.

Mike Drass is in his 20th season as Wesley's head coach and 24th year overall on the Wolverines' staff. He enters the NCAA second round with a career record of 176-48-1 (.784) and has led Wesley to eight NCAA tournament appearances, four Lambert-Meadowlands Trophies and four ECAC Team of the Year awards. The Wolverines have advanced to the national semifinals five times (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011) as well as the quarterfinals in 2007 and the second round in 2008 during Drass's tenure.

Also the director of athletics at Wesley, Drass graduated from Mansfield University (Pa.) in 1982. He was a three-year starting offensive lineman and two-time all-conference selection for the Div. II Mountaineers. Drass was an assistant coach for two years and a head coach for two seasons at North Penn High School in Blossburg, Pa., followed by two years as an assistant at Mansfield and four years as an assistant at Wesley prior to taking over as head coach in 1993.


NOTEBOOK:

* Senior wide receiver Mike Humphrey caught 10 passes versus Framingham State last Saturday and currently ranks fourth on Cortland's single-season receptions list with 63. John Babin set the school record with 72 catches last year, followed by Steve Ellis with 68 in 1994 and 66 by Zacc Guaragno in 2008. Humphrey also ranks fourth at Cortland with 133 career receptions. Ellis (170 from 1991-94), Neal Heaton, Jr. (154 from 2001-04) and Eric Hajnos (142 from 2006-09) hold the top three spots.

* Sophomore wide receiver Kordel McInnis has caught a team-high nine TD passes this fall. That total is tied for third in school history. John Babin caught 16 TD passes last season and Eric Hajnos made 10 TD catches in 2009.

* Senior quarterback Chris Rose is only the second player in Cortland history to complete at least 200 passes in a season. His 206 completions through 10 games trails only Ryan McCarthy's 223 completions during the 2000 season in the school record book. In addition, Rose is tied for third at Cortland in single-season TD passes (21), two behind Ray Miles (23 in 2008) and 10 behind Dan Pitcher (31 in 2011).

* Junior kicker Mike DeBole has made a school single-season record 14 field goals, including two last week against Framingham State. His 78 points scored (14 FG, 36 PAT) are the second-highest total by a Cortland kicker in a season, trailing only Jeffrey Lang's 79 points (10 FG, 49 PAT) in 2008.

* Cortland junior Nick Daley handles the Red Dragons' kickoffs, and through 10 games he recorded 26 touchbacks. The other eight NJAC schools combined finished with a total of 22 touchbacks, with the next-highest totals of six by Rowan and four by Kean and TCNJ. Nationally, only five other schools in Div. III have 26 or more touchbacks this year (St. John's (Minn.) 33, Texas Lutheran 29, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 28, Birmingham-Southern 26 and Mt. Union 26.)

* Cortland has set a school record this season with four interception returns for touchdowns (one each by Pete Furey, Vaughn Labor, Andrew Tolosi and Matt Ambrose). The previous school record (dating back to 1979 when full defensive stats were first kept) was three interceptions returned for touchdowns on three occasions (2003, 2004 and 2007). Cortland has 20 interceptions in 10 games this season – the school record is 24 (in 10 games) in 1981.

* Senior tailback Dorian Myles is averaging 6.6 yards per carry on 111 rushes this season. While that average has dropped from 9.9 yards per carry after four games, it's still on pace to set a school record. The current 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).

* The Red Dragons have 23 sacks in 10 games. Cortland has recorded at least 30 sacks each of the last 11 seasons (2001-11), 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 has overcome deficits in five of its last six wins, including a 17-3 second-quarter margin at Kean, a 10-0 second-quarter score versus Ithaca and a 21-17 deficit with less than two minutes left versus Rowan.

* Cortland has scored on 79 percent of its trips into the “red zone” (inside the opponent's 20-yard line) with 23 touchdowns and 14 field goals in 47 trips. Red Dragon opponents have a 67 percent success rate in the red zone with 16 touchdowns and four field goal in 30 trips.

* 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, 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 six of the last eight years (2005-08, 2010, 2012) and has earned the league's NCAA automatic bid three times (2008, 2010, 2012), along with an NCAA at-large berth in 2005.

* SUNY Cortland has served as the summer training camp location for the New York Jets in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and is under contract to host the Jets at least for one more year in 2013.

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

CORTLAND:

13th, Turnover Margin, +1.3/game
23rd, Net Punting, 35.0 yds./punt
34th, Scoring Offense, 35.7 pts./game
36th, Pass Efficiency Defense, 107.2 opponent rating

Mike DeBole, 5th, Field Goals, 1.4/game
Mike DeBole, 11th, Punting, 40.2 yds./punt


WESLEY:

1st, Punt Returns, 19.3 yds./return
11th, Pass Efficiency Defense, 95.7 opponent rating
13th, Total Defense, 268.3 yds./game
17th, Scoring Defense, 14.7 pts./game
18th, Kickoff Returns, 22.7 yds./return
20th, Pass Defense, 157.7 yds./game
34th, Rushing Defense, 110.6 yds./game

Sean Hopkins, 1st, Punt Returns, 19.6 yds./return
Jared Morris, tied 27th, Interceptions, 0.6/game
Dan Tryon, tied 37th, Field Goals, 0.9/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.)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 13 vs. Brockport)

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)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Oct. 20 vs. Rowan)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 10 vs. Ithaca)
ECAC Southeast Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 10 vs. Ithaca)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 17 vs. Framingham St.)

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.)

Pete Furey, Sr., Cornerback
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 13 vs. Brockport)
ECAC Southeast Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 13 vs. Brockport)
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 27 at Kean)
ECAC Southeast Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 27 at Kean)

Andre Green, Fr., Safety
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 22 at Morrisville St.)
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 20 vs. Rowan)
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 27 at Kean)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 27 at Kean)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Nov. 10 vs. Ithaca)

Bronson Greene, So., Tailback
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 13 vs. Brockport)
ECAC Southeast Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 13 vs. Brockport)

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.)

DJ Spencer, Fr., Wide Receiver
NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 20 vs. Rowan)

SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (9-1)

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                            W 45-27
Oct. 20      * ROWAN (NJ)                           W 24-21
Oct. 27      * at Kean (NJ)                            W 31-17
Nov. 3       * at William Paterson                   canceled
Nov. 10     ITHACA                                      W 16-10
Nov. 17     # FRAMINGHAM (MA)                   W 20-19
Nov. 24     # at Wesley (DE)                          12:00

* NJAC game (7-0)
# NCAA Div. III Tournament
HOME GAMES IN CAPS

WESLEY (9-1)

Sept. 1      at East Texas Baptist                    W 34-14
Sept. 8      at Salisbury (MD)                         W 17-7
Sept. 15    MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR (TX)          L 25-32
Sept. 22    at Louisiana College                      W 25-22
Oct. 6       BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN (AL)       W 26-17
Oct. 13     VIRGINIA U. of LYNCHBURG           W 24-7
Oct. 20     at Menlo (CA)                                 W 30-13
Oct. 27     at Huntingdon (AL)                         W 31-21
Nov. 3      APPRENTICE SCHOOL (VA)             W 47-0
Nov. 17    # MOUNT IDA (MA)                         W 73-14
Nov. 24    # CORTLAND                                  12:00

# NCAA Div. III Tournament
HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. WESLEY – SERIES RECORD

First meeting in 2012


CORTLAND NCAA PLAYOFF HISTORY

2012
First Round – Cortland 20, Framingham St. 19 (at Cortland)

2010 (Tied for 9th):
First Round – Cortland 49, Endicott 35 (at Cortland)
Second Round – Alfred 34, Cortland 20 (at Cortland)

2008 (Tied for 5th):
First Round – Cortland 31, Plymouth St. 14 (at Cortland)
Second Round – Cortland 42, Curry 0 (at Cortland)
Quarterfinals – Mt. Union 41, Cortland 14 (at Mt. Union)

2005 (Tied for 17th):
First Round – Hobart 23, Cortland 22 (at Hobart)

1997 (Tied for 9th):
First Round – The College of New Jersey 34, Cortland 30 (at Cortland)

1990 (Tied for 9th):
First Round – Hofstra 35, Cortland 9 (at Hofstra)

1989 (Tied for 9th):
First Round – Union 42, Cortland 14 (at Union)

1988 (Tied for 5th):
First Round – Cortland 32, Hofstra 27 (at Cortland)
Quarterfinals – Ithaca 24, Cortland 17 (at Ithaca)