SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (1-1, 1-0 NJAC) vs. Morrisville St. Mustangs (0-3, 0-1 NJAC)
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012; 7 p.m.; Drake Field; Morrisville, N.Y.
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 Stats


THE MATCHUP: Cortland makes its shortest road trip of the season as the Red Dragons head about 45 miles to the northeast to face Morrisville State in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest. Cortland brings a 1-0 league mark and 1-1 overall record into the night contest, while the Mustangs are searching for their first win after opening the year 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.


THE SERIES: Cortland has won the first seven games in its series versus Morrisville, including victories each of the last six seasons. The series actually began in 1930 with Cortland winning, 12-0, and the teams did not meet again until the Red Dragons won 52-14 at Morrisville in 2006.

In a wild game in 2007, Cortland defeated the Mustangs, 71-7, in the Red Dragons' first-ever home night game. The game was delayed twice by lightning – once at the start and again in the second quarter, for a combined three hours and 13 minutes – and didn't end until 12:46 a.m. Sunday morning. In 2008, Andrew Giuliano rushed for a school single-game record 281 yards and four touchdowns (40, 70, 89 and six yards) in a 51-37 win at Morrisville. Cortland won 26-17 at home in 2009 and 42-6 at Morrisville in 2010.

Last season, in a night game at Cortland that ended at a much more reasonable 9:29 p.m., the Red Dragons raced out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter and 48-0 at halftime on their way to a 55-14 victory. Dan Pitcher, playing just the first half, completed 12-of-18 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns, all to John Babin. Tailback Dorian Myles, also playing just the first half, ran for 162 yards and a touchdown  on 18 carries, while Bronson Greene rushed for four touchdowns – one shy of the school single-game record. Chris Rose played the second half at quarterback and completed 2-of-4 passes for 35 yards. Bill Smith paced the defense with nine tackles and Lucas Myer and D.J. Romano each intercepted a pass.

Morrisville scored two second-half touchdowns on a Lemar Johnson TD pass to James Schoenig and a Mychael Hardamon scoring pass to Ricky Demers. Jeremy Stewart and TJ Barnaba led the Mustangs with eight tackles each.


CORTLAND CAPSULE: Senior tailback Dorian Myles rushed 15 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns and caught five passes for 94 yards and a score as Cortland opened its home and NJAC schedules with a  72-14 blowout over Western Connecticut State. Myles turned a screen pass into a 66-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to give Cortland a 21-0 lead. He ran 75 yard for a score later in the quarter and added a 16-yard run early in the third period to extend the Red Dragons' advantage to 34-7.

Sophomore tailback Bronson Greene ran for three touchdowns among his eight carries. Senior quarterback Chris Rose completed 21-of-28 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown and ran for a 28-yard score. Junior tailback Justin Autera added a TD run and sophomore quarterback Tyler Augliano completed his only pass attempt for a 23-yard TD to senior tight end Rob Von Bargen. The play was Augliano's first collegiate pass as well as Von Bargen's first collegiate touchdown.

Cortland outgained the Colonials 595-301 in total offense, including 339 rushing yards (8.7 per attempt). Freshman safety Andre Green led the defense with nine tackles and junior linebacker Michael McCarthy finished with a sack and an interception.

Through two games, Rose has a solid 143.0 passing efficiency rating (a rating that would rank fifth in school history for a single season). He has completed 44-of-65 passes (67.7 percent) for 529 yards and five touchdowns. Myles averages 117.5 rushing yards per game and senior Mike Humphrey has 13 receptions for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Green has led the Red Dragons in tackles each game thus far and has 19 total, 14 solo. McCarthy ranks second with 13 tackles and first with two sacks.

Junior Mike DeBole has handled both the placekicking and punting duties to date. He's 2-for-2 on field goal attempts (long of 32 yards) and 10-of-11 on point-after kicks. He averages 36.6 yards per punt with three of his seven kicks “inside the 20” with no touchbacks. Junior Nick Daley has performed all 18 of Cortland's kickoffs. He's averaging 58.7 yards per kick with four touchbacks.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 16th season with the Red Dragons. His official overall record of 100-55 (.645) makes him the second head coach in school history to reach the 100-win mark. MacNeill ranks 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...MORRISVILLE ST. COLLEGE: Morrisville's 0-3 start is deceiving as two of the three losses were very close affairs. The Mustangs lost their season opener at home Sept. 1 versus Wilkes, 9-7, after leading 7-0 early on a Tyler Dunworth touchdown carry. The Colonels, however, made three field goals, the last with 1:25 remaining.

Last week, Morrisville opened NJAC play with a 7-0 loss at Montclair State. The Red Hawks scored the game's only points on a first-quarter TD run and only outgained the Mustangs 203-193 in total offense. Mychael Hardamo completed 7-of-21 passes for 131 yards but was picked off three times. AJ Latta caught three passes for 104 yards and Jeremy Stewart made a game-high 10 tackles.

For the season, Hardamo is 15-of-45 passing for 217 yards and Jory Tanner is 14-of-24 through the air for 142 yards. Maurice Betton is the team's top receiver with 14 catches for 124 yards. Travis French has made a team-best 22 tackles, 17 solo, with five stops for lost yardage. He's also the team leader with two sacks. Austin Erlwein has two interceptions.

Head coach Terry Dow is in his 16th season as Morrisville's head coach. His overall record of 67-88 (.432) includes a 57-36 record, three conference and two regional titles in nine junior college seasons. The Mustangs have faced Division III varsity competition since 2006 and joined the NJAC in 2008. Morrisville became an active NCAA Div. III member in 2009.


NOTEBOOK:

* Cortland's 72 points last week vs. Western Connecticut marks the fifth time in school history the Red Dragons have scored at least 70 points in a game. The school record of 73 points has occurred twice – versus Brockport in 1969 and versus New Jersey City in 1999. Cortland scored 71 points against St. John Fisher in 1991 and 71 points against Morrisville St. in 2007. All five 70-point games have happened at home.

* The Red Dragons have four sacks through two games this fall. 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's Weekly Award Winners (game date/opponent in parentheses)

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.)

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.)

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

5th, Scoring Offense, 51.5 pts./game
10th, Kickoff Returns, 29.3 yds./return
14th, Total Offense, 508.5 yds./game
28th, Rushing Offense, 232.5 yds./game
35th, Net Punting, 36.3 yds./punt
38th, Passing Offense, 276.0 yds./game

Mike DeBole, tied 19th, Field Goals, 1.0/game
Mike Humphrey, tied 26th, Receiving Yards, 101.5 yds./game
Dorian Myles, 29th, All-Purpose Yards, 163.0 yds./game
Dorian Myles, 33rd, Rushing, 117.5 yds./game
Justin Autera, tied 33rd, Kickoff Returns, 27.2 yds./return

(NOTE: Morrisville St. does not rank in the top 40 in any team or individual category the NCAA is currently tracking.)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (1-1, 1-0 NJAC)

Sept. 1      at Buffalo St.                             L 31-49
Sept. 15    * WESTERN CONN. ST.               W 72-14
Sept. 22    * at Morrisville St.                      7:00
Sept. 29    * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)                1:00
Oct. 6        * at The College of New Jersey   12:00
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


MORRISVILLE ST. (0-3, 0-1 NJAC)

Sept. 1                  WILKES (PA)                                L 7-9
Sept. 8                  at Hartwick                                   L 7-36
Sept. 15                  * at Montclair St. (NJ)                  L 0-7
Sept. 22                  * CORTLAND                               7:00
Sept. 29                  * KEAN (NJ)                                12:00
Oct. 13                  * at Western Connecticut St.          12:00
Oct. 20                  * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)             12:00
Oct. 27                  * at Rowan (NJ)                             1:30
Nov. 3                  * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY      12:00
Nov. 10                  * at Brockport                             1:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. MORRISVILLE ST. – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 7-0)

Year            Winner                   Score            Site
1930            Cortland                  12-0               ???
2006            Cortland                  52-14             Morrisville
2007            Cortland                  71-7               Cortland
2008            Cortland                  51-37             Morrisville
2009            Cortland                  26-17             Cortland
2010            Cortland                  42-6               Morrisville
2011            Cortland                  55-14             Cortland