SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (2-1, 2-0 NJAC) vs. Montclair St. Red Hawks (2-2, 2-0 NJAC)
Saturday, Sept. 29, 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 hosts Montclair State University in a battle of two teams currently unbeaten in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play. The Red Dragons have recovered from a season-opening non-league loss at Buffalo State to win league games versus Western Connecticut and Morrisville, while the Red Hawks overcame two non-league losses and have defeated Morrisville and William Paterson in league action thus far.


THE SERIES: Cortland leads the overall series between the schools, 16-11-1. The home team has won each of the last four meetings, with the last two contests coming down to the final seconds.

In 2010 at Cortland, the Red Dragons 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. Montclair's Jake Delvento missed a potential game-winning field goal on the game's final play.

Last season, Delvento redeemed himself by hitting a 32-yard field goal with 1:16 remaining to lift the Red Hawks past the Red Dragons, 34-33. Cortland trailed 31-14 early in the third quarter, but rallied to tie the game on Pitcher TD passes to Humphrey and John Babin and a Marc Corrado 28-yard field goal. Cortland then took a 33-31 lead with 4:56 left when Connor Tompkins and Steve Gruber sacked Montclair quarterback Drew Cathey in the end zone for a safety. Cortland, however, was forced to punt on its ensuing possession and Montclair started its winning drive from its own 22-yard line with 3:05 left. The big play in the drive was a 41-yard pass from Cathey to Gerald Silvera on 3rd-and-4 that moved the ball to the Cortland 17-yard line.

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 enters the game ranked second nationally in Div. III in scoring offense at 53 points per game. The Red Dragons won their NJAC opener at home two weeks ago versus Western Connecticut State, 72-14, and defeated Morrisville last Saturday on the road, 56-14.

Senior tailback Dorian Myles ran 15 times for 161 yards and two scores and caught five passes for 94 yards and a touchdown against Western Connecticut. He followed that performance by rushing 14 times for 155 yards, including a 79-yard TD, at Morrisville. Myles is averaging 130 rushing yards per game and an impressive 10.3 yards per carry through three games this fall.

Cortland finished with 343 net rushing yards at Morrisville. Junior tailback Justin Autera ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns, sophomore tailback Bronson Greene added a rushing TD and sophomore backup quarterback Tyler Hughes ran 46 yards for a score. Senior quarterback Chris Rose threw a pair of first-half touchdowns of 24 and 33 yards to sophomore Kordel McInnis.

Cortland's defense created four turnovers against the Mustangs, all of which led to touchdowns. Senior linebacker Chris Bright stripped a Morrisville running back on the game's first play from scrimmage and ran 27 yards for a touchdown. He also intercepted a pass inside Cortland's 20-yard line early in the third quarter and finished with eight tackles. Freshman safety Andre Green returned an interception 37 yards to the Morrisville 20-yard line on the Mustangs' second possession to set up Rose's first TD pass to McInnis. Senior cornerback Pete Furey also intercepted a pass in the second quarter, and on the next play Myles ran for his 79-yard touchdown.

Rose has completed 52-of-80 passes (65 percent) for 646 yards and seven touchdowns in three games. McInnis and senior Mike Humphrey lead the team with 14 receptions each. Green is the team's leader with 23 tackles and sophomore linebacker Michael McCarthy has 21 tackles and two sacks.

Junior kicker Mike DeBole has made 17-of-18 point-after kicks and both of his field goal tries. He's also averaging 36.9 yards per punt with six of his 13 punts pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 16th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 101-55 (.647) 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...MONTCLAIR ST. UNIVERSITY: Junior running back A.J. Scoppa rushed for 247 yards and four touchdowns as Montclair defeated host William Paterson, 34-17, last Saturday. The NJAC Offensive Player of the Week, Scoppa averaged 8.2 yards per carry on 30 attempts and scored on a 15-yard run, a 31-yard run and a pair of 1-yard carries. The Red Hawks scored 34 straight points to erase a 10-0 first-quarter deficit.

Junior linebacker Dan Avento led the Red Hawks with nine tackles, 1.5 for lost yardage, and sophomore cornerback C.J. Conway made seven tackles and broke up two passes.

Scoppa currently ranks seventh nationally and first in the NJAC with 152.3 rushing yards per game and leads the conference with nine points per game. Senior quarterback Drew Cathey has connected on 55-of-97 passes (56.7 percent) for 627 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Bryan Ogden has caught 20 passes for 231 yards and a score. Avento paces the defense with 41 tackles and junior safety Matt Mancino has picked off three passes.

Rick Giancola is in his 30th season as Montclair's head coach. His current record is 211-93-2 (.693), including a 139-42-1 mark (.766) 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) in 2010. 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 2009 and 2010. 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:

* Cortland's coaching staff will participate for the fifth year in a row in the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) “Coach to Cure MD” charitable project. Coaches will be wearing “Coach to Cure MD” logo patches during the game to show their support for the program, which looks to fight Duchenne (pronounced Doo-SHEEN) Muscular Dystrophy. Fans can donate to muscular dystrophy research either online at www.CoachToCureMD.org or by texting the word “CURE” to 90999 to automatically donate $5 from their mobile phones (standard text message rates apply).

* Cortland has earned two weekly NJAC honors each of the past two weeks. Dorian Myles was named NJAC Offensvie Player of the Week and Matt Deiana was chosen as NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week for their efforts versus Western Connecticut State. This past week, Chris Bright was chosen as the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week and Andre Green earned NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week honors.

* Cortland's 159 total points is its highest three-game start to a season since 1991. That season, the Red Dragons scored a combined 169 points in wins over St. John Fisher (71-0), Wilkes (67-6) and Mansfield (31-17) on its way to an 8-3 campaign.

* The Red Dragons have five sacks through three 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)

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

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.)


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

CORTLAND:

2nd, Scoring Offense, 53.0 pts./game
13th, Total Offense, 493.7 yds./game
21st, Rushing Offense, 269.3 yds./game
23rd, Kickoff Returns, 26.7 yds./return

Dorian Myles, 18th, Rushing, 130.0 yds./game
Dorian Myles, tied 27th, All-Purpose Running, 165.7 yds./game
Justin Autera, tied 34th, Kickoff Returns, 28.2 yds./return

MONTCLAIR:

33rd, Pass Efficiency Defense, 98.5 rating against
40th, Scoring Defense, 16.0 pts./game

A.J. Scoppa, 7th, Rushing, 152.3 yds./game
A.J. Scoppa, 21st, All-Purpose Running, 174.8 yds./game
Matt Mancino, tied 37th, Interceptions, 0.8/game


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (2-1, 2-0 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)                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


MONTCLAIR ST. (2-2, 2-0 NJAC)

Sept. 1     LEBANON VALLEY (PA)                  L 21-31
Sept. 8     at Salve Regina (RI)                      L 7-16
Sept. 15   * MORRISVILLE ST.                      W 7-0
Sept. 22   * at William Paterson (NJ)            W 34-17
Sept. 29   * at Cortland                               1:00
Oct. 6       * ROWAN (NJ)                              1:00
Oct. 13     * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY    3:00
Oct. 27     * at Western Connecticut St.         1:00
Nov. 3      * BROCKPORT                              1:00
Nov. 10    * at Kean (NJ)                              1:00

* NJAC game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CORTLAND vs. MONTCLAIR ST. – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 16-11-1)

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
2011                  Montclair                 34-33           Montclair