SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (3-3, 3-1 NJAC) vs. The College of New Jersey Lions (4-2, 3-0 NJAC)
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013; 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
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THE MATCHUP: Cortland looks to take over the top spot in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) standings as it hosts league leader The College of New Jersey. The Lions come to Cortland with a 3-0 NJAC record (4-2 overall), a half game ahead of Cortland's 3-1 league mark (3-3 overall). Three other teams – Rowan, Brockport and Morrisville – are currently 2-1 in NJAC play.
THE SERIES: Cortland and TCNJ are playing for the 23rd time, including every year since 2000 when the Red Dragons joined the NJAC. Cortland leads the series 15-7 and has not lost to the Lions since falling 30-0 on the road in 2007 to the eventual NJAC champions. The following year, Cortland clinched the NJAC crown with a 24-18 victory at TCNJ.
Cortland and TCNJ have faced each other every year since 1997, except for the 1999 season. The 1997 season featured two meetings – a 43-22 Cortland win during the regular season and a 34-30 TCNJ win in the NCAA tournament first round, both in Cortland. Prior to 1997, the teams had not met since 1967. Cortland won games in 1933 and 1934 versus then-New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School and four straight games from 1964-67 against then-Trenton State College.
Last season, Cortland scored three straight touchdowns in the second half to break open a tie game and the Red Dragons won, 42-28, at TCNJ. Chris Rose completed 26-of-40 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns – one each to Jack Delahunty, Mike Humphrey, Kordel McInnis and Dorian Myles. Delahunty finished with a career-high 10 receptions for 150 yards. Troy Beddoe led the defense with 14 tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup and Andrew Tolosi made eight stops and returned an interception 32 yards for a TD.
For TCNJ, Daniel Dugan completed 25-of-41 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown. Fred Sprengel caught seven passes for 109 yards and a score and Justin Donoloski ran for 90 yards and two scores on 21 carries. Greg Burns paced the Lions with 14 tackles and a forced fumble. Nick Bricker and James Siracusa made 10 stops apiece.
CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland fell last weekend at Brockport, 49-32, for its first NJAC loss of the season. The Red Dragons led 17-7 early in the second quarter before the Golden Eagles scored the final 21 points of the half. Cortland closed back to within three at 28-25 at the end of the third quarter, but the hosts went on another 21-point run to start the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
The Red Dragons opened the game with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Justin Autera covered the first 13 yards, then handed off to Dylan Peebles, who ran the final 85 yards for the score. A Nick Daley 39-yard field goal and an Autera 2-yard TD run gave Cortland its 17-7 lead. Cortland's other scores came on a Tyler Hughes 2-yard TD run in the third and a 43-yard pass from Hughes to John Babin in the game's final minute. Babin became Cortland's career TD reception leader with 24 scoring grabs
Hughes completed 8-of-18 passes for 104 yards and rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries. Babin caught six passes for 82 yards. Tristan Laurore made 12 tackles, nine solo, and Gabe Ostrow had nine tackles. Cortland forced five turnovers in the game, including four interceptions – two by Ke'shaun Stallworth and one each by Joe DeLuca and Troy Beddoe.
Hughes and Tyler Augliano have shared time at quarterback this season, although Augliano was injured late in the first half at Brockport and did not play in the second half. Hughes has rushed for 77.4 yards per game with five touchdowns and is 35-of-64 passing (54.7 percent) for 317 yards and two scores. Augliano is 63-of-125 passing (50.4 percent) for 960 yards and nine touchdowns. Babin has caught 35 passes for 645 yards and seven scores.
Laurore is the team leader with 57 tackles, 9.5 for losses, through six games. Stallworth has team-high totals of three interceptions and seven pass breakups. Jesse Scanna and Joe Kirchner share the team lead with 5.5 sacks each. Daley is 19-of-19 on point-after kicks and 5-of-5 on field-goal attempts. He has also recently taken over the team punting duties and averages 37.9 yards per punt.
Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 17th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 111-59 (.653) ranks him first at Cortland in career victories and winning percentage. He won NJAC Coach of the Year honors in both 2008 and 2012, and was also 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 five NCAA playoff appearances (1997, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012) and six ECAC bowl games. His teams have finished at least tied for first in the NJAC six times (2005-08, 2010, 2012), including outright NJAC titles in 2008 and 2012. 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 of NEW JERSEY: After opening the season with two losses, TCNJ has rattled off four straight wins – the last three in NJAC play. The Lions won 21-16 versus Montclair State, followed by a 7-0 victory at Kean and last weekend's 21-20 home win over Morrisville. TCNJ trailed 20-14 last week before scoring the winning TD on a 30-yard pass from Chris Spellman to Fred Sprengel with 10:09 remaining. Jeff Adubato made what proved to be a crucial special teams play in the third quarter when he blocked an extra point after the Mustangs had taken a 20-14 lead.
Spellman finished 11-of-22 passing for 190 yards and three scores. Ryan Baranowsky caught a 27-yard TD pass and Jeff Mattonelli made a 51-yard TD catch, both in the second quarter. Four TCNJ players finished with double-figure tackles, led by Nick Bricker's 19 stops. Ryan Lowe recorded 15 tackles, Matthew Fleck had 12 and Erik Trost ended with 11.
For the season, Spellman is 41-of-99 passing (41.4 percent) for 566 yards and five touchdowns with nine interceptions. Victor Scalici averages 66.3 rushing yards per game and has scored a team-best four touchdowns. Kyle Janeczek has made 15 catches for 176 yards and two TDs in five games and Sprengel has 13 catches for 162 yards and a score.
The TCNJ defense is allowing only 14 points and 274.2 yards of total offense per game. Bricker, who earned NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honors last week, is the team leader with 67 tackles. Lowe has a total of 56 tackles, four pass breakups and one interception. Patrick Kimball paces the squad with seven sacks and 12 total tackles for loss.
Wayne Dickens is in his first season as the Lions' head coach. He came to TCNJ from Kentucky State University, where he was the head football coach from 2009-12. Dickens has more than 40 years of coaching experience overall, with stints at the Division I and Division II levels as well as in the Canadian Football League (CFL). His coaching stops include the University of Washington, the University of San Diego, Morehouse College, Norfolk State University, and the CFL's B.C. Lions and Hamilton Tiger Cats, in addition to Kentucky State. Dickens is an Orange, N.J., native and graduated from Rutgers in 1973.
NOTEBOOK:
* Since the start of the season, eight Cortland players who have appeared in at least one game have suffered what are believed to be season-ending injuries. Out for the season are senior punter Mike DeBole, junior wide receiver Jack Delahunty, sophomore free safety Andre Green, freshman offensive tackle Dan Lictus, sophomore wide receiver Jon Mannix, junior linebacker Michael McCarthy, sophomore long snapper John Sadallah and sophomore wide receiver DJ Spencer. It is hoped that DeBole, Delahunty, Lictus, Mannix, McCarthy and Sadallah will qualify for medical hardship waivers to re-gain a season of eligibility since each played in three games or less.
* Cortland has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns to mark the first time the Red Dragons have scored twice on kickoff returns in one season since complete offensive stats were first tracked at the College in 1963. Both scoring returns this year have come on similar plays. At home against William Paterson, Justin Autera returned the ball eight yards before handing to Andre Green, who covered the final 85 yards for an overall 93-yard return. Last week at Brockport, Autera took the opening kickoff 13 yards and Dylan Peebles ran the final 85 yards for a 98-yard return.
* Cortland's defense has recorded 23 sacks and 59 total tackles for losses through six games this season. The Red Dragons rank fifth nationally in Div. III in tackles for loss per game (9.8) and ninth nationally in sacks per game (3.8). Cortland finished with 23 total sacks in 11 games last season, ending a streak of 11 straight years with 30 or more sacks. The school record for sacks in a season is 52 in 2005 (sacks have been officially tracked at Cortland since 1982).
* John Babin broke the school record for career TD receptions with 24 in just 22 games played. He set the mark on a 43-yard catch with less than a minute remaining last week at Brockport. The previous school record of 23 was held by Eric Hajnos (2006-09) and Neal Heaton Jr. (2001-04). Babin currently ranks fifth at Cortland with 1,853 career receiving yards – just above him on the list are Brian Girardi in fourth place (1,961 from 1997-99) and Heaton in third place (2.065).
* John Babin has caught at least one TD pass in 13 of his last 14 games. His school-record streak of nine straight (last eight games of 2011, first game of 2013; DNP in 2012) was snapped at home versus William Paterson Sept. 21. Since then, he has caught at least one TD pass in four straight games (one at St. John Fisher; one vs. Kean; three at Montclair State; one at Brockport).
* Justin Autera ranks fifth at Cortland with 2,359 career rushing yards. The school record is 3,455 yards by Dave Cook from 1981-84, followed by Steve Davis' 2,826 yards from 2001-04, Gareth Grayson's 2,498 yards from 1986-88 and Andrew Giuliano's 2,434 yards from 2005-08 (Grayson's total does not include his postseason yardage, since per NCAA rule postseason games have only counted toward records since 2002).
* Justin Autera has scored 174 career points to rank seventh at Cortland in that category. Next on the list is Marc Corrado with 178 points from 2008-11 and Andrew Giuliano with 186 points from 2005-08. The leader is Dave Cook with 268 points from 1981-84.
* Cortland is in its 14th 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 is a new member in 2013 of 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. Southern Virginia University, located 464 miles from Cortland in Buena Vista, Va., will be joining the NJAC as a football affiliate member in the 2014 season. The Knights are currently a provisional NCAA Div. III member and competed as an independent member of the National Athletic Intercollegiate Association (NAIA) from 2003-11.
Cortland has finished at least tied for first in the NJAC six of the last eight years (2005-08, 2010, 2012). The Red Dragons were outright league champions in 2008 and 2012, and won a tiebreaker to earn the league's NCAA automatic bid in 2010.
* Cortland and TCNJ rank in the top 40 nationally in Division III in the following team and individual categories:
CORTLAND:
4th, Turnover Margin, +2.0/game
5th, Tackles for Loss, 9.8/game
9th, Sacks, 3.8/game
17th, Kickoff Returns, 25.3 yds./return
Andrew Tolosi, 10th, Forced Fumbles, 0.5/game
Ke'shaun Stallworth, 15th, Passes Defended (interceptions + breakups), 1.7/game
John Babin, 20th, Receiving Yards, 107.5 yds./game
Joe Kirchner, 23rd, Sacks, 1.1/game
Jesse Scanna, 34th, Fumbles Recovered, 0.3/game
Jesse Scanna, 38th, Tackles for Loss, 1.8/game
Jesse Scanna, 40th, Sacks, 0.9/game
TCNJ:
9th, Blocked Kicks, 5 blocks
16th, Red Zone Defense, 55.0 percent
21st, Total Defense, 274.2 yds./game
22nd, Scoring Defense, 14.0 pts./game
34th, Red Zone Offense, 85.7 percent
35th, Rushing Defense, 109.2 yds./game
38th, Passing Yards Allowed, 165.0 yds./game
Patrick Kimball, 17th, Sacks, 1.2/game
Nick Bricker, 28th, Tackles, 11.0/game
Nick Bricker, 37th, Solo Tackles, 6.5/game
Cortland's Weekly Award Winners (game date/opponent in parentheses)
John Babin, Jr., Wide Receiver
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 28 at St. John Fisher)
Nick Daley, Sr., Kicker
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 28 at St. John Fisher)
Mike DeBole, Sr., Punter
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
Andre Green, So., Safety
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 5 vs. Kean)
ECAC Southeast Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 5 vs. Kean)
Tyler Hughes, Jr., Quarterback
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
ECAC Southeast Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
Joe Kirchner, Sr., Defensive End
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
ECAC Southeast Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
Carson Lassiter, Fr., Cornerback
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 21 vs. William Paterson)
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 28 at St. John Fisher)
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 12 at Montclair St.)
Tristan Laurore, Fr., Linebacker
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 7 vs. Buffalo St.)
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 5 vs. Kean)
Andrew Tolosi, Jr., Safety
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 28 at St. John Fisher)
SCHEDULES/RESULTS:
CORTLAND (3-3, 3-1 NJAC)
Sept. 7 BUFFALO STATE L 28-41
Sept. 21 * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ) W 26-15
Sept. 28 at St. John Fisher L 25-33
Oct. 5 * KEAN (NJ) W 17-7
Oct. 12 * at Montclair St. (NJ) W 48-14
Oct. 19 * at Brockport L 32-49
Oct. 26 * COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY 1:00
Nov. 2 * at Rowan (NJ) 1:00
Nov. 9 * MORRISVILLE ST. 1:00
Nov. 16 at Ithaca 12:00
* NJAC game HOME GAMES IN CAPS
TCNJ (4-2, 3-0 NJAC)
Sept. 6 at Ursinus (PA) L 20-28
Sept. 13 FDU-FLORHAM (NJ) L 12-18
Sept. 28 SOUTHERN VIRGINIA W 7-2
Oct. 4 * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ) W 21-16
Oct. 11 * at Kean (NJ) W 7-0
Oct. 19 * MORRISVILLE ST. W 21-20
Oct. 26 * at Cortland 1:00
Nov. 2 * BROCKPORT 12:00
Nov. 9 * at William Paterson (NJ) 1:00
Nov. 15 * at Rowan (NJ) 7:00
* NJAC game HOME GAMES IN CAPS
CORTLAND vs. THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 15-7)
Year Winner Score Site
1933 Cortland 54-0 ???
1934 Cortland 29-0 ???
1964 Cortland 27-6 Cortland
1965 Cortland 7-6 TCNJ
1966 Cortland 27-10 TCNJ
1967 Cortland 40-0 Cortland
1997 Cortland 43-22 Cortland
1997 TCNJ 34-30 Cortland (NCAA 1st round)
1998 TCNJ 23-32 TCNJ
2000 Cortland 25-14 Cortland
2001 TCNJ 14-28 TCNJ
2002 TCNJ 41-38 (OT) Cortland
2003 TCNJ 21-14 TCNJ
2004 TCNJ 17-14 Cortland
2005 Cortland 30-14 TCNJ
2006 Cortland 26-14 Cortland
2007 TCNJ 30-0 TCNJ
2008 Cortland 24-18 TCNJ
2009 Cortland 30-7 Cortland
2010 Cortland 37-0 TCNJ
2011 Cortland 23-20 Cortland
2012 Cortland 42-28 TCNJ
(NOTE: TCNJ was knows as "New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School" when the teams played in 1933 and 1934. The school was Trenton State College from 1958 until changing its name to The College of New Jersey in 1996.)
