CORTLAND, N.Y. - Christian Colasurdo's 32-yard field on the game's final play completed a Susquehanna comeback from a 14-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining and the nationally 22nd-ranked River Hawks stunned 10th-ranked Cortland, 38-35, at Cortland's Grady Field. Susquehanna improved to 3-0 with the victory while Cortland fell to 2-1.
The comeback overshadowed strong performances from Cortland quarterback
Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) and wide receivers
JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) and
Cole Burgess (Greenwich). Boyes completed 11-of-17 passes for 397 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns. Laap caught five passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns and Burgess finished with three catches for 129 yards and two scores.Â
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Susquehanna quarterback Josh Ehrlich led the way for the River Hawks, rushing 19 times for 162 yards and a touchdown and completing 16-of-22 passes for 227 yards and three scores. Kyle Howes finished with nine receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown and Tommy Grabowski ran for 100 yards and a score on 25 carries.Â
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Jack Winey (Lindenhurst) led Cortland's defense with 18 tackles, seven solo, and
Matt Lotter (Fredonia) made 11 stops.
Jaden Martinez (Comsewogue) added eight tackles and
Will Ruckert (Lindenhurst) intercepted a pass. Susquehanna's Garrett Carter ended with nine tackles and Josh Buck and Cameron Noble made six tackles each.Â
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Trailing 35-21, Susquehanna started a drive at the Cortland 44-yard line with 5:22 remaining. The River Hawks scored on three plays - a 30-yard Ehrlich run, a 2-yard Grabowski rush and a 12-yard TD pass from Ehrlich to Rowen Hershey. Susuqehanna then forced Cortland into a three-and-out and a short punt and got the ball back at the Cortland 36-yard line with 2:20 left. Ehrlich ran for 21 yards to the 15-yard line, then threw a 15-yard TD pass to Howes for the tying score with 1:39 left.Â
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Susquehanna kicked off from its own 20-yard line due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the touchdown. Cortland returned the kickoff to its 31-yard line but Brennan Miller forced a fumble on the play that Dominic Winn recovered. After three rushes that milked most of the remaining time, Susquehanna and Cortland each called a timeout with two seconds left. Colasurdo followed with the game-winning field goal.Â
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The guests opened the game with a 75-yard TD drive, capped by a 12-yard pass from Ehrlich to Eddie Nugent, to take a 7-0 lead. Cortland answered quickly when Boyes hit Laap on an 80-yard TD bomb on the first play of the next series. The Red Dragons went up 14-7 on
Ashton Capone's (Saratoga Springs) 12-yard TD catch from Boyes with 19 seconds left in the first.Â
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Susquehanna's ensuing 75-yard drive ended with a Grabowski 3-yard TD run early in the second to tie the game at 14-14. Boyes and Laap connected for an 89-yard TD pass with 4:56 left before the half to give the hosts a 21-14 halftime lead. Burgess caught TD passes of 58 and 33 yards in the third quarter, sandwiched around an Ehrlich 14-yard TD run, to put Cortland up 35-21 after three quarters.Â
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Cortland held a slight 495-484 advantage in total offense. The Red Dragons led in passing yards, 397-227, but Susquehanna ran for 257 yards to Cortland's 98.
Jaden AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) accounted for most of that rushing total for Cortland with 83 yards on 17 carries. Susquehanna ran 73 plays from scrimmage to Cortland's 44 and held a 37:51-22:09 advantage in time of possession.
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