SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (0-0) vs. Grove City Wolverines (0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026; Noon; Robert E. Thorn Field; Grove City, PA

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THE MATCHUP: The Cortland football team, ranked 23rd nationally by D3football.com and 25th by the AFCA, opens its season with a road game at Grove City College in a matchup of two NCAA qualifiers from last season. Cortland earned an NCAA automatic berth after winning the Empire 8 title, while Grove City was an at-large selection after finishing as the runner-up in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
 
THE SERIES: Cortland and Grove City have met twice previously. Cortland edged the Wolverines, 25-24, in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Division III playoffs in Cortland. The win was one of two 1-point victories by the Red Dragons during their national championship run. Last season, Grove City outscored Cortland 17-0 in the second half to break a halftime tie and defeat the Red Dragons, 31-14, at Cortland.
 
Grove City's defense recorded seven takeaways in the win with six interceptions and a fumble recovery. Ryan Montgomery and Noah Wheeler each intercepted two passes, with Wheeler returning one for a score. Cortland lost despite holding a 257-253 advantage in total offensive yards. Cortland quarterback Mike Rescigno ran for both of the Red Dragons' touchdowns, Alessandro  DeRosa totaled 10 tackles and Aden  Wiser had 2.5 sacks.
 
CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland finished the 2025 season with an 8-3 record, including its fifth straight Empire 8 title with a 7-0 mark. The Red Dragons went 8-2 in the regular season before losing at Springfield in the NCAA first round.
 
Mike Rescigno set a Cortland school record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season, carrying the ball for 1,068 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also passed for 1,728 yards and 22 touchdowns, and he was one of only three Division III quarterbacks last season to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards (the two were Kaleb Blaha of national champion Wisconsin-River Falls with 1,218 rushing and 4,971 passing, and Brett Nabb of Eastern University with 1,347 rushing and 1,299 passing). Ethan Gallo ran for 625 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall, and he enters his senior year with career rushing totals of 1,871 yards and 34 touchdowns.
 
Cortland's top four receivers are back, each of whom caught between 26 and 30 passes. Joe Iadevaio finished with 30 catches for 314 yards and six touchdowns, Jayson Zeva had 29 receptions for 298 yards and three scores, Sam Cotton registered 28 catches for 466 yards and four touchdowns, and Jacque LaPrarie finished with 26 catches and team highs of 570 yards and seven touchdowns. Right tackle Kevin Whalen is the lone returning starter on the Cortland offensive line. Left tackle Tyler DeRue saw action in six games last season, center Nate Parsons played in four games, left guard Ryan Shannon appeared in one game, and right guard Andrew Dabulewicz played in all 11 games, primarily in special teams situations.
 
Cornerback Nazair Jean-Lubin returns for his fourth year as a starter. He finished last season with four interceptions, 11 pass breakups and 32 tackles. Linebacker Aidan Lochner was the team leader last fall with 71 tackles and three fumble recoveries, and he also intercepted two passes and broke up five others. Safety Anthony Luciano was second on the squad with 55 tackles, and defensive end George Gjelaj had 40 tackles, including 3.5 sacks and seven total tackles for loss.
 
Defensive tackle Joe Russo played in all 11 games, nine as a starter, as a freshman and recorded 24 tackles. Linebacker Memphis Ferguson played in 11 games with three starts and totaled 31 tackles and two forced fumbles, and safety Sonny Mayo played in 11 games, two as a starter, and totaled 31 tackles and three pass breakups. Linebacker Joe Galea appeared in all games last season and finished with 17 tackles, including four in the NCAA first round at Springfield.

Also expected to start on defense are defensive tackle Jayden Robles, who started in two of his nine games last fall, linebacker/defensive back Chris Carter Jr., who played four games, and cornerback Shane Patterson, who played in two games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. Patterson has played in 30 games over the past four years, including 11 each in 2022 and 2024.
 
Cole Callard and Gavin Dandrea started at kicker and punter, respectively, during their freshman seasons in 2025. Callard made all 52 of his PAT kicks - the best perfect PAT season in school history - and made 6-of-12 field goals, including 5-of-6 from 30-39 yards. Dandrea averaged 38 yards on 33 punts with 12 inside the 20-yard line and no touchbacks. Ravi Dass Jr. averaged 23.7 yards per punt return last season, which would have ranked first nationally in Division III but his 10 returns in nine games (1.1/game) was just shy of the NCAA minimum of 1.2 per game necessary to be ranked.
 
Jean-Lubin was a first team D3football.com and third team Associated Press All-American last season. Cortland returns 11 All-Empire 8 selections - first teamers Whalen, Gjelaj, Lochner and Jean-Lubin, second teamers Rescigno, Gallo, Cotton, LaPrarie, Luciano and Callard, and third teamer Dass Jr. (Cotton also was a third team all-purpose honoree in addition to his second team receiver honor).
 
Tom Blumenauer is in his second season as Cortland's head coach. He and his assistants were named the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2025. Blumenauer came to Cortland from Franklin & Marshall, where he led the program to a combined 21-11 record, including an 11-8 mark in the competitive Centennial Conference, from 2022-24. The Diplomats won postseason bowl games versus Delaware Valley in 2024 and King's (Pa.) in 2023. Prior to F&M, "Coach Blu" served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Williams College for six years from 2016-21, and his prior coaching stops include Bowdoin in 2015, Endicott in 2014 and St. Lawrence from 2010-13.
 
A 2007 Ithaca College graduate, Blumenauer played outside linebacker and free safety for the Bombers for two seasons from 2005-06. He was a two-time All-Empire 8 selection and was named to the 2006 Football Gazette All-East Region team. He's a native of Brentwood, N.Y., and was a football and wrestling standout at Brentwood High School.
 
A LOOK AT...GROVE CITY COLLEGE:  Grove City returns 13 starters from last season's team that finished 8-3 overall and made the program's third straight NCAA appearance. On offense, starting linemen Jed Feldmeier, Gabe Hilty and Zeke Swift are back, while Bobby Benton started the first half of his junior year before being injured. Three starting wide receivers are back. Three-year starter Daniel Sullivan caught six TD passes last year and finished with 31 catches for 320 yards. Seth McGroerty ended with 32 receptions for 544 yards and Sam Penna caught 21 passes for 299 yards. Running back Chase Rankin ran for 753 yards and six touchdowns a season ago. Sophomore Mike Hollomon is likely to take over as Grove City's quarterback after being third in line last season, completing 9-of-17 passes.
 
On defense, All-American Noah Wheeler returns at cornerback after picking off four passes, returning two for scores, a year ago. Safety Ryan Montgomery finished with 48 tackles and two interceptions, and safety Mason Clouse had three interceptions, 10 pass breakups and 34 tackles. Defensive end Dave Cowher returns after earning honorable mention all-league honors last year. All-conference kicker Brady Lane returns after making 36-of-37 PAT kicks and four field goals last year. He also averagd 36.3 yards per punt.
 
Andrew DiDonato is in his 11th season as Grove City's head coach. He enters the game with an overall record of 67-35 (.657), including a 63-19 record since the 2018 season. He was named the PAC Coach of the Year in both 2018 and 2023. DiDonato has led the Wolverines to the NCAA playoffs each of the last three seasons along with a 4-0 record in ECAC bowl games (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022). He is a 2010 Grove City alumnus, where he started 40 games at quarterback for the Wolverines from 2006-09. He also lettered in basketball as a senior and helped the team win a league title and qualify for the NCAA playoffs.

NOTEBOOK:
 
* Cortland's 2026 team captains are senior wide receivers Joe Iadevaio and Jayson Zeva, senior safety Anthony Luciano, senior linebacker Aidan Lochner and junior quarterback Mike Rescigno. Iadevaio is a captain for the second straight year.
 
* Cortland had a streak of nine straight opening-day wins snapped with its loss to Grove City last fall. Of Cortland's last 10 openers, nine have come versus teams from outside of New York, In 2024, the Red Dragons set a school single-game scoring record in a 76-0 win at Hilbert. Cortland's other season openers since 2015 include wins versus Heidelberg in 2015 and 2016, Augustana (Ill.) in 2017, Fitchburg State in 2018 and 2019, Wittenberg in 2021 and 2022, and Delaware Valley in 2023.
 
* Cortland opens the season with two road games - at Grove City this week and at Union next Saturday. Both are return games after hosting those schools in 2025. Only once since 2009 has Cortland started the season with two road trips - the 2021 squad played games at Wittenberg and The College of New Jersey to begin a 10-0 regular season.
 
* Cortland has a 33-game Empire 8 winning streak dating back to late in the 2019 season. The Red Dragons have been a member of the Empire 8 since 2015. The Red Dragons won the outright league title and NCAA automatic bid in 2021 (6-0), 2022 (6-0), 2023 (6-0), 2024 (7-0) and 2025 (7-0) and were co-champions in both 2015 and 2019, earning an NCAA bid in 2015. Cortland also finished second or tied for second in the league in 2017 and 2018. Cortland previously competed in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) for 15 seasons from 2000-14 and finished in at least a tie for first place six times. Three current Empire 8 members - Cortland, Morrisville and Brockport - at one point played in the NJAC. Cortland, Morrisville and Alfred State are affiliate members of the E8 in football only. Brockport moved from affiliate to full-time status in the league in 2024. Alfred, Hartwick, St. John Fisher and Utica also are full conference members.
 
* Cortland is 6-5 all-time in overtime games, with the last a 32-26 home loss to Brockport in 2019. All 11 games were decided in the first extra session.
 
* Ravi Dass Jr. has returned four punts for touchdowns in three seasons as a Red Dragon. He returned a punt 76 yards for score in a home win over Brockport last season that clinched Cortland's Empire 8 title. He holds the school record with an 83-yard punt return TD in a win at Randolph-Macon as a freshman in the 2023 NCAA semifinals. His other punt return TDs came at home versus Alfred University in 2023 and at Hilbert in 2024.

SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (0-0)
 
Sept. 5            at Grove City (PA)................................. 12:00
Sept. 12          at Union................................................. 12:00
Sept. 19          * HARTWICK......................................... 12:00
Sept. 26         * MORRISVILLE...................................... 1:00
Oct. 3             * at Utica.................................................. 1:00
Oct. 17            * at Alfred Univ. .................................... 12:00
Oct. 24           * ST. JOHN FISHER................................ 1:00
Oct. 31            * ALFRED ST. ....................................... 1:00
Nov. 7            * at Brockport.......................................... 12:00
Nov. 14           Ithaca (Yankee Stadium)........................ 1:00
 
* Empire 8 game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS
 
GROVE CITY (0-0)
 
Sept. 5            CORTLAND............................................. 12:00
Sept. 12          at Mount Union (OH)................................ 1:30
Sept. 26         at St. Francis (PA)................................... 1:00
Oct. 3             * BETHANY (WV)..................................... 6:00
Oct. 10           * at Westminster (PA)............................... 7:00
Oct. 17            * HIRAM (OH)......................................... 1:00
Oct. 24           * at Waynesburg (PA).............................. 12:00
Oct. 31            * at Washington & Jefferson (PA)............ 6:00
Nov. 7            * CASE WESTERN RESERVE (OH)....... 1:00
Nov. 14           * THIEL (PA)............................................. 1:00
 
* Presidents' Athletic Conference game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS
 
CORTLAND vs. GROVE CITY – SERIES HISTORY  (Series tied 1-1)
 
Year     Winner............... Score          Site
2023     Cortland............. 25-24           Cortland (NCAA Second Round)
2025     Grove City......... 31-14            Cortland




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