Biography
2024: Zac earned first team AFCA All-America honors and was a third team D3football.com All-American...Finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy (Division III Player of the Year award)...Selected as the D3football.com Region 2 Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight year and was a first D3football.com All-Region 2 selection...Repeated as the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year and a first team All-Empire 8 honoree...Set program career records for pass completions (657), pass attempts (957), consecutive pass attempts without an interception (291), and 300-yard passing games (12)...Extended career school records for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,785), passing yards (10,028), and touchdown passes (101)...Started all 12 games during the season for the Red Dragons...Finished the season 204-for-305 (66.9%) with 2,957 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and just three interceptions...Added 105 rushing attempts for 509 yards (4.8 YPA) and seven scores...Threw for over 200 yards in a game seven times and surpassed 300 yards in a game four times...Went 33-for-52 for 414 yards and two touchdowns, and carried 13 times for 54 yards, in a road win over Brockport...Was 20-for-25 (80.0%) for 373 yards and four touchdowns, and added one rushing score, in a home victory over St. John Fisher...Passed 18-for-19 (94.7%) for 340 yards and three scores in a home victory over Lycoming...Finished 20-for-28 (71.4%) with 298 yards and four touchdowns in a road win at Alfred...Rushed 15 times for 132 yards and a touchdown, and added one passing touchdown in a win over Ithaca in the 65th Cortaca Jug Game...Completed 18-of-22 passes (81.8%) for 291 yards and four touchdowns in a home victory over Hartwick...Registered 229 passing yards and three touchdowns, and added 41 yards and one touchdown on the ground, in a home victory over Morrisville...Threw for 182 yards and rushed for 97 yards and two scores in a road win over Susquehanna...Completed 10-of-12 attempts (83.3%) for 131 yards and three touchdowns, and carried three times for 51 yards, in a road win at Hilbert...Team captain for the third straight year...Named the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week three times during the season, on Sep. 17, Oct. 29, and Nov. 13...A 2024 D3football.com first team preseason All-American.
2023: Associated Press Division III first team and D3football.com third team All-American...D3football.com Region 2 Offensive Player of the Year...Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year...Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist (Division III Player of the Year award)...Five-time Empire 8 Offensive or Co-Offensive Player of the Week...Two-time D3football.com National Team of the Week...Completed 271-of-375 passes (72.3 percent) for 4,020 yards and 44 TDs with just five interceptions and ran 144 times for 774 yards and eight TDs in 15 games...Set school single-season records for pass completions, passing yards (NCAA Division III leader), passing TDs, passing efficiency rating (198.4) and total offensive yards (4,794)...Broke school career records for passing yards (7,071), passing TDs (73), total offensive yards (8,347) and rushing yards by a quarterback (1,276)...Also set school records for consecutive pass attempts without an interception (194) and consecutive games with a TD pass (16, spanning 2022 and 2023)...MVP of the NCAA Division III Championship Game (Stagg Bowl) after completing 26-of-34 passes for 349 yards and five TDs and rushing 16 times for 123 yards in Cortland’s 38-37 win over top-ranked North Central...Only second player in school history to pass for 300 yards and run for 100 yards in the same game...Was 24-of-33 passing for 400 yards and five TDs in NCAA quarterfinals at Alma...Passed for 397 yards and five TDs and set school-single game passing efficiency record (357.9) versus Susquehanna...Tied school single-game record with five TD passes three times (North Central, Alma, Susquehanna)...Recorded five of his eight career 300-yard passing games during the season.
2022: Earned first team All-ECAC and All-Empire 8 and third team D3football.com all-region honors...Started all 11 games...Completed 166-of-245 passes (67.8 percent) for 2,826 yards and 28 TDs...Set a then single-season program record with a 194.2 pass-efficiency rating...Rushed for 376 yards on 71 carries with two TDs...Threw for a school-record 543 yards with four TDs on 22-of-30 passing with a long of 90 yards and rushed four times for 38 yards in a home win versus Wittenberg...Connected on 14-of-19 passes for 383 yards and four TDs with a long of 81 yards in a home victory versus St. John Fisher...Threw for 318 yards with three TDs on 22-of-31 passing at Randolph-Macon in the first round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs...Completed 14-of-25 passes for 292 yards and three TDs and ran for a TD in a home win versus Hartwick...Passed for 117 yards and a TD and rushed 107 yards on 15 carries against Ithaca at Yankee Stadium.
2021: Saw the field in seven games...Completed 16-of-32 passes for 225 yards and one TD...Rushed for 126 yards and three TDs on 19 carries...Completed 4-of-5 passes for 98 yards and rushed three times for 19 yards in a home win versus Buffalo State.
2020: Member of the program but the season was canceled.
High School: A 2020 graduate of Kenmore West...Member of the Dean’s List, SAAC and the National Honor Society...Two-year starter in football...Class A1 Player of the Year as a senior...Class A1 Character Player of the Year as a junior...Earned first team all-league and third team all-state honors...Set seven school records...Three-year starter in basketball...Named second team all-league twice...Set three school records...Three-year member of the baseball team, two as a starter...Second team all-league and All-WNY selection...Team won sectional title...Played golf for two years...State qualifier.
Other: Selected as the C-Club Senior Male Athlete of the Year for 2024-25...Red Letter Award winner in 2024-25 for football at the C-Club Athletic Awards Ceremony...Named to the 2022 Empire 8 President’s List.
Parents: Sue and Jerry Boyes...Father was a football All-America quarterback at Ithaca and earned a tryout with the Cleveland Browns...Served as head football coach at Buffalo State from 1986-2000 and 2009-18...Siblings: Kris, Katie...Kris played golf at St. Bonaventure...Katie is a 2008 Cortland graduate.
