Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
ONEONTA, NY – A touchdown pass from Kyle Hoppy to Had Bryant with just 10.4 seconds remaining in the game lifted visiting Buffalo State to a 24-20 victory over Hartwick's football team on Senior Day on Saturday at Wright Stadium.
The Hawks led 20-16 in the fourth quarter and thwarted a pair of scoring opportunities thanks to a David Van Alstine (Otego, NY/Unatego Central) interception in the end zone and a Matthew Scotman (White Plains, NY/White Plains HS) blocked field goal. Hartwick turned the ball over on downs at midfield with 2:09 left in the contest and the Bengals drove to the Hartwick 16 and faced a 4th and goal with just over 20 seconds to play. Hoppy scrambled and was nearly pulled down for a sack by two different Hawk defenders, but he eluded both tackles and had time to fire in the end zone to Bryant for the go-ahead points.
With the loss, Hartwick slips to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Empire 8. The Bengals improve to 5-4 and 2-4.
Hartwick gained 302 yards of offense in the game. Billy Pine (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls) threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-27 passing. Brad Garcia (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) made six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Steinman (North Haven, CT/North Haven) had three catches for 48 yards and one score.
Buffalo State registered 490 yards of offense. Hoppy threw for 285 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Stephen Johnson made four catches for a game-high 136 yards. Antoine Holloman ran for 86 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Hartwick scored first on its second possession of the game on a Pine to Garcia 8-yard touchdown reception. Buffalo State answered on a Holloman 8-yard touchdown run on its next possession.
A brilliant catch in the end zone from Garcia for 17 yards put the Hawks up 14-7 with 7:56 left in the half and they led by the same margin heading into the break.
A 21-yard run from Ronald Ballard (Deposit, NY/Deposit HS) set up a Pine 4-yard touchdown pass to Steinman to make it 20-7 Hawks midway through the third quarter.
Buffalo State converted a field goal after hitting the upright on two straight attempts earlier in the game to cut the deficit to six, 20-14. A safety to start the fourth quarter made it a four-point game, 20-16. Van Alstine and Scotman's efforts killed off the next two scoring chances for the Bengals before the game-winning drive late in the fourth.
Mark Hackett (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls HS) led all players with 13 tackles, including 1.5 TFLs. Eugene Allen (Laurel, NY/Mattituck HS) had eight hits and he broke up two passes. Josh Wilcox (Ithaca, NY/Candor HS) contributed eight hits and Nick Justiniano (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) added seven. Van Alstine finished with six tackles, an interception, and a pass broken up.
Hartwick wraps up its regular season on the road at Alfred University next Saturday at 1 p.m.