MORRISVILLE, NY – The Alfred University football team (3-1, Empire 2-0) walked out of Morrisville with a 27-22 win over the Mustangs despite a slow start out the gate. The Saxons relied on the running game, rushing for 260 yards and passing for only 50.
Sophomore Nas Smith (Auburn, NY/Auburn) was a one-man wrecking crew on Saturday, rushing for 190 yards and three touchdowns – both career-highs - while catching his first career receiving touchdown from 21 yards out. Sophomore Kevin Bragaglia (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) added 38 yards on the ground while juniors James Kerr (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) and Ben Burk (Lakewood, NY/Southwestern) rushed for 33 and 31 yards, respectively.
Burk only threw the ball 10 times in the game, completing passes on seven attempts (70.0%), including one touchdown.
The Saxons fell behind early, 7-0 when the Mustangs marched down the field 65 yards on eight plays for a touchdown on their first drive. AU was forced to punt on their first drive, but senior Jayden Gavidia (Homer, NY/Homer) recovered a botched punt on the Morrisville 16, putting the Saxons in great field position. Only two plays later, Smith rushed into the end zone for his fifth touchdown of the year. The PAT was unsuccessful, bringing the score to 7-6.
Morrisville scored again with 2:47 left to go in the first quarter, connecting on a 15-yard passing play, putting the Mustangs up 14-6. It started to look gloomy for the Saxons on the next drive when they were forced to punt, but the snap went awry before junior Ben Sennett (Rushville, NY/Marcus Whitman) pushed the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety, avoiding the possibility of a touchdown for the Mustangs. At the end of the first quarter, Morrisville held onto a 16-6 lead.
The Saxons began to bounce back in the second quarter, shutting the Mustangs out. AU's first drive of the period spanned 83 yards on nine plays over the course of five minutes, ending in a Smith receiving touchdown. The Saxons converted the PAT, inching closer 16-13. The game would remain that way until the halftime intermission.
The third quarter was all Saxons, with AU shutting Morrisville out again. The Saxons started the half on yet another long drive that covered 67 yards on nine plays and over four minutes of possession. All nine plays were rush plays, including Smith rushing the ball seven times. He scampered in for another rushing touchdown from seven yards out to cap off the drive, giving AU the lead 20-16.
The Mustangs attempted to recover the lead with 5:23 left on the clock. They made their way down the field getting within the 10-yard line before the Saxons shut the drive down, forcing a turnover on downs. Senior Cole Reed (Gratz, PA/Upper Dauphin Area) and junior Leo Pamphile (Spring Valley, NY/Spring Valley) shut down quarterback Brandon Gwinner at the line of scrimmage when the Mustangs attempted the fourth and goal situation from the two-yard line.
The Saxons immediately turned the scoring opportunity onto the Mustangs, driving 98 yards on 12 plays to score. The drive included 11 rush plays, accounting for 90 yards on the drive. Smith converted the drive into a touchdown when he rushed the ball in from 17 yards out, marking his seventh touchdown of the 2018 season and 15th touchdown of his career. AU increased the lead, 27-16, with 13:17 to go in the game.
Two drives later, Morrisville worked the ball down the field before Kyle Moore (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt) pulled in his second interception of the season inside the end zone. However, when he attempted to return the pick, he fumbled the ball at the AU five-yard line, setting the Mustangs up with favorable field position. Once again, the Saxon defense did not back down, forcing Morrisville to another fourth-down situation inside the five-yard line. This time the Mustangs converted the fourth-down play for a touchdown, getting within one score of the Saxons, 27-22 with 4:46 remaining in the game.
The Saxons took to the ground on their next drive attempting to run out the clock, but the Mustang defense was finally able to slow down the AU run-game. Morrisville took over again with 2:44 left on the clock but was unable to march down the field for the score. The Saxons took over on downs with 50 seconds left in the game and kneeled on the ball to expire the clock.
On defense, the Saxons were led by junior Nick Milgate (Hilton, NY/Hilton) with 13 tackles (four solo; nine assisted). Reed added 11 total tackles (four solo; seven assisted) while junior Russell Kohler (Seaford, NY/St. Anthony's) had eight tackles (two solo; six assisted). Senior Dave Carloni (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) had AU's lone sack on the day while Milgate, Kohler and junior Henry Chau (Tallman, NY/Suffern) all had tackles for a loss, each.
Moore and sophomore Raeqwon Greer (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) each had an interception in the game. AU currently leads the Empire 8 in interceptions with 10 over the course of four games.
"We are excited to get another conference win, especially on the road," Head Coach Bob Rankl said. "That being said, we still feel we are marking too many mistakes in some critical situations. We need to get that cleaned up and prepare for a good Buffalo State team next weekend."
The Saxons will travel to Buffalo to take on the Bengals at 6PM in Empire 8 play on Saturday, October 6, 2018.
Smith Sets Career-Highs in Win Over Morrisville
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20180929_zph5.xml
2018
Alfred
27
Morrisville State
22
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred (3-1) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Morrisville State (2-2) | 16 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22 |
Sep 29, 2018