PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team roared to life on both sides of the ball on Saturday as the Cardinals forced six turnovers and scored a season-high 42 points to overwhelm visiting Hartwick College, 42-14, in an Empire 8 clash at Fisher's Growney Stadium. Fisher, which last eclipsed the 40-point plateau in 2016, moved to 1-4 on the season and 1-2 in the conference standings while the Hawks lost their third straight game and fell to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Empire 8 as a result.
Senior quarterback Alejandro Utset made the most of his first career start as the San Juan, Puerto Rico native went 20-for-33 for 206 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Utset spread the wealth with seven different receivers hauling in a catch. Cam Cleveland continued his strong play as the East Rochester native had six catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Pat Galer contributed 48 yards on four catches while Will Blake totaled 40 yards on five grabs including a 17-yard touchdown pass.
The Cardinals also found their rhythm on the ground as Fisher produced a season-high 107 yards led by freshman Malachi Duvall who had 38 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns. Ryan Ingerson netted 35 yards with a touchdown while Connor Spies added 16 yards with his legs and a touchdown.
After forcing the Hawks in to back-to-back punts to open the first quarter, Fisher went to work to the tune of a 14-play 74-yard touchdown drive to open up a 7-0 lead. The Cardinals moved the chains four times on the drive and converted a big fourth-and-three play with a nine-yard hookup from Utset to Galer to keep the drive alive. From there, Utset found Cleveland over the middle for an 11-yard touchdown toss to cap off the drive with time winding down in the opening frame.
Neither team was able to generate much on the offensive side of the ball to begin the second quarter as both teams threw interceptions. After forcing Hartwick into another three-and-out, Fisher moved the chains on back-to-back plays with 15-yard receptions by Ingerson and Willy Stevenson to set up first-and-10 at the Hartwick 17. On the ensuing snap, Utset found Blake on the far sideline as the Penfield native broke a pair of tackles before walking in untouched for the 17-yard touchdown pass as the Cardinals extended their lead to two scores, 14-0.
Fisher struck again on its next possession after orchestrating a six-play, 38-yard scoring drive that was fueled by 32 rushing yards from Duvall culminating in a five-yard burst through the gap to make it 21-0 in Fisher's favor.
The Hawks looked to answer on their final drive of the first half as the visitors strung together 10 plays and worked their way down to the Fisher four, but the Cardinals' defense held firm and forced an incomplete pass on second down before dropping the Hawks' quarterback behind the line for a sack as time expired to preserve the 21-0 Fisher lead.
Coming out of the break, Fisher punted the ball on its opening possession, but was able to get the ball right back as Brennen Thompson stepped in front of a Hartwick pass and sprinted 52 yards to the Hawks' one yard line before being dragged down. As the offense took the field, Duvall did the rest after busting through the line to find pay dirt as the Cardinals padded their cushion, 28-0.
Trailing by four touchdowns with 9:35 remaining in the third quarter, Hartwick moved the ball into Fisher territory, but coughed it up as Justin Wheeler drilled the quarterback and jarred the ball loose before Sam Maddi pounced on the loose ball to give Fisher another opportunity. The chance would be short-lived, though as the Cardinals' snap was mishandled and Hartwick recovered the ball in the end zone to make it 28-7.
The momentum would shift back in Fisher's direction, however, on the kickoff as the Cardinals brought the ball out to the Hartwick 28 for a return of 47 yards to set up deep inside the Hawks' territory. After failing to gain positive yards on the first two downs, Utset connected with Galer down the sideline for a big 22-yard gain on third down to move the chains and give the Cardinals a fresh set of downs at the Hartwick eight. Three plays later, Ingerson punched it in for the one-yard touchdown run with Fisher taking a 35-7 edge with 3:48 remaining in the period.
The Cardinals weren't done there, however, as the Hawks bobbled the ensuing kickoff with Jason Rodriguez coming up with the fumble to give the Cardinals another red zone opportunity at the Hartwick 11. It took just one play to make it a 42-7 game as Duvall broke free for an 11-yard scamper to put the home team ahead by five touchdowns.
Defensively, Fisher's six takeaways marked its most since November 23, 2013 when the Cardinals had six against John Carroll in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship. Head coach Paul Vosburgh's squad had five sacks in all and limited the Hawks to 71 yards on the ground and just 2.4 yards per carry.
Evan Majewski had a team-leading 11 tackles in the win including one sack and a pair of pass breakups. Wheeler accounted for eight stops, a sack and a forced fumble while Tony SIlvanic had six tackles. Thompson had two picks in the win and racked up 52 return yards while Cameron Bellino made three tackles and came away with an interception of his own.
The Cardinals will look to build on Saturday's win at 2 p.m. next weekend when they host Morrisville on Saturday in another Empire 8 battle at Growney Stadium.
Defense Forces Six Turnovers; Offense Scores Season-High 42 Points in Fisher's Drubbing of Hartwick
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20181013_e2fi.xml
2018
Hartwick
14
St. John Fisher
42
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartwick (2-4) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| St. John Fisher (1-4) | 7 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 42 |
Oct 13, 2018