Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Behind 403 yards of offense, the #11/12 Union College football team moved to 5-0 and 1-0 in Liberty League play with a 30-17 victory over Buffalo State Saturday afternoon at Coyer Field.
Union has now won 19 regular season games in a row, tying the record set between 1990-92. The last regular season loss came on October 13, 2018 against Ithaca.
The Dutchmen put up a season-high 268 yards of offense on the ground for three touchdowns while holding the Bengals to only 60 rushing yards.
The Dutchmen defense broke through to sack the Bengals' quarterback six times. Senior Daniel Gioioso and junior Jimaar Edwards each recorded 1.5 sacks in a defensive effort that saw them accumulate seven and six tackles, respectively. Senior Austin St. Pierre led the way for Union with a career-high nine tackles including two for a loss, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.
First-year Jonathan Anderson exploded with 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns while senior Ike Irabor added 121 yards and a score. Senior Andre Ross Jr. added his sixth touchdown of the season, tying first-year Robbie Tolbert for the team lead. Ross Jr.now has 31 career receiving touchdowns, needing only three more to tie Justin Gallo '12 for the all-time record.
Senior William Bellamy found an open Ross Jr. in the endzone to put Union up 7-0 in the first quarter. Anderson added his first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter to put the Dutchmen ahead 14-0.
The Bengals got on the board on a 39-yard field goal from Nick Sciandra to cut the lead 14-3 with 8:09 to go in the first half. A well-placed punt by sophomore Andrew Lau pinned the Bengals at their own one-yard line, setting up Edwards for the tackle in the end zone for the safety.
Anderson provided the lone score in the third quarter, a four-yard run for his second touchdown of the game. The Bengals controlled play for much of the fourth quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to bring the game within a touchdown with 10:54 left to go, and then had the ball inside the Union 10-yard line after an interception. But the Union defense buckled down and limited the Bengals to three short rushing plays and an incompletion on fourth down. With that momentum, the offense sustained a 12-play drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock, ending up with a five-yard touchdown run by Irabor with 1:17 remaining to finally put the game out of reach, 30-17.
The Dutchmen return to action on Saturday, October 9, to face St. Lawrence University for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff from Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.