The SUNY Brockport football team won its fourth straight Courage Bowl as the Golden Eagles rolled past host St. John Fisher 34-7 in front of a crowd of 6,012 fans at Growney Stadium Saturday night. It was also the Empire 8 Conference opener for both teams. Junior running back Jala Coad carried the ball 45 times for a career-high 240 yards en route to eclipsing 2,000 yards rushing for his career. He also added three touchdowns on the ground to help the Golden Eagles improve to 3-1 on the year. Coad now has 2,106 career rushing yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. His 45 rushing attempts were a career-high and fell just two shy of the school-record set by Adam Webster back in 2002.
Brockport's rushing defense was stellar once again, holding the Cardinals to -2 yards rushing yards on 18 carries. Fisher could only muster 171 yards of total offense on the stingy Golden Eagle defense. Brockport has allowed just two offensive touchdowns through four games this season. Ben Damiani led the Brockport defense with eight tackles, while Andrew Covais added seven tackles a half sack. Elijah Aikens and Tory Rogers each posted one sack, while Alaan Montgomery added two interceptions.
Senior receiver Imhotep Cromer caught seven balls for 88 yards and surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for his career. He now has 1,087 in just two seasons in the green and gold. Freshman QB Jack Cheshire totaled 13 completions for 127 yards in his first Courage Bowl.
Fisher has now lost three straight and saw its record fall to 2-3 overall on the season. Brockport is now 20-1 in Empire 8 Conference play over the course of the last four seasons. The Golden Eagles have defeated the Cardinals by a combined score of 138-21 over the course of the last four meetings.
Brockport got on the board early when freshman kicker Nate Wigent capped a 13-play 57-yard drive with a 22 yard field goal to hand the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead at the 7:46 mark of the first quarter.
Less than one minute later, senior linebacker Lawrence Jenkins returned an interception 72 yards for a score to hand the Golden Eagles a commanding 10-0 lead at the 6:53 mark of the first. Jenkins has now returned two INT's for a touchdown this season. He also finished the night with three tackles.
Just over three minutes later Brockport engineered a four play 45-yard drive, capped by a five-yard rushing TD by Coad to give the Golden Eagles a commanding 17-0 lead. All 17 of Brockport's first half points came in a span of 4:25 in the first quarter.
Brockport held SJFC to just one yard rushing on 11 carries in the first half.
Fisher punched back with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Joseph Tottillo to Tysean Sizer early in the third quarter to make the game interesting.
However, Wigent knocked down a 29-yard field goal at the 3:56 mark of the third quarter and Coad added two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the Golden Eagles.
Brockport controlled the time of possession 40:22-19:38 through its consistent rushing attack and stellar defensive play.
For the game, Camp Good Days selects honorary coaches and cheerleaders for both teams. These are Camp Good Days campers who have been diagnosed with cancer and would normally not be allowed to participate in a real football game. The Camp Good Days Courage Bowl gives these campers that opportunity. At the conclusion of the Courage Bowl, the Teddi Trophy, named in memory of Teddi Mervis, Gary Mervis' daughter and the inspiration behind Camp Good Days, will be presented, which will later be inscribed with the date of the game, final score of the game, names of the honorary coaches/cheerleaders and the names of one player from each team who displays exceptional leadership and sportsmanship.
The Golden Eagles return to the gridiron on Saturday as they travel to nationally ranked No. 19 SUNY Cortland for a key Empire 8 Conference matchup at 12 p.m. The last time these two teams met in 2019, the Golden Eagles came away with a 32-26 overtime victory.
Brockport Wins Fourth Straight Courage Bowl
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211002_vxkd.xml
2021
Brockport
34
St. John Fisher
7
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brockport (3-1) | 17 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 34 |
| St. John Fisher (2-3) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Oct 02, 2021