ALMA, MICH. - The nationally 11th-ranked Cortland football team earned its first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III tournament semifinals with a 58-41 victory at previously unbeaten and 13th-ranked Alma College.
With its quarterfinal victory, Cortland (12-1) set a school record for wins in a season and will face Randolph-Macon College of Virginia in the semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 9, at a time and site to be announced. Cortland lost at Randolph-Macon, 35-28, in the opening round of last year's NCAA tournament. Randolph-Macon (13-0) won at Johns Hopkins, 39-36, in the quarterfinals on a field goal with four seconds remaining. Cortland's 12 victories eclipses the previous school record of 11 wins set in 1988, 2008 and 2021.
Cortland and Alma (12-1) combined for 1,207 yards of total offense - 648 for Cortland and 559 for the host Scots. Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) completed 24-of-33 passes for 400 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He tied the school single-game record for TD passes in a game, a record he already held a share of, and established school single-season records with 3,392 passing yards and 36 passing touchdowns.
Jaden AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) ran 28 times for 193 yards and two touchdowns and is now only the second player in school history with at least 3,000 career rushing yards, trailing only Dave Cook's 3,455 yards from 1981-84. Ashton Capone (Saratoga Springs) rushed nine times for 58 yards and a score. Joe Iadevaio (Massapequa/Plainedge) caught seven passes for 82 yards and three touchdowns, tying the school single-game record for TD receptions held by numerous players. Iadevaio entered the game with one TD reception on the season.
JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) finished with 10 receptions for 172 yards and a touchdown and Cole Burgess (Greenwich) caught five passes for 116 yards and a score. Laap is now Cortland's career leader with 31 touchdown catches, while Burgess is tied for second with 30 career TD grabs. Mike Baloga (New Windsor/Cornwall) had his first PAT kick attempt blocked, ending his school-record streak at 91 straight successful PATs, but he made his next seven attempts along with a fourth-quarter 23-yard field goal and is now tied for the most career points by a Cortland kicker with 192, matching Ted Nagengast's mark from 1987-90.
Cortland defensive lineman Nick Lardaro (Smithtown/Smithtown East) finished with three sacks, two of which resulted in fumbles and Alma turnovers. He ended the day with 4.5 total tackles for loss among his six overall stops. Jaden Martinez (Comsewogue) led the Red Dragons with 17 tackles, nine solo, and Jack Winey (Lindenhurst) recorded 13 tackles. Luke Winslow (Lansing) finished with nine tackles and an interception, David Romer (East Greenbush/Columbia) made nine tackles and Anthony Luciano (Loudonville/Shaker) registered eight tackles and a fumble recovery.
Alma quarterback Carter St. John completed 14-of-20 passes for 201 yards and a score and ran 10 times for 73 yards and a touchdown despite being hampered by a first-half injury. Backup quarterback Trent Devereaux was 2-for-2 passing for 58 yards, with both throws resulting in touchdowns. Kahleel Brown ran 17 times for 103 yards and threw for a 15-yard TD, Jordan Williams carried the ball 14 times for 91 yards and a score and Ty Lotterman caught two TD passes. Drew Humm led the Scots with eight tackles and Odin Soffredine and Elijah Jackson each made seven tackles.
Cortland scored on nine of its 11 full possessions in the game and held a 35:06-24:54 advantage in time of possession. The Red Dragons converted only 2-of-9 third downs, but were 3-for-4 on fourth down and scored on all seven of their red-zone trips. Alma was 10-for-14 on third down.
Alma led 13-6 after one quarter on a Devon Frenchko 47-yard TD catch and a Williams 1-yard TD run, sandwiched around a 15-yard TD pass from Boyes to Iadevaio. Both teams failed on their initial point-after attempts - Alma had a 2-point conversion pass fall incomplete and the Scots blocked Cortland's PAT kick.
Cortland tied the game on Iadevaio's 4-yard TD catch from Boyes less than a minute into the second half. Alma took a 20-13 lead when Zach Poff caught a 3-yard pass from Devereaux, but Cortland answered on a 12-yard TD pass from Boyes to Laap with 10:34 left. On Alma's next possession, Lardaro sacked St. John and forced a fumble recovered by Max Llewellyn (Sayville), and on the next snap AlfanoStJohn broke free for a 39-yard TD run to give Cortland a 27-20 lead. Alma tied it when St. John ran for a 5-yard TD with 3:39 left. Cortland answered with a 66-yard scoring drive, capped by AlfanoStJohn's 2-yard TD run with 56 seconds left, but Alma needed only two plays to re-tie the score. Williams ran for 21 yards to the Alma 45-yard line and Devereaux hit Lotterman on a 55-yard scoring pass with 30 seconds left and the teams were tied 34-34 at halftime.
Cortland scored on the opening drive of the second half on Iadevaio's third TD catch of the game from three yards out. A personal foul on the PAT attempt forced Baloga to make a 35-yard extra point to give Cortland a 41-34 lead. Alma drove to the Cortland 2-yard line on its next possession and faced 3rd-and-goal. Lardaro sacked Devereaux and forced fumble that Luciano recovered to preserve Cortland's lead. The Red Dragons then drove 87 yards on 13 plays, including a Capone 8-yard run on 4th-and-1 from the Red Dragon 47-yard line. Capone eventually finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run and Cortland led 48-34.
Alma closed to within a score on a 15-yard halfback option pass from Brown to Lotterman with 29 seconds left in the third quarter. On Cortland's ensuing drive, the Red Dragons faced 4th-and-1 at the Alma 45-yard line. A false start penalty made it 4th-and-6, but Boyes found Burgess wide open for a 50-yard TD pass and Cortland led 55-41.
The Cortland defense forced a punt on Alma's next possession, and the Red Dragons' next drive resulted in Baloga's 23-yard field goal to extend the lead to three scores at 58-41. Alma's final drive was halted by Winslow's interception on a pass from the 29-yard line to the 4-yard line with 4:43 left.
Cortland Earns First-Ever Trip to NCAA Semifinals with 58-41 Win at Alma
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2023
Dec 02, 2023