Fisher Freezes Frostburg State 34-7
The St. John Fisher College football team defeated Frostburg State University 34-7 on Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium. Despite the rainy and windy conditions, the Cardinals controlled the game on all sides of the ball. With the win, Fisher improves to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Empire 8, while Frostburg drops to 2-4, 1-2.
Fisher never trailed in the game and took the lead just 38 seconds into the contest as defensive back Troy Sant returned an interception 34 yards. The interception was Sant's fourth in the last three games.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 10-0 on a 34-yard field goal from Chad Monheim late in the first quarter before the Bobcats got on the board.
Frostburg ate up nearly eight minutes; marching 57 yards on 15 plays with quarterback Josh Volpe scoring on a five-yard run with 10:09 to play in the half. Just 11 seconds later, Fisher answered right back as Ryan Francis picked up the ensuing kickoff at his own 22 –yard line and ran 78 yards to make it 17-7.
Fisher went into halftime with a 24-7 lead after quarterback Ryan Kramer scored on a 21-yard run with 4:09 left in the second quarter.
The Cardinals got on the board with 4:46 left in the third quarter when Monheim made his second field goal of the day from 27 yards out to push the lead to 27-7.
The home team then used a 13-play, 90-yard touchdown drive stretching into the early moments of the fourth quarter to give Fisher a 34-7 advantage. Kramer scored his second rushing touchdown of the day, this one coming from the 3-yard line.
Kramer finished the day with a career and team-high 128 yards on the ground while passing 8-for-15 for 106 yards. Cody Miller also ended with a career-high in rushing, finishing the game with 106 yards. It was the first time the back has broken 100-yards rushing in a game.
Anthony Chairmonte had four carries from the backfield, and gained 30 yards on the day. The Cardinals finished with 277 rushing yards on the day, the highest total since October 10, 2009, when Fisher recorded 303 yards in a 40-17 win over Ithaca College.
Fisher outgained the Bobcats 392-227 in total offense, throwing for 61 more yards and out-rushing them by 94 yards.
The defense played a big role for the Cardinals, with five players recording over five tackles. Wade Kline led Fisher with ten tackles, while Tyler Schier was close behind with nine. Schier also recorded the Cardinals lone sack of the day, a six-yard loss. Dave Vosburgh, Brenden Moore and Chris Sawyer finished with seven, six and five stops, respectively.
In the six games the Cardinals have played this season, only one team has scored more than 10 points on the Fisher defense.
Ryan Schmidt led the team in receiving, catching six passes for 97 yards, moving him to fourth place all-time, surpassing Jimmy Smith (1,666 yds.) with 1,763 career yards.
Fisher will return to action at 2 p.m. next Saturday and will play at Springfield College. Last year, the Pride defeated Fisher 55-49 in the final game of the 2010 regular-season.
