Senior wide receiver Jake Spalik (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) caught a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes to help The College at Brockport Football team nearly come back from a 20-0 deficit but the Golden Eagles ran out of time and Rowan University won a 20-16 decision in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opener Saturday on Bob Boozer Field at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium in Brockport.
Rowan (3-1 Overall, 2-0 NJAC) scored on the first drive of the game for the early 7-0 lead and neither team was able to score again in the first half.
In the third quarter, the Profs added to their lead with a pair of touchdowns but missed the second extra point attempt and held a 2-0 lead entering the fourth quarter.
At the end of the third quarter, Brockport (1-3, 0-1) started a 12-play drive that ended early in the fourth quarter as sophomore Tyler Stoldt (Alden, NY/Alden) completed a nine-yard scoring pass to Spalik on a fourth down play to put Brockport on the board.
The drive ignited the Brockport sideline and the defensive unit responded by forcing a three-and-out drive giving the ball back to Stoldt and the offense.
Stoldt completed five passes in the ensuing drive and also ran for a first down scrambling on a 4th-and-10 play for 11 yards and a critical first down. Three plays later with a 1st-and-goal situation from the six yard line, Stoldt found Spalik in the back corner of the end zone and the senior made the diving catch and kept a foot in bounds for his second touchdown of the quarter cutting the Rowan lead to 20-14.
Rowan followed with an eight-play drive that moved all the way to the Brockport 20-yard line before freshman linebacker Jake Brickler (Hilton, NY/Hilton) blitzed up the middle on the fourth-down play sacking the quarterback and giving the ball back to the Golden Eagles with 3:40 left on the clock.
Stoldt and the offense came back on the field with a chance to take the lead. On the second play of the drive, Stoldt threw a sideline pass that was caught by freshman Nate Wilkinson (Elma, NY/Iroquois) for a 29-yard gain. Wilkinson stretched out to tip the ball up into the air and then made a diving catch before rolling out of bounds.
The Golden Eagles moved the ball to the Rowan 16-yard line and facing a fourth down situation; Stoldt looked to the end zone again but was intercepted giving the ball back to Rowan with 1:35 to play.
After taking a knee on the first three downs of the drive, Rowan quarterback Paul Hamersma ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety making the score 20-16 with one second left on the clock. Rowan kicked the free kick to Darryl Thompson (Rochester, NY/Marshall) and three different Golden Eagles exchanged possession on laterals before the play was stopped at the Brockport 32-yard line ending the game.
Wilkinson and Eric Malave (Brooklyn, NY/Canarsie) each had seven receptions for Brockport and Spalik finished with five catches for 66 yards. Stoldt was 26-for-48 passing for 247 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions. Defensively, Cortland Haines (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) led the way with 10 tackles, Colby Morabito (Rochester, NY/Hilton) added eight stops and broke up two passes while Brickler finished with seven tackles and two sacks.