Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
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Turnovers
Time of Poss.
The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College football program improved to 6-0 on the year and 4-0 in the Empire 8 Conference, as the Cardinals picked up a 49-31 win over visiting Morrisville State College on Saturday night.
Freshman quarterback Collin Fiutko (two rushing, two passing) and defensive end-turned-running back Chris Smith (three rushing) combined for all seven Fisher touchdowns, as the Cardinals, ranked No. 14 in the D3football.com poll, outscored Morrisville 28-3 after the game was tied at 21s early in the second half.
Smith, who rushed for nine touchdowns as a sophomore, but moved to defensive end led the Cardinals in sacks last year, tallied a career-high 145 yards on 22 carries. Fiutko was 20-of-26 for 282 yards, while Mike Collichio, William Coon and Will Blake each gaining over 77 receiving yards.
Morrisville took a 7-0 lead, as the Mustangs took the game's opening drive 71 yards on 18 plays, while using up over eight minutes of clock with quarterback Corey Benedetto scoring on a 1-yard keeper.
The Cardinals answered right back however, with Smith scoring on a 13-yard run, capping a 6-play, 83-yard drive. It was the first of three consecutive touchdown drives for the Cardinals.
On its next possession, Fisher went 80 yards on six plays with Smith rumbling in from 18 yards out in the opening moments of the second quarter.
Fiutko called his own number on the next drive, scoring on a two-yard keeper with 4:12 remaining in the half
Morrisville made it 21-14 at the half with Benedetto scoring on three-yard run. A half-back option pass from Nick Edmond to Marcus Jackson for 38 yards sparked the drive.
Morrisville forced an interception on the third play from scrimmage in the second half and the Mustangs capitalized six plays later with Benedetto scoring on a three-yard plunge less than four minutes into the third, tying the game at 21-21.
Fisher took the lead for good, scoring two touchdowns in a 54-second span midway through the third quarter. Smith scored his third touchdown of the day and put the Cardinals up for good with 8:28 remaining. On the ensuing kickoff, Anthony Lee recovered a fumble at the Morrisville 27. Three plays later, Collichio tallied his team-high seventh reception of the game and scored on a 15-yard pass to to make it 35-21.
After a Morrisville drive ended with a 36-yard field goal late in the third quarter, the Cardinals sealed the win with two touchdowns in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.
On a fourth-and-two play from the Morrisville 12, Fiutko bobbled a low snap, but scooped the ball up and scored on a scamper into the left corner. After stopping Morrisville on fourth down, the Cardinals drove 56 yards with James Flagler scoring his first career touchdown on a 1-yard pass from Fiutko to put the Cardinals up 49-25.
Morrisville tacked on a touchdown with 39 seconds left for the game's final points.
DJ Logory led the Fisher defense with 14 tackles and four pass breakups. Christopher Biryla, David Carroll and Lee also finished with double-digit stops.
Fisher, who is off to a 6-0 start for the fourth time since 2004, returns to action at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Utica College.