The SUNY Brockport football team jumped out to a 34-0 lead and never looked back as the Golden Eagles topped visiting Hartwick 41-14 in Empire 8 Conference action in front of 3,256 fans on Homecoming & Family Weekend on campus Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles rolled up 435 yards of offense, scored a season-high 41 points, and held the visitors to -1 yards rushing on the ground to improve to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Empire 8.
Brockport will now hit the road for two straight games beginning with the I-90 rivalry game at Buffalo State next Saturday at noon. Hartwick saw its record fall to 1-5 on the year and 0-4 in league play.
Freshman quarterback Jack Cheshire completed 13 passes for 229 yards, including a career-long 53 yard touchdown pass to Jared Maurino to hand Brockport an early 7-0 on just their second offensive play of the game at the 12:54 mark of the first quarter. Maurino finished the day with three catches for 76 yards and his first career TD in the green and gold.
Brockport's ground game eclipsed 200 yards rushing for the fourth time in the last five games and junior runningback Jala Coad has now scored at least one touchdown in seven straight games. Coad finished the day with 16 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He has hit triple digits in rushing yards in four of his last five outings.
The Golden Eagles made it a 10-0 ballgame when freshman kicker Nate Wigent knocked down a 21 yard field goal with 5:19 to go in the first quarter of action. Wigent finished the day going 2-for-3 on field goal attempts and he was also a perfect 5-for-5 on extra point opportunities. Wigent is tied for the E8 lead with eight field goals this season and he leads the top kickers with an 80% conversion rate.
Jala Coad capped the first half scoring when he punched in a three-yard run to finish off an 11-play 60 yard drive with 1:30 to go in the half. Brockport held a convincing 20-0 at the intermission, much to the delight of the homecoming faithful.
Sophomore All-American Raylens Boutin got Brockport on the board in the third quarter when he jumped on an out route and returned the interception 35 yards for a score to give the Golden Eagles a 27-0 advantage with 1:38 to go in the third. He now has four interceptions and a team-high eight pass breakups this year.
Brockport was able to bring in its reserves midway through the fourth quarter, but not before Coad added an insurance touchdown of 26 yards on the ground to put the Golden Eagles on top 34-0 with 13:23 to go in the contest.
Freshman running back and return man Gino Fontanarosa added to the ground game with a 75 yard touchdown run late in the contest to cap the scoring on the afternoon for the Golden Eagles. It marked the first rushing touchdown of Fontanarosa's young career.
Senior linebacker Lawrence Jenkins and junior linebacker Ben Damiani each posted a team-high eight tackles for the stout Brockport defense. Jenkins added two tackles for a loss and one sack, while Damiani posted 1.5 TFL's, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup. Jenkins was also key in the return game as he nearly brought a kickoff back to the house, 72 yards, to open up the second half.
Jordan Harris was a monster in the middle as he posted five tackles, 3.0 for a loss, and one sack. Senior captain Andrew Covais added six tackles, one sack and one interception. Alaan Montgomery broke up three passes and Ben Marshall broke up four passes. Josh Greenwood forced a fumble for Brockport.
Imhotep Cromer finished with three catches for 94 yards, including a long of 49 yards. Louis Usera caught four balls for 32 yards and James Altenburger added three catches for 27 yards.
Hartwick quarterback Jason Garcia completed two fourth quarter touchdown passes with less than six minutes remaining to account for the lone scores of the afternoon for the Hawks. He completed 22 passes for 214 yards, but was sacked three times and picked off twice. Justin LoBasso posted a game-high seven catches. Hartwick's Bryan Grimes led all tacklers with 10.
Brockport Cruises Past Hartwick on Homecoming
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211023_shdu.xml
2021
Hartwick
14
Brockport
41
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartwick (1-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Brockport (5-2) | 10 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 41 |
Oct 23, 2021