CORTLAND, N.Y. - Cortland outgained Morrisville 488-204 in total offensive yardage and recorded its second shutout of the season as the nationally second-ranked Red Dragons defeated visiting Morrisville, 41-0, in Empire 8 play. Cortland (4-0, 2-0 Empire 8) extended its school-record winning streak to 16 games and has now won 21 straight league games dating back to 2019. Morrisville fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) completed 20-of-31 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns and rushed seven times for 41 yards and a TD. He extended his streak to 186 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, eight short of his own school record of 194 set last season. Jaden AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) caught eight passes for 133 yards and two scores. Ethan Gallo (Slate Hill/Minisink Valley) ran 22 times for 126 yards and caught four passes for 40 yards, Tyson Taylor (Middle Island/Longwood) had seven rushes for 60 yards and a score and Jayson Zeva (East Northport/St. John the Baptist) finished with four catches for 32 yards and a TD. Mike Baloga (New Windsor/Cornwall) made his two field goal attempts from 36 and 32 yards and all five of his PAT kicks.
Jaden Martinez (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) led the Red Dragon defense with 11 tackles, including a sack, and a forced fumble. Jack Winey (Lindenhurst) had 10 tackles and a pass breakup, Ellis Einbinder (Brighton) recorded seven tackles and a breakup, Max Llewellyn (Sayville) totaled seven tackles and Ryan Isom (Levittown/MacArthur) broke up two passes.
Morrisville quarterback Alek Britten completed 12-of-28 passes for 128 yards and Sean Perrin ran 13 times for 49 yards. Evan Salvaggio and Eric Sparkman led the Mustangs with 10 tackles apiece, with Salvaggio also breaking up a pass, and Camerin Camacho had nine tackles and a forced fumble.
Cortland led just 7-0 after one quarter as Taylor broke free for a 24-yard TD run with 4:23 left in the quarter. Prior to the Red Dragon scoring drive, each team turned the ball over on downs - Cortland at the Morrisville 41-yard line and Morrisville at the Cortland 32-yard line. Baloga's 36-yard field goal three plays into the second quarter made it 10-0, and on Cortland's next possession Zeva capped a 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive with a 5-yard TD catch in the back left corner of the end zone. Cortland entered halftime with a 17-0 lead.
Morrisville unsuccessfully tried an onside kickoff to start the second half, but Cortland was unable to capitalize when Scotty Howard stripped a Red Dragon running back for a turnover at the Mustangs' 32-yard line. Morrisville then marched to the Cortland 21-yard line over the next 10 plays, but Owen Cole's 38-yard field goal hit the right upright to keep the game at 17-0.
Cortland proceeded to score points on its final four complete possessions. AlfanoStJohn's 1-handed catch for a 20-yard TD made it 24-0 with 5:05 left in the third. Boyes ran untouched for a 17-yard score with 3:18 left in the period to extend the lead to 31-0. Baloga connected on a 32-yard field goal 1:25 into the fourth quarter and AlfanoStJohn caught a 24-yard TD pass to account for Cortland's fourth-quarter points. Morrisville had a chance to break up the shutout when it drove to the Cortland 2-yard line in the final minute, but on 4th-and-1 an errant snap led to a 9-yard loss and a turnover on downs.
Cortland travels to Utica for a league game next Saturday at 1 p.m.
#2 Cortland Shuts Out Morrisville, 41-0
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20241005_xumc.xml
2024
Morrisville State
0
Cortland
41
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morrisville State (1-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 2 Cortland (4-0) | 7 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 41 |
Oct 05, 2024