Sep 13, 2025
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Cortland sophomore quarterback Mike Rescigno (Arlington) rushed 16 times for 144 yards and a score and completed 7-of-12 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown as nationally 23rd-ranked Cortland defeated visiting Union, 30-6, in a non-league game.
Cortland (1-1) and Union (0-2) met for the first time in a regular-season game; the teams previously played three times in the postseason, with Union winning in the 1989 NCAA playoffs and Cortland winning in the 2007 ECAC Northeast Bowl and the 2017 New York Bowl.
Cortland finished the game with 286 rushing yards and 361 yards of total offense. In addition to Rescigno's 144 yards on the ground, Ethan Gallo (Minisink/Minisink Valley) ran 23 times for 83 yards and two touchdowns and Tyson Taylor (Middle Island/Longwood) carried six times for 68 yards. Jayson Zeva (East Northport/St. John the Baptist) caught three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown and Cole Callard (Medina) made a 37-yard field goal.
Anthony Luciano (Loudonville/Shaker) turned in the game's key defensive play, forcing a fumble and recovering it in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter with Cortland clinging to a 10-6 lead. Luciano was also one of four Cortland players to record interceptions, along with Matt Lotter (Fredonia), Nazair Jean-Lubin (Freeport) and Allen Flore Jr. (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor).
Aidan Lochner (Ravena/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk) led the Red Dragons with 11 tackles, six solo, and Lotter and Alessandro DeRosa (Webster/Webster Schroeder) finished with seven tackles each. Gavin Dandrea (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) averaged 39.2 yards on four punts.
Union finished the game with 311 yards of total offense - 159 passing and 152 rushing. Quarterback Patch Flanagan carried 12 times for 106 yards and completed 19-of-28 passes for 159 yards with four interceptions. Michael Dinardo caught seven passes for 35 yards and ran for 30 yards on six carries. Evan Anderson averaged 45.7 yards per punt on three attempts.
Nick Savini paced the Garnet Chargers defensively with nine tackles, and he accounted for Union's lone score with a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the second quarter. Jordan Black and Logan Miller each registered eight tackles.
Cortland scored just over five minutes into the game as Gallo ran in from eight yards to cap an 8-play, 75-yard opening drive. Union closed to within 7-6 on Savini's pick-6 with 10:57 left in the half, but the extra-point attempt hit off the left upright and Cortland led 7-6 at halftime.
Union had to punt after its opening drive of the third quarter and Cortland drove from its 39-yard line to the Union 20 before Callard hit his 37-yard field goal to make it 10-6. Union responded on its next possession by driving from its own 25-yard line to the Cortland 2-yard line over the final 6:52 of the third. On the first play of the fourth, however, Flanagan got caught behind the line of scrimmage, then turned right and tried to fight through a swarm of Cortland tacklers for extra yards around the 3-yard line. Luciano, however, stripped the ball away from Flanagan before his forward progress ended and he recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Cortland scored on its next three possessions to put the game away. Zeva capped an 80-yard drive following the Union fumble with a 15-yard TD catch from Rescigno with 11:11 remaining to make it 17-6. After a Lotter interception and a Union penalty gave Cortland the ball on the Garnet Chargers' 43-yard line, the Red Dragons mounted a 7-play drive culminating in Gallo's 4-yard TD run with 5:08 left to push the lead to 24-6. Union turned the ball over on downs with 3:57 left and Rescigno ran for a 16-yard score four plays later to cap the scoring.
Cortland opens Empire 8 play next Saturday at 3 p.m. at Hartwick. The Red Dragons have not lost a conference game in each of the last four seasons.