PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester football team secured its first conference win of the season, defeating visiting Hilbert College 38-0 in Liberty League football action on Saturday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Rochester (4-2, 1-2 Liberty League) piled up a season-high 402 yards of offense, while the defense limited the Hawks (0-6, 0-3 Liberty League) to just 167 yards in UR's first shutout of the 2025 season.
260 of the yards by the Yellowjackets were on the ground, along with all five touchdowns scored. First-year Jett Genovese accounted for two touchdowns, while Cole Raux, Jake Adelmann and Jaleel Joseph added rushing touchdowns for the Yellowjackets.
First-year kicker Seungyoon Shin connected on all six of his kicks, scoring eight points on five PAT's and a 26-yards field goal in the second quarter.
Defensively, URochester's three starting linebackers led the team in tackling against the Hilbert triple-option offense. Jack Diggins had 14 tackles and a forced fumble, Daniel Santos finished with 13 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Luke Herter ended with seven stops.
The Yellowjackets won the turnover battle 2-1, with Claudio Pinto falling on a fumble, and Jordy Tawa picking off a pass in the endzone just before halftime. Hilbert's turnover caused was an interception by Zach Brown near midfield at the end of the first quarter.
After Rochester limited the Hawks to just 13 yards on their first possession of the game, the Yellowjackets reached the red zone on their opening drive of the contest, but came away empty handed after Kyle Brainard's 33-yard field goal attempt missed wide left.
Following that initial scoreless drive, the Yellowjackets notched points on six of its next seven drives, with Brown's interception being the only stop provided by the Hilbert defense.
On a third-and-one play from their own 29-yard line, Hilbert's Noah Workman fumble on a run play, with Pinto falling on the loose ball, setting up the Yellowjackets for their first scoring drive of the day.
The opening touchdown took just four plays, with Ademann rushing up the middle untouched from four yards for his third touchdown of the season.
URochester's next drive to start the second quarter traversed 64-yards in eight plays, with Raux scampering up the left side for a big 34-yard touchdown run.
Shin's field goal made it 17-0 on the next UR possession before Tawa's pick kept the shutout alive for the Yellowjacket defense on the final play of the opening 30 minutes.
Rochester started with the ball in the second half and Genovese scored his first of two rushing touchdowns to end a 6-play drive. The first-year scored from 15 yards out, barreling over a pair of Hawk defenders for the final few yards into the end zone.
On the drive, Genovese hit wide receiver Jeremy Tantalo on three straight passing plays for 36 of the 69 total yards during the possession.
The 'Jackets next offensive drive was more of the same, with Genovese slipping through tacklers this time on a 34-yard rush up the right side to increase the lead to 31-0.
After another 3-and-out drive by the Hawks, UR completed the scoring in the game with a 11-yard touchdown run by Joseph late in the third quarter. Joseph's rushing touchdown was the first of his career in a URochester uniform.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Hilbert capitalized on good starting field position to get deep in 'Jacket territory, but the defense stood tall once again to keep the shutout alive, stopping the Hawks four times from inside the 5-yard line to turn the ball over.
Christian Henzes and Derek Moreau stuffed running back Mike Hanlon on fourth down from the 2-yard line to give Rochester the ball back, but Gavin James-Dues, Gavin Guidette and Nathan Lehigh also made big tackles on Hilbert run plays in close to the Yellowjacket endzone.
Following the stop, the Yellowjackets were able to successfully burn out the remaining 4:17 on the clock, closing out the victory.
On the day, Rochester quarterbacks finished 15-for-20 overall for 142 yards. Shawn Bellenger was 9-for-10 for 88 yards, while Genovese finished 4-for-4, with Victor Moran getting the other six attempts, completing two.
Raux led Yellowjacket rushers with 76 net yards, averaging 7.6 yards per carry, toting the ball ten times. Genovese ended with 64 rushing yards, while Ademann added 57. Jay Zheng chipped in 42 yards, with Joseph ending at 21 on the day. Rochester as a team finished with a 7.0 yards per carry average.
Tantalo and Aidan Papantonis were the leading receivers for the Yellowjackets, both accumulating 42 yards receiving. Tantalo caught four passes, while Papantonis hauled in six, continuing his climb up the all-time leaderboard at Rochester. The senior now has 141 receptions in his career, ranking second behind Trey Johnson (171) in team history.
Rochester, and the entire Liberty League, have a bye week next Saturday before returning to action on October 25 at Buffalo State University.