Football Falls Short at #10 Cortland, 24-14
CORTLAND, N.Y. (10/7/06) - Cortland State University junior
quarterback Alex Smith (Niagara Falls/Niagara-Wheatfield) completed
21-of-31 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns, to lead the Red
Dragons to a 24-14 victory over Kean University in New Jersey
Athletic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon. With the
win, the Red Dragons, ranked 10th in the nation by the AFCA,
remained undefeated at 5-0 overall, while the Cougars had their
three-game winning streak snapped to fall to 3-2 overall, 1-1 in
the NJAC.
Red Dragon senior Drew Lascari (Pequannock, N.J.) finished with
five catches and a pair of touchdowns for 84 yards. He caught a
19-yard scoring pass from Smith with two minutes, 48 seconds left
in the first quarter for the game's only first-half points and
added a 29-yard touchdown reception with 4:39 left in the third
quarter that gave the Red Dragons a 17-0 lead. Senior Anthony Morat
(Rome, N.Y.) caught five passes for 66 yards and senior Matt
Rickert (Holbrook, N.Y.) rushed for 66 yards and caught an 8-yard
touchdown pass.
Kean junior A.J. Roque (Matawan, N.J.) completed 23-of-39 passes
for 266 yards and one touchdown, while junior Brian Williams
(Pleasantville, N.J.) led the Cougars with 10 receptions for 120
yards, including a 23-yard touchdown catch late in the third
quarter. Kean's other score came midway through the fourth quarter
on a 1-yard run by freshman Jared Chunn (Eatontown, NJ/Monmouth
Regional).
Senior Bill Hauser (Lancaster, N.Y.) led Cortland's defense with 10
tackles and a pass breakup. Junior Jeff Beck (Middlehope, N.Y.)
made seven tackles and intercepted a pass and senior Stef Sair
(Huntington, N.Y.) recorded seven tackles. Kean was led by junior
Ryan Staton (Mays Landing, N.J.), sophomore Jake Pew (Sussex, N.J.)
and sophomore Guy Ulmer-Santos (Jersey City, N.J.) with seven
tackles apiece.
Lascari capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive late in the first quarter
with his 19-yard touchdown catch in the back center of the end zone
on a 3rd-and-12 pass. The drive started after Beck intercepted a
Roque pass at the Cortland 5-yard and returned the ball 15 yards.
Cortland missed on two other scoring chances in the half when Kean
freshman Jason Leeds (Egg Harbor City, N.J.) blocked a 37-yard
Matthew Mintz (Lawrence, N.J.) field goal attempt midway through
the second quarter and when Mintz missed a 47-yard attempt wide
left at the end of the half.
Back-to-back fumbles proved costly for the Cougars. Midway through
the third quarter, Kean fumbled a fair-catch attempt on a Red
Dragon punt and Cortland recovered at the Cougars' 15-yard line.
Cortland moved the ball to the 3-yard line, but a personal foul
face mask penalty pushed the ball back to the 19-yard line and the
Red Dragons eventually settled for a Mintz 22-yard field goal to
take a 10-0 lead. Another fumble on Kean's next possession gave the
Red Dragons a short field to work with at the 29-yard line. On the
next play, Smith scrambled to avoid a sack and then found Lascari,
who broke free behind the secondary for a wide open touchdown pass
and a 17-0 lead.
Kean mounted a touchdown drive on its next possession, covering 85
yards on 10 plays. The Cougars faked a punt on 4th-and-3 at their
own 42-yard line and Roque, who is also the team's punter, threw a
28-yard pass to Staton. Four plays later at Cortland's 23-yard
line, Roque threw a short pass to Williams, who broke a tackle at
the 17-yard line and raced in untouched for a touchdown. The extra
point failed, however, when the kick hit the crossbar.
Cortland extended the lead to 24-6 when Rickert converted a short
reception into an 8-yard touchdown with 9:58 left in the game.
Kean, however, answered with a 9-play, 65-yard touchdown drive.
Roque's 3-yard sneak on 4th-and-1 kept the drive alive at the
Cortland 41-yard line and his 13-yard run to the 1-yard run set up
Chunn's scoring burst up the middle.
Kean then recovered an onsides kickoff, only to be called for being
offsides. The Cougars, however, tried another onsides kickoff and
also recovered that one at their own 44-yard line with 7:24
remaining. Kean drove to the Red Dragon 5-yard line and set up for
a 22-yard field goal attempt. They faked the kick, however, and
holder Shane Meyer (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) ran to the left and dove to
the pylon but was stopped just short with 3:34 left. Cortland
gained two first downs on its next possession to run out the
clock.
The Cougars host NJAC-rival Montclair State University during
Homecoming festivities next Saturday, October 14. Kick-off is
slated for 2 p.m.
