Cortland State blanks WestConn, 45-0 in Colonials' NJAC home opener

DANBURY, CT (Sep. 25) — Justin Autera (Mahopac, NY) and Anthony Giuliano (Thornwood, NY) combined for 175 yards rushing and SUNY Cortland rolled to a 45-0 victory over Western Connecticut State University at The WAC on Saturday afternoon.

Autera rushed 18 times for 95 yards and scored two touchdowns, the first from nine yards out 10:34 into the contest and later from seven yards away. In three games, he has eight touchdowns overall, six rushing, one receiving and one on a kick-off return.

A minute into the second quarter, Guiliano gave the Red Dragons a 14-0 lead after taking the snap in the wildcat formation and scampering 73 yards. He compiled 186 all-purpose yards after hauling down a team-high five passes for 106 yards.

Nearly 11 minutes after his long run, Guiliano gave the visitors a 21-0 cushion after hooking up with quarterback Dan Pitcher (Cortland, NY) from 28 yards out .

Before intermission, Cortland State went on to score another touchdown, when Connor Tompkins (Ossining, NY) returned a block punt 15 yards with 1:07 remaining in the second quarter. It tacked on three more points on a 36-yard field goal from Marc Corrado (Newburgh, NY) four seconds before the break.

Pitcher completed 10 of 14 passes for 123 yards and the one TD.

Hudson Woodward (Beacon, NY) completed 2 of 5 tosses for 23 yards, seven coming on the touchdown toss to Ray Nichols (Nyack, NY) when the outcome had long been decided.

WestConn, 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, yielding a pair of touchdowns in the second half, but offensively could not penetrate Cortland 3-4 defense

Kevin Smolensky (Lyndhurst, NY) completed 17 of 27 passes for 103 yards. He was intercepted once and withstood four sacks from the Red Dragon defense.

Smolensky's top target was was former signal caller Chris Sloat (Stratford, CT) who pulled in seven catches for 42 yards on Saturday.

Tyler DeRosa (Miller Place, NY), who opened the season with 205 yards on 30 carries against Maritime College, was held to 41 yards on 14 carries against Cortland State.

For the game, Cortland, now 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the NJAC, amassed 462 total offensive yards but yielded just 110 total yards to the Colonials.

Defensively, Cody Allen (Medina, NY) and Bill Smith (Nanuet, NY) led the Red Dragons' defense with eight and seven tackles, respectively.

For WestConn, Tyrell Ballard (Bridgeport, CT) had a game-high 10 tackles including nine solo take downs.

The Colonials are on the road at William Paterson University next Saturday, October 2. Kick off is slated for 1 pm. Cortland heads to The College of New Jersey for 1 pm league start.

Box Score (Final)
Cortland vs Western Connecticut (Sep 25, 2010 at Danbury, Conn.)

Score by Quarters....... 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. Score
Cortland................ 7.. 24. 7.. 7.. 45. Record: (3-0,3-0)
Western Connecticut..... 0.. 0.. 0.. 0.. 0.. Record: (0-3,0-2)

Scoring Summary:
1st
04:26 CORTLAND Justin Autera 9 yd run (Marc Corrado kick)
2nd
14:00 CORTLAND AnthonyGiuliano 73 yd run (Marc Corrado kick)
03:10 CORTLAND AnthonyGiuliano 28 yd pass from Dan Pitcher (Marc Corrado kick)
01:07 CORTLAND Connor Tompkins 15 yd blocked punt return (Marc Corrado kick)
00:04 CORTLAND Marc Corrado 36 yd field goal
3rd
12:05 CORTLAND Justin Autera 7 yd run (Marc Corrado kick)
4th
09:58 CORTLAND Ray Nichols 16 yd pass from Hudson Woodward (Marc Corrado kick)