The Utica College football team scored 17 points in the third
quarter on its way to a 24-10 victory over Wilkes University in non
conference play in front of 2,750 fans on the turf at Charles A.
Gaetano Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Pioneer defense held the
Colonels to just 130 yards of total offense (41 yards passing) and
just three points in the second half as UC improved to 4-0 for the
first time in the program's ten year history. The contest was
a part of the College's Homecoming festivities.
"Today's game was a great test for our guys because we
faced a ton of adversity early on," said third year Head
Coach Blaise
Faggiano. "We responded in the third quarter and
this is the type of game that will prepare us for our tough
conference schedule."
The Utica offense was led once again by sophomore quarterback
Andrew
Benkwitt who tallied 239 yards and three touchdowns on
the day. Freshman Justin
Becker came on strong in the second half, rushing for 117
yards on just 13 carries, to help UC dominate time of possession in
the final 30 minutes.
Wilkes has now lost two in a row to Empire 8 Conference opponents
(44-7 loss against Springfield last week) and falls to 1-2 overall
on the year. Zach Tivald led the rushing attach for the Colonels
with 70 yards on 17 carries. Senior Kevin Gerhart and freshman Tate
Moore-Jacobs led the way for a stingy Wilkes defense with 16 and 15
tackles, respectively.
"I give a ton of credit to Wilkes – their defense is
very strong," said Faggiano. "They are the typical hard
hitting, tough Pennsylvania, New Jersey team that is always
difficult to score against. They are a very good team."
The first half proved to be an offensive struggle for both squads
as the two teams combined for just 14 points and 250 yards of total
offense. Each team punted four times in the first half and four
costly penalties by the Pioneers resulted in a 7-7 tie at the
half.
The Pioneers did, however, get on the board first when junior
receiver Josh
Mason capped a five play 46 yard drive with an 11 yard
touchdown snag from Benkwitt to give UC a 7-0 lead with 11:37 to go
in the half.
Just over two minutes later the Pioneers botched a punt, which was
recovered by Wilkes, and a personal foul penalty gave the Colonels
the ball on the Utica nine yard line. On the next play Tivald
punched in the final touchdown of the half on the ground to knot
the score at 7-7 with 9:22 to go in the half.
The Pioneer defense, led by sophomore Genaro
Scampone's seven tackles, stood strong in the third
quarter to give the UC offense, which led the nation in scoring
headed into the game, a chance to get out on top.
Sophomore kicker TJ
Losowski started the second half scoring with a 36 yard
field goal at the 9:36 ledger of the third quarter to give UC a
10-7 lead. 6:36 later junior receiver Jeremy
Meier caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from Benkwitt to
put the Pioneers on top for good, 17-7. An interception by
sophomore cornerback Jonathan White with 2:13 to go in the third
quarter led to the Pioneers' final score of the day. Sophomore
tight end Matt
Dunn caught a 22 yard pass from Benkwitt with 1:13 to go
in the third to close out the UC scoring.
Wilkes would add a 39 yard field goal by Chris Horn with just
under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter but that was as
close as the Colonels would get as the Pioneers earned the 14 point
non conference victory.
Meier finished the day with five catches for a game-high 71 yards,
while senior fullback Tim Millerick added four catches for 35
yards. Five different players tallied atleast five tackles for the
Pioneer defense including senior linebacker Travis
Ladd (six), classmate Kevin
Hennion (six), defensive end Tracy
Branch (five) and Terrell
Cunningham (five ). Branch also added a sack, giving him
12 for his career. He needs just 2.5 more sacks to tie the
school-record.
Utica returns to action for the third of a four game home stand,
this time against conference rival St. John Fisher College, under
the lights at Gaetano Stadium next Saturday. The contest is
scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and it is the first night football
game for the Pioneers in program-history. Today's game will
be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports multiple times over the
course of the next few weeks and it will be available on Time
Warner Sports "On-Demand".
Wilkes returns home next Saturday to take on Albright at 1
p.m.
--- www.ucpioneers.com ---
STRONG SECOND HALF GUIDES UTICA TO WIN OVER WILKES
Sep 25, 2010