Sophomore kicker Tyler Perna (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca) missed two field goals earlier in the game but connected on a 19-yard field goal with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to lift The College at Brockport Football team to a 17-14 victory over Cortland Saturday afternoon in Cortland.
Brockport (2-0) took advantage of a Cortland (0-2) mistake in the first quarter to take the early lead. Cortland mishandled a snap on the punt at the end of the first Red Dragon drive and Brockport took over with great field position. Five plays later, quarterback Wayne Bonsell (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) connected with freshman Nate Wilkinson (Elba, NY/Iroquois) on a three-yard completion in the end zone as the Golden Eagles took a 7-0 lead.
As time expired in the first quarter, Cortland capped a nine-play drive with a one-yard run into the end zone to knot the game at 7-7.
There was no scoring in the second quarter as the teams traded punts for most of the period. Brockport had a good scoring chance late in the quarter as Bonsell engineered a long 17-play drive that started at the Brockport 14 yard line and finished at the Cortland 11-yard line as Perna lined up for but missed a 28-yard field goal attempt.
Before the end of the half, Brockport threatened again as Bonsell drove the Golden Eagles inside the 20-yard line but had a pass intercepted in the end zone with five seconds left in the period.
In the third quarter, Cortland took a 14-7 lead on its second drive of the quarter as another one-yard run capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive.
Brockport answered quickly, driving 53 yards in 11 plays as Bonsell completed a 21-yard pass to Wilkinson. It was the third pass and catch to Wilkinson on the drive as the quarterback and receiver connected for 32 of the 53 yards in the drive.
Cortland took the ensuing kick return 61 yards deep into Brockport territory but Cortland quarterback John Grassi had a third-and-goal pass intercepted by sophomore Duchein Hicks (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/University School) in the end zone that kept the score tied.
In the final quarter, Brockport put together another long drive eating up nearly six minutes of the clock but stalling at the Cortland two-yard line. Perna was sent out for the 19-yard field goal attempt but the kick from the left hash mark was missed wide left with eight minutes left.
Four plays later, Brockport had the ball again thanks to a James Rupp (Sayville, NY/Sayville) interception and 20-yard return giving Brockport the ball in Cortland territory.
Bonsell led another long drive all the way to the Cortland two-yard line before the drive stalled again. After a Brockport timeout, Perna was sent out for the 19-yard field goal attempt again but this time the placement was inside the hash mark and the sophomore nailed the field goal for the Brockport 17-14 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
A short kickoff was handled by one of the Cortland up men in the kick return formation and returned 41 yards giving Cortland 1st-and-10 at the Brockport 27-yard line.
With no time outs remaining, Cortland drove down the field with a series of runs and an 18-yard pass completion. With a 3rd-and-goal situation from the one-yard line and time running out, the Red Dragon offense was confused on the play call and whistled for a false start with three seconds remaining. The penalty resulted in a 10-second run off of the clock ending the game.
Wilkinson finished with 10 catches and 113 yards while Bonsell was busy completing 32 of 54 passes for 292 yards and also picked up 76 yards on 11 carries. Sophomore Dan Andrews (Rochester, NY/Franklin) finished with 112 yards on 25 carries as Brockport racked up 485 yards of total offense. Sophomore Jake Brickler (Hilton, NY/Hilton) led the Brockport defense with nine tackles including seven solo stops.