Fisher Football Powers Past Pioneers

More news about: St. John Fisher

The St. John Fisher College football team won its third straight game, as the Cardinals cruised to a 56-0 win over visiting Alfred State College in the first-ever Friday night game at Fisher's Growney Stadium.

With the win, Fisher improves to 4-3 overall, while Pioneers fall to 0-7.  It is the program's first shutout since Fisher's 61-0 at Alfred State last year.

Fisher scored touchdowns on its first eight possessions, as the Cardinals tied the Fisher record for points in a quarter with 35 and set a new record with 56 points in the first half.

Both Steven Strumolo and James Chambers rushed for three touchdowns each in the opening half.

Starting quarterback Matt Naton rushed for a three-yard score on Fisher's first possession to put the Cardinals up for good just over 10 minutes into the game. Chambers then scored on runs from 37, 1 and 26 yards out to put the Cardinals up 28-0 with 4:08 left in the opening quarter.

Strumolo scored on a nine-yard run in the closing moments of the first quarter. 

Justin DiBernardo also got in on the action, scoring on a 12-yard pass from Danny Catan with 12:23 left in the second.

Strumolo added touchdowns on Fisher's next two possessions, scoring on a career-long 64-yard run and taking it into the endzone from 22 yards out on Fisher's next possession.

Strumolo tallied a career-high 150 yards on just eight carries, while Chambers gained 124 yards on nine carries (all in the first half).

Neither teams scored in the second half.

Defensively, senior Chris Smith led the Cardinals with 10 tackles and three sacks (both career-highs). Alec Mortillaro tallied six tackles and broke up four passes.

David Carroll (seven tackles) and Aaron Jones (six tackles) also each recorded a sack.

Fisher returns to action at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Ithaca College in a pivotal Empire 8 Conference matchup.  Both Fisher and Ithaca shared the Empire 8 title last year, but Ithaca earned the automatic bid, thanks to the Bombers 19-8 win at Fisher.