Sep 14, 2019
EWING, N.J. – Brett Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder) completed 20-of-44 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns, including two scores each to Cole Burgess (Greenwich) and Angelo Foster (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy), and Zach Tripodi (New Fairfield, CT) rushed for 121 yards on just 15 carries as Cortland defeated host The College of New Jersey, 31-7, in a non-league contest. The Red Dragons improved to 2-0 with the win while the Lions dropped to 0-2.
Cortland limited TCNJ to 267 total yards of offense (3.2 per play) and registered four interceptions – two by Evans Riviere (Woodberry Forest, VA) and one each by Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia) and Nick Hernandez (Lynbrook/Valley Stream South). Gregory Alfieri (Hawthorne/Westlake) led the Red Dragons with 14 tackles and a pass breakup, Stone Murray (Latham/Shaker) recorded 10 tackles and a breakup, and Riviere made nine stops and broke up a pass in addition to his two picks.
Segala tied a school record with his eighth career 300-yard passing game. He shares the mark with Steven Ferreira (2015-17). Foster finished with six catches for 73 yards and Burgess surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark for the second straight week with four catches for 103 yards. Jason Carlock (Babylon) caught four passes for 49 yards and Dave Stegemann (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) had three catches for 65 yards.
Freshman Nick Guglielmo (Staten Island/St. Peter's) made a 33-yard field goal and hit all four of his PAT kicks. Sophomore Liam Casey (Woodstown, NJ) averaged 39.4 yards per punt on seven kicks and freshman Patrick Luby (Glen Rock, NJ/Ridgewood) averaged 59 yards on his six kickoffs. All three saw action in place of usual starting kicker/punter Nick Mongelli (Marlboro), who was out due to injury.
TCNJ quarterback Andrew Donoghue completed 25-of-45 passes for 217 yards and a score but was sacked four times in addition to his four interceptions. Dave Jachera caught eight passes for 66 yards and Jack Clevenger made seven catches for 69 yards. Mark Pacini ran 14 times for 57 yards, but as a whole the Lions were limited to just 50 yards net rushing (1.3 per attempt).
Bryant Sanchez and Gavin Liepe led the hosts with seven and six tackles, respectively. All-American punter Zach Warcola averaged 40.3 yards per punt on seven attempts.
Cortland grabbed a 7-0 lead on just its second play from scrimmage on a 55-yard TD pass from Segala to Burgess. TCNJ tied the game early in the second quarter on a 12-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard TD pass from Donoghue to Vinny Guckin.
Tripodi broke free for a 69-yard run in the next series to move the ball to the TCNJ 16-yard line and the Red Dragons eventually settled for Guglielmo's 33-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead. Later in the quarter Segala hit Foster for a 14-yard score to wrap a 79-yard TD drive and Cortland led 17-7 at halftime.
Cortland scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to close the scoring. Dubuque intercepted a pass that he returned 18 yards to the TCNJ 13-yard line, and three plays later Burgess caught a 14-yard TD pass. The Red Dragons marched 80 yards on their next possession, highlighted by a Stegemann 38-yard reception, and Foster finished the drive with a 14-yard TD reception with 9:23 left in the period.
Cortland is idle next week and will host Buffalo State on Sept. 28 at noon on Hall of Fame and Homecoming Weekend.