Nov 02, 2019
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Brockport backup quarterback Jason Hellwig ran for an 11-yard touchdown during the second part of the first overtime to complete a comeback from a 23-0 first-half deficit and the Golden Eagles defeated host Cortland, 32-26, in a wild Empire 8 contest.
Brockport (7-1, 4-0 Empire 8) can clinch its third straight Empire 8 title with a win either at home next Saturday versus Alfred or at Morrisville on Nov. 16. Cortland (7-1, 4-1 Empire 8) needs to win next week at Hartwick and have Brockport lose twice in order to claim the league's NCAA automatic berth.
Trailing 26-20, Brockport started a drive at its own 19-yard line with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter. Hellwig, who replace injured starter Freddy June two series earlier, connected with Imhotep Cromer for a 36-yard pass on second down to the Cortland 42-yard line and then ran for 10 yards. Jala Coad, who finished with 39 rushes for 210 yards and two scores, broke free for a 32-yard TD run to tie the game at 26-26. Cortland's Travis Alvarez (Keyport, NJ), however, blocked the extra point to keep the game tied.
Each team still had an opportunity to win the game in regulation. Brockport sacked Brett Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder) for an 18-yard loss on 4th-and-9 from the Brockport 34-yard line with less than three minutes left. The Golden Eagles then drove to the Cortland 15-yard line, but Dustin Moyle's 32-yard field goal was wide left with 1:09 left. Taking over at its own 20-yard line, Cortland used three short completions to move to the Brockport 36-yard line, but a long pass with 44.3 seconds remaining was intercepted by Raylens Boutin at the 5-yard line and the teams headed to the first-ever overtime game between the schools.
Brockport won the toss and elected to play defense. After an incomplete pass and a 5-yard run, Cortland's third-down pass attempt was intercepted by Andrew Covais at the 15-yard line. Brockport's possession began with a 14-yard run up the middle by Coad. He was stopped for no gain on the next play, and Hellwig gave Brockport the win when he faked two handoffs, ran around the left end and, keyed by a block from receiver Alex Benson, dove into the end zone.
After a scoreless first period, Cortland scored 23 straight points in the second. Segala hit Jason Carlock (Babylon) on a 13-yard TD pass less than a minute into the quarter to cap a 30-yard drive set up by a short Brockport punt. A Liam Casey (Woodstown, NJ) 71-yard punt (matching the third-longest punt by a Cortland player since full records were first tacked in 1963) a few minutes later was downed at the Brockport 2-yard line, and on the next play Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia) tackled a Brockport runner in the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 Cortland lead.
Following the free kick, Cortland started on its own 30-yard line. On 2nd-and-13, Segala hit Angelo Foster (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) for a 43-yard pass, followed by a 10-yard completion to Cole Burgess (Greenwich). Tailback Zach Tripodi (New Fairfield, CT) then broke free for a 20-yard TD run and Cortland led 16-0.
Cortland's defense forced a turnover on downs at the Red Dragon 44-yard line, and Segala quickly completed passes of 24 yards to Carlock and 22 yards to Burgess to move the ball to the Brockport 10-yard line. Following a false start and a 1-yard run, Segala threw a 14-yard TD pass to Carlock to push the lead to 23-0 with 1:38 remaining.
Brockport, however, answered with a key drive right before the half. Raheen Gayden's 43-yard kickoff return set up the Golden Eagles at their own 47-yard line. Brockport converted three third downs on the drive – the first two on 12-yard and 17-yard catches by Cromer, and the last on June's 12-yard TD run on 3rd-and-4 with 7.2 seconds left, and Cortland's lead was 23-7 at halftime.
A blocked punt by Brockport's Elijah Aikens on Cortland's first possession of the third quarter gave the Golden Eagles the ball at the Red Dragon 15-yard line, and on 4th-and-6 from the 11-yard line June found Benson wide open in the end zone. Brockport's two-point conversion attempt failed and Cortland led 23-13.
Later in the third, Cortland started a drive on Brockport's 37-yard line and gained eight yards before Nick Mongelli (Marlboro) made a career-best 46-yard field goal – the longest by a Cortland player since the 2004 season – to extend the lead to 26-13. Brockport used a 41-yard pass from June to DaQuan Hubbard on third down to advance the ball to the Cortland 6-yard line on the last play of the third quarter, and two plays into the fourth Coad ran six yards for a score to cut Cortland's lead to six.
Brockport finished with a 458-334 advantage in total offensive yardage, 236-41 on the ground, and a 37:44-22:16 edge in time of possession. In addition to Coad's 210 rushing yards, June completed 14-of-25 passes for 186 yards and a score and Hellwig was 1-for-6 for 36 yards. Hubbard and Cromer each caught four passes. Alaan Montgomery made a team-high eight tackles, Covais had seven tackles and an interception, and Boutin finished with five tackles, an interception and two pass breakups.
Segala was 20-of-36 passing for 293 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Burgess made seven catches for 122 yards, while Foster and Carlock each caught four passes, and Tripodi ran for 71 yards on 16 carries. Casey averaged 41.2 yards per punt, with four of his six punts "inside the 20." Gregory Alfieri (Hawthorne/Westlake) and Dubuque each had 11 tackles, followed by Vincenzo Pagliaroli (Sparkill/Tappan Zee) and Paul Imperiale (East Meadow) with 10 stops each and Dylan Studer (Chenango Forks) and Devin Smith (Utica/Utica Notre Dame) with nine apiece.