MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Cortland outgained Morrisville 518-83 in total offense and the nationally 19th-ranked Red Dragons improved to 4-0 with a 58-7 road win over the Mustangs in the Empire 8 opener for both teams.
Brees Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder) completed 17-of-25 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns before being replaced early in the third quarter. Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) completed both of his pass attempts, including one for a score. Cortland rushed for 309 yards, spread out relatively evenly over four players. Jaden Alfanostjohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) carried eight times for 77 yards and two scores. Dom Gombetto (Fairport), in his first start of the season, ran 17 times for 76 yards and one touchdown. Matt Hull (Sherburne/Sherburne-Earlville) ran nine times for 64 yards and Jahon Moore (Hillside, NJ) carried seven times for 56 yards and one score.
Four Red Dragons each caught one touchdown pass. Derek Cruz (Oceanside) finished with eight catches for 86 yards and a score and JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) had four catches for 32 yards and a TD. Ky'Sawn Veale (Norwich) and Trevor Ash (Auburn) each caught a TD pass among their two receptions.
Cortland held a 40:31-19:29 advantage in time of possession and limited the Mustangs (1-4, 0-1 Empire 8) to four first downs, two of which came by penalty. Will Ruckert (Lindenhurst) and Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia) each made four tackles, with two of Ruckert's resulting in lost yardage. Jarrell Young (Albany/CBA) and Mike Pellittiere (Fairport) were each credit with forced fumbles.
Jo Miller-Labar led Morrisville's defense with 11 tackles, 10 solo, and a pass breakup. Philem Benjamin added seven tackles.
Cortland scored on its first eight possessions. Patrick Luby (Ridgewood, NJ) opened the scoring with a 35-yard field goal just over six minutes into the game, and Gombetto's 11-yard TD run about two minutes later made it 9-0. Segala threw an 9-yard TD pass to Ash early in the second quarter, and Cortland recovered an ensuing onside kickoff that eventually led to a 10-yard strike from Segala to Cruz to push the lead to 22-0. Laap caught a 4-yard TD pass with 3:20 left in the half, and on Morrisville's next drive Mark Noel (Staten Island/Port Richmond) intercepted a pass and returned the ball 39 yards to the Mustangs' 5-yard line. Alfanostjohn ran in from two yards out three plays later and the Red Dragons led 38-0 at halftime.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Alfanostjohn made a nice open-field cut and scored on a 35-yard rush to make it 42-0. On the following kickoff, Pellittiere forced a fumble that Zack Thuesen (New Fairfield, CT) recovered at the Morrisville 30-yard line. It took only three plays before Moore ran in from eight yards out. Cortland's final touchdown came on Boyes' 8-yard pass to Veale with 2:54 left in the third. The Red Dragons added a safety on the ensuing kickoff when the ball hit the returner and went into the end zone. He retreated to recover the ball but was tackled by a host of Red Dragons, led by Trey Greene (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt), to give Cortland a 58-0 lead.
Morrisville's defense broke up Cortland's shutout bid with 3:23 remaining. Jerome Davis scooped up a fumble at his own 20-yard line and raced untouched 80 yards for a score.
Cortland will host Brockport on Saturday at noon. The Golden Eagles and the Red Dragons were Empire 8 co-champions in 2019, but Brockport earned the league's NCAA automatic bid that season by virtue of an overtime win at Cortland.