MORRISVILLE, N.Y. - Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) completed 22-of-29 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns and both Boyes and Ashton Capone (Saratoga Springs) rushed for more than 100 yards as nationally 16th-ranked Cortland began Empire 8 play with a 52-15 win at Morrisville.
Cortland (3-1, 1-0 Empire 8) finished the game with a 659-281 advantage in total offensive yards. Capone rushed 18 times for 125 yards while Boyes ran 10 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns. JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) caught seven passes for 120 yards and a score, CJ Messina (Sayville) caught a 70-yard TD pass on Cortland's first play from scrimmage, Cole Burgess (Greenwich) caught six passes for 35 yards and a score, and Andrew Tarpey (Sparkill/Tappan Zee) caught a late TD pass.
Jack Winey (Lindenhurst) led the Cortland defense with seven tackles and Sam Cotton (Fulton/G. Ray Bodley) made five stops. Luke Winslow (Lansing) intercepted a pass and Jaden Martinez (Comsewogue) and Max Llewellyn (Sayville) each recorded a sack.
Morrisville quarterback Steven Frerichs completed 19-of-32 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Connor Marriott and Quamel Jarvis each caught five passes and Alex McBurnie and Jarrell Chaney each recorded a TD reception. Evan Salvaggio led the Mustangs (2-3, 0-1 Empire 8) with 13 tackles.
Morrisville opened the game by driving from its own 25-yard line to the Cortland 30 before turning the ball over on downs. On Cortland's first play, Messina caught a slant pass at around the Red Dragon 40-yard line and ran the rest of the way untouched for a 70-yard score. Morrisville, however, answered with a quick scoring drive that covered 75 yards on four plays, capped by Frerichs' 49-yard TD pass to McBurnie to tie the game at 7-7.
The game remained tied until midway through the second quarter. The Red Dragons marched 79 yards on 12 plays, with Jaden AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) covering the final three yards on a TD run to give Cortland a 14-7 lead with 8:55 left. Cortland's next series was another sustained drive of 71 yards on 10 plays. Boyes ran in from seven yards out with 2:08 left and the Red Dragons led 21-7.
A Winslow interception with 59 seconds left before halftime gave Cortland the ball at its own 10-yard line. The Red Dragons mounted a quick 86-yard drive on nine plays, highlighted by receptions of 22 and 15 yards by Laap, and Mike Baloga (New Windsor/Cornwall) hit a 21-yard field goal as time expired and Cortland led 24-7 at the break.
Cortland scored on the opening drive of the third quarter when Burgess caught a 2-yard TD pass to extend the score to 31-7. Morrisville had a quick response a few plays later on a 61-yard TD pass from Frerichs to Chaney, and a two-point conversion catch by Quamel Jarvis made it 31-15 with 9:52 left in the third.
The rest, however, was all Cortland as the Red Dragons forced punts on Morrisville's final five possessions. Boyes ran for a 9-yard TD with 4:31 left in the third and connected on a 38-yard TD pass to Laap with 2:52 remaining in the quarter. Boyes' 22-yard TD pass to Tarpey completed the scoring with 8:05 remaining in the fourth.
Cortland will host Utica University in an Empire 8 contest on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 1 p.m.
#16 Cortland Opens Empire 8 Play with 52-15 Win at Morrisville
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230930_spru.xml
2023
Cortland
52
Morrisville State
15
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Cortland (3-1) | 7 | 17 | 21 | 7 | 52 |
| Morrisville State (2-3) | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 15 |
Sep 30, 2023