Brockport, NY – On Saturday the Golden Eagle football team will be on the road again for an Empire 8 matchup against the Hilbert Hawks. Kickoff is scheduled for 12pm, as the two programs faceoff for the first time ever.
DATE – TIME: October 19, 2024 – 12pm
LOCATION: Hamburg, NY | Frontier High School
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Blowout Victory at Hartwick: Brockport stomped the Hartwick Hawks on the road in week six, 53-0. Following their third shutout of the season, the Golden Eagles moved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Empire 8.
Defensive Dominance: It was an absolute dominant showing from the Brockport defense from start to finish. The Golden Eagles allowed just 72 yards of total offense and gave up only four first downs the entire game. Hartwick ended up netting -15 rushing yards on 16 carries and only had 87 passing yards on 31 attempts. Brockport forced the Hawks to punt 12 times and had one interception, giving the defense 12 takeaways on the season (8 INT). The defensive unit had six tackles for loss, including two sacks on the day.
Ben Robinson led the team with five total tackles in the game, including a team-high four solo stops.
Marqwan Fluitt had a strong game with three solo tackles, including 1.0 sacks and 2.0 tackles for loss.
Elijah Grooms not only had his first interception of the season, but also joined
Alan Ramirez-Jimenez for 0.5 sacks each.
Malik Kelly played lockdown coverage on the outside with three pass breakups against the Hawks receivers.
Strong Showing Offensively: Staying balanced with the offensive attack, the Golden Eagles had a season-high 496 yards of total offense. It was a strong outing from the offensive line, as the group up front paved the way for season-high 257 rushing yards on 48 attempts (5.4 yards per carry) and five rushing touchdowns.
The run game saw five different ball carries get seven or more touches behind the strong o-line. Starter
Isaiah Simmons ran for 51 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a new career-high of eight rushing scores this year.
Cameron Mesh had a productive day with 79 yards and two rushing scores of his own.
Kyseem Springer got loose for a 51-yard run to give him 63 rushing yards for the game.
Michael Rende was the other Golden Eagle to find the endzone, going for 45 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Through the air, Brockport scored two more touchdowns and threw for 239 yards.
Ben Gocella threw for two touchdowns and 187 yards on the day, marking 1,000 yards in the season for the first time in his collegiate career (1,015 passing yards). He found
Nolan Slywka and
Daniel Manneh five times each for 74 and 66 yards respectively.
Brian Caldwell Jr. caught a touchdown for a third straight game. Freshman tight end
Tim Lewis celebrated his first collegiate reception with a touchdown catch from six yards out.
Hilbert's Recent Beginning: The Hilbert College Hawks are currently in their third year as a football program, beginning in 2022. Still looking for their first ever NCAA victory, Hilbert went 0-7 in 2022, 0-8 in 2023, and is 0-6 currently in 2024. This season the Hawks have entered as fellow members of the Empire 8 Football Conference. They are 0-3 in conference play going into Saturday's E8 clash with Brockport.
Looking at the Hawks: In their first Empire 8 season, the Hilbert Hawks are currently 0-6 overall and 0-3 in the conference. Most recently the team fell to St. John Fisher at home, 52-6. Hilbert scored its second touchdown of the season, thanks to an 81-yard run by Mike Hanlon. Hanlon has two rushing scores on the season, leading the offense with 446 yards on the ground. The Hawks have only attempted six passes all year, going for 45 yards on three completions with three interceptions. On defense, it is Taivaughn Roach leading the way with 54 total stops, including 31 solo tackles. Hilbert averages 114.8 yards per game on offense and allows 418.3 yards per game defensively.
Receiving Top 25 Votes: Following last weekend's slate of games around the country, the popular media outlet D3football.com released its newest Top-25 rankings. This time around Brockport cracked into the receiving votes category, earning three Top-25 votes in the latest poll.
Nationally Recognized Defense: Halfway through the regular season, the Brockport defense has demonstrated once again that it is one of the best units in all of D3 football. At 4-1 overall, the defense has posted three shutouts after blanking St. John Fisher and Hartwick in back-to-back weeks. The Golden Eagles are ranked high nationally across several team statistics on the defensive side of the ball:
Rushing Defense – 6th (53.0 yards per game)
Scoring Defense – 7th (8.8 points per game)
First Downs Defense – T-7th (59 first downs allowed)
Team Passing Efficiency Defense – 11th (95.29 Pass. Eff.)
Total Defense – 16th (233.0 yards per game)
Passes Intercepted – T-22nd (8 INT)
Brockport Rushing Attack: The Golden Eagles offense features the second-best rushing attack in the E8 and the leading rusher in the conference.
Isaiah Simmons is averaging 107.4 yards rushing a game (18
th in the nation) and 6.91 yards per carry (14
th in the nation). Simmons has punched the ball into the endzone for eight rushing scores. Behind the strong play of the offensive line, Brockport also has seen rushing touchdowns from
Cameron Mesh (2) and
Michael Rende (1). As a unit, the Brockport offense is averaging 180.0 yards per game on the ground.
Throwing the Ball: After last week's win, Brockport's
Ben Gocella surpassed 1,000 yards on the season for the first time in his career. The sophomore has a career-best 1,015 yards with 10 touchdowns through the air.
Nolan Slywka (27) and
Daniel Manneh (20) are the top targets in the passing game with 20+ receptions each. Slywka is tops on the team with 345 receiving yards and three touchdown catches. Manneh has two touchdown receptions to go with 326 yards.
Brian Caldwell Jr. has found the endzone through the passing game in three straight games.
Getting Stops: Linebacker
Ben Robinson continues to lead the Brockport defense with 42 total tackles (19 solo), ranking sixth in the E8 in tackles. Robinson has 1.5 sacks, 2.0 tackles for loss, one pass breakup, and two QB pressures. With 33 total tackles (19 solo),
Mike Talbert Jr. is second on the team in tackles for the top defense in the conference. Up front,
Jayson Thomas holds down the center of the defensive line. He has 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, while forcing one fumble and coming up with two fumble recoveries.
Rushing the QB: With 14 sacks on the season so far, the Golden Eagle pass rush ranks second in the E8 (Utica – 15 sacks).
Mike Talbert Jr. leads the Green and Gold with 3.5 sacks for a total loss of 20 yards. He is second in the conference in sacks so far this season.
Marqwan Fluitt and
Andre Marianetti both have two sacks for the defense so far, and combined for nearly 10 QB hurries. Fluitt has also forced a pair of fumbles as a rusher off the edge.
Secondary Playmakers: Brockport's defense is leading the Empire 8 with eight interceptions, with three players in the top five in the conference individually.
Malik Kelly is tied for first in the E8 with three picks, while
Kyle Haettich and
Mike Talbert Jr. each have two. Kelly has a total of six pass breakups from the corner spot and his counterpart on the other side of the field,
Marquis Wright, has three breakups. Kelly is T-9
th in the nation in pass breakups and T-13
th in the nation in interceptions per game.
Special Teams Success: Dan Giangrasso remains in his spot as the top punter in the Empire 8 with an average of 44.4 yards per kick, which would rank fourth in the nation. He has six punts of 50+ yards and six times he down a punt inside the 20.
Sal Montaperto is now 2-for-4 on field goals this season (Makes from 28 & 21) and 21-for-23 on extra points.
In the return game, the lone touchdown this season has come from
Daniel Manneh's 81-yard touchdown on the punt return in week two. With just four returns to his name, Manneh is averaging 30.0 yards per run back on the punt.
Joshua Limage leads the group of kickoff returners with 164 total yards, averaging 20.5 yards across eight attempts this season.
Empire 8 Standings: Heading into week seven of the regular season, here is a look at the current standings in the Empire 8:
- Cortland – 5-0, 3-0 E8
- Brockport – 4-1, 2-0 E8
- Utica – 3-2, 1-1 E8
- Alfred – 3-2, 1-1 E8
- St. John Fisher – 2-3, 1-1 E8
- Morrisville – 2-3, 1-1 E8
- Hartwick – 1-4, 0-2 E8
- Hilbert – 0-6, 0-3 E8
Returning Home: Following the trip to play Hilbert, the Golden Eagles will return to their home turf in week eight. They will host Morrisville on Saturday, October 26
th for a 2pm start at Bob Boozer Field.
