Montclair, NJ – The Cortland quarterback tandem of Tyler Augliano (Watertown, NY / Watertown) and Tyler Hughes (Scranton, PA / West Scranton) combined to throw four touchdown passes as the Red Dragons scored the final 31 points in a 48-14 victory over Montclair State on Saturday.
Junior wide receiver John Babin (Warwick, NY / Warwick Valley) pulled in three TD receptions tying a pair of school record as Cortland (3-2, 3-0 NJAC) won its second straight while staying unbeaten in the conference.
Sophomore wide receiver Aaron Williams (West Orange, NJ / Jonathan Dayton) tied a school record with 12 receptions for Montclair State, which fell to 1-5 (0-3 NJAC) with their fourth consecutive loss. Williams also had 153 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Red Dragons, which improved to 18-11-1 in the all-time series, jumped to a 17-0 lead as it scored on their first three possessions, two of which began deep in Montclair State territory. A mishandled punt snap gave Cortland the ball at the MSU 15 which turned into a 32-yard field goal by Nick Daley (Saratoga Springs, NY / Saratoga Springs) with 10:41 left.
Two plays into the next drive, Devonte Davis (Buffalo, NY / Cleveland Hill) intercepted a pass at the Montclair 25 and Cortland turned that into a touchdown as Augliano hit Babin on five-yard score for a 10-0 advantage with 8:23 to go. The Red Dragons forced a punt on Montclair's next possession and scored again with Hughes capping of a 61-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown making the score 17-0.
Montclair answered as Ryan Davies (Lanoka Harbor, NJ / Howell) found a streaking Williams down the right sideline for a 56-yard touchdown strike as MSU trimmed the lead to 17-7 with 2:54 left in the opening period. The Red Hawks then got a huge opportunity as Matt Mancino (Wall, NJ / Wall) picked off Augliano on the next play giving MSU the ball at the Cortland 16. But Montclair State couldn't cash in as a 20-yard field goal went wide right as Cortland led 17-7 after one quarter.
The missed field goal loomed larger for Montclair in the second as Davies connected with Clinton Coffey (Roselle, NJ / Roselle) for a 33-yard score as MSU pulled within 17-14 with 11:25 to play before halftime.
But from that point on it was all Cortland as the Red Dragons scored the final points of the contest with 21 coming in the final 8:31 of the quarter. Sophomore wide receiver DJ Spencer (Buffalo, NY / Cleveland Hill) made a beautiful sideline end zone grab for a 33-yard touchdown and Autera ran in from nine yards out for a 31-14 lead. Babin, who finished with eight catches for 124 yards, completed the half with a 67-yard catch-and-run for a score giving Cortland a 38-14 lead at the break.
Daley added a 30-yard field in the third quarter with Babin finishing off the scoring in the fourth with a 12-yard touchdown reception from Hughest. It was the third of the day for Babin, who tied the Cortland single-game which he already shares matching it for the third time. He also upped his career total to 23 tying him with Neal Heaton, Jr. (2001-04) and Eric Hajnos (2006-09) for the Red Dragon career mark.
Hughes ran for 62 yards in addition to going 5-of-8 for 50 yards in the air. Augliano was 9-of-18 for 160 yards and Dylan Peebles (Port Layden, NY / South Lewis) had 51 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Defensively the Red Dragons forced six turnovers and collected four sacks, including 2.5 by Jesse Scanna (Hollbrook, NY / Sachem North). Carson Lassiter (Madison, NJ / Madison) had a team-high 11 tackles along with an interception.
Davies finished 11-of-16 for 164 yards for Montclair State before leaving the game late in the second quarter. Gabe DiMasi (West Caldwell, NJ / Montclair Kimberly) was 10-of-19 for 118 yards. Coffey and Malcolm Robinson (Bayonne, NJ / Bayonne) each had three receptions. Senior linebacker Adnan Sakiri (Ramsey, NJ / Ramsey) had eight tackles for the Red Hawks with Dan Avento (Montvale, NJ / Pascack Hills) and C.J. Conway (Folsom, NJ / Hammonton) each posting seven.
Montclair State outgained Cortland 354-353, including a 143-54 edge in rushing yards.
Montclair State is now off until Saturday, October 26 when it travels to Morrisville, NY for a 12:00 pm NJAC matchup with Morrisville State, which knocked off Rowan 41-21 on Saturday. Cortland stays on the road heading to Brockport for a 4:00 pm game on October 19.