Junior running back Jala Coad carried the ball 35 times for a career-high 214 yards and the Brockport defense held the University of Rochester to just 134 yards of total offense in a 16-7 victory at home on Saturday. The last and only other time Coad broke the 200+ yard marker in the green and gold was back in 2019, when Bport topped host Cortland in overtime.
Brockport, which is receiving votes in the latest D3football.com National Poll, improved to 2-1 on the year heading into their bye week. The Golden Eagles return to action on October 2nd when they travel to St. John Fisher College for the 16th annual Courage Bowl at 6 p.m. The Courage Bowl has grown into one of Camp Good Days' largest fundraisers since its inception in 2004. Each year, St. John Fisher and Brockport square off in a game to benefit Camp Good Days.
The Golden Eagles controlled the time of possession, 38:13-21:47, on the afternoon with strong defensive play and a sound rushing attack. The defense picked off three passes and held the Yellowjackets to a 1-for-13 effort on third down. Brockport posted 260 yards on the ground and 406 yards of total offense to earn the nine point victory.
Brockport struck first when freshman quarterback Jack Cheshire found receiver Alex Benson on a slant with 6:08 to go in the first quarter. Benson made one tackler miss and was off to the races as he scored from 26 yards out and gave Brockport a 6-0 lead. Brockport's scoring drive was nine plays for 80 yards and ate up 3:13 of the first quarter clock. Cheshire finished the day with 17 completions for 146 yards and one touchdown.
Rochester (1-2) did not make it easy on the Golden Eagles and took the lead early in the second quarter when Nicholas Petruzziello scoped up a fumble at the 50-yard line and took it to the house to hand the Yellowjackets a 7-6 lead. Petruzziello finished the day with four tackles for UofR.
Both defenses stood strong for the remainder of the first half and the score was set at 7-6 in favor of the Yellowjackets heading into the halftime intermission.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Brockport freshman kicker Nate Wigent knocked down a 26-yard field goal to cap an 11-play 46-yard drive to hand the Golden Eagles their first lead since the first quarter, 9-6, with 11:23 to go in regulation. Wigent now has two field goals on the season for Bport.
Midway through the fourth quarter the Golden Eagles capitalized on a key interception by Kenny Hernandez that set the Bport offense up with excellent field position at the Rochester 25 yard line. Jala Coad took the ensuing play 25 yards on the ground for the score to hand the home team a two score lead, 16-7, with 9:36 left in regulation.
The Brockport defense took over from that point and held Rochester to two punts and a turnover on downs to seal the victory for the three-time defending Empire 8 champions. Brockport is now 22-2 in its last 24 home games over the course of the last four seasons.
Senior receiver Imhotep Cromer caught nine balls for 83 yards on the day to lead the Brockport aerial attack for the third straight contest. Freshman Gino Fontanarosa carried the ball a career-high 10 times for 38 yards.
Brockport's defense was led by linebacker Ben Damiani who posted a team-high eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and picked off a pass. Ben Marshall made four stops, including one for a loss, while senior all-conference linebacker Lawrence Jenkins made four tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. Senior defensive end Josh Greenwood added three tackles, two QB hurries and one pass breakup.
Sophomore cornerback Raylens Boutin picked off his second pass of the season for Brockport and made three tackles. Boutins now has six career interceptions in just 15 games played. Hakeem Yaya posted four tackles and added one sack on the day.
U of R's Simon Weeren and Caden Cole each posted 15 tackles to lead the way for the Yellowjacket defense. Sophomore running back Daniel Papantonis carried the ball 10 times for 38 yards.
Brockport's marquee regular season matchup of the season on October 2nd at Fisher will also be the Empire 8 Conference opener for the Golden Eagles. For the game, Camp Good Days selects honorary coaches and cheerleaders for both teams. These are Camp Good Days campers who have been diagnosed with cancer and would normally not be allowed to participate in a real football game. The Camp Good Days Courage Bowl gives these campers that opportunity. At the conclusion of the Courage Bowl, the Teddi Trophy, named in memory of Teddi Mervis, Gary Mervis' daughter and the inspiration behind Camp Good Days, will be presented, which will later be inscribed with the date of the game, final score of the game, names of the six Honorary Coaches and the names of one player from each team who displays exceptional leadership and sportsmanship.
Defense & Ground Game Lead Brockport to Win Over Rochester at Home
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20210918_m6u5.xml
2021
Rochester
7
Brockport
16
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester (1-2) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Brockport (2-1) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
Sep 18, 2021