The SUNY Brockport football team jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half and held on for a 26-14 victory over visiting Utica College in Empire 8 Conference action at Bob Boozer Field on Saturday night. Junior runningback Jala Coad carried the ball 38 times for 167 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns to lead the way for the Golden Eagle Offense. Coad has scored atleast one touchdown in all six games this season as Brockport improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Empire 8 play.
Brockport returns home next Saturday when it hosts Hartwick College on Homecoming Weekend at 1 p.m. Utica saw its record fall to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
The Brockport defense was stout once again as it held Utica to just 54 yards rushing on the ground and 190 yards of total offense. Alaan Montgomery, Raylens Boutin and Ben Marshall each recorded one interception. Montgomery now has four interceptions in the last three games and five total for the season.
Brockport also managed the time of possession to the tune of 39:42-20:18 on the evening.
Freshman kicker Nate Wigent opened the scoring on the day when he drilled a 24 yard field goal to hand the Golden Eagles an early 3-0 lead with 7:28 to go in the first quarter. Wigent finished the day with six total points as he also made all three of his extra point attempts. He is 6-for-7 on field goal attempts this season and he has also made 13-of-14 extra points.
Freshman quarterback Jack Cheshire connected with Jala Coad for a 13-yard touchdown pass at the 9:44 marker of the second quarter to give Brockport a 10-0 lead early in the contest.
Imhotep Cromer took an end-around seven yards for a score in the final moments of the first half to cap an 11-play 60 yard scoring drive to hand Brockport a 17-0 lead headed into the locker room at the half. Cromer also caught three balls for 18 yards on the night.
Utica began to mount its comeback midway through the third quarter when quarterback Sonny Badyna connected with Nate Palmer on an 11-yard pass to make the score 17-7. Less than ten minutes late, the Pioneers punched in their second and final score of the day when Badyna scored from two yards out to make it a one score contest, 17-14.
The Golden Eagles took advantage of two special teams' miscues down the stretch to seal the victory. Utica lined up to punt with just over ten minutes to go in the contest, and fumbled the long snap, forcing punter Maki Medici into a ten yard loss and a turnover on downs at the Utica two yard line.
Brockport's offense took advantage of the excellent field position and Coad scored from two yards out on the next possession to give Brockport a 24-14 lead with 9:11 left in the contest.
On Utica's next possession, Brockport forced a Pioneer punt which was blocked out of the back of the endzone for a safety to give the Golden Eagles a 26-14 lead that they would not relinquish.
Ben Marshall added an interception down the stretch to essential slam the door shut on any chance of a Utica rally.
Lawrence Jenkins made a team-high seven stops on the day, while Ben Marshall posted four tackles. Reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year Raylens Boutin finished the day with one sack, one interception and three tackles, while Andrew Covais, Kenny Hernandez, Josh Greenwood and Ben Damiani also added three tackles a piece.
Jala Coad has rushed for over 160 yards on three occasions this season and he has 10 total touchdowns. Brockport has now defeated Utica in five straight meetings.
Utica linebacker Kwasi Addo lead all tacklers with 15 on the day and Jimmie Warren posted nine tackles of his own. Utica quarterback Sonny Badyna completed 11-of-30 passes for 136 yards, but he also threw three interceptions. Lamont Mcgriff was Utica's leading rusher with 34 yards on the ground, while Elijah Parker caught four balls for a game-high 78 yards in the air.
Brockport Tops Utica in Empire 8 Action
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211016_amcb.xml
2021
Utica
14
Brockport
26
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica (4-2) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Brockport (4-2) | 3 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 26 |
Oct 16, 2021