UTICA, NY - Matt Brantley could not be stopped in Utica's season-opening thumping of Union College on Friday night at Gaetano Stadium. The experienced running back butchered the Garnet Charger defenders, leaving the Union gameplan in tatters by the end of game as the Pioneers came away with a 41-26 victory in their annual 271 Believe Bowl.
Union, despite out-rushing opponents by a 3-1 margin in 2023, found themselves on the receiving end of a Matt Brantley performance that will surely put the Empire 8 on notice. One of the Empire 8's "Players to Watch" in the pre-season, Brantley followed through on that prediction in week 1, rushing for 185 yards and flipping the game on it's head with a 90-yard house call to start the 3rd quarter. Brantley's main opposition in the battle for ground supremacy featured a combination of former 1,000 yard rushers in Michael Fiore and Jonathan Anderson. Despite both players hitting the 1,000 yard mark in 2023 for the Garnet Chargers, they were absolutely throttled by the Pioneers for all 60 minutes, with Fiore and Anderson gaining 34 and 17 yards respectively on the night.
The Pioneers as a whole put on a premier display of offensive dominance, picking up 503 total yards as opposed to Union's 303. The most notable part wasn't the amount of offense that Utica generated, but rather the way in which the Pioneers put up such staggering numbers. A veteran Pioneer squad, with loads of upperclassmen talent, showed off their discipline on Friday night. Utica's offense was a well-oiled machine that knew precisely when to push the tempo and when to slow things down. Utica's control of the clock was evident, as they held the ball for a colossal 36 minutes. A perfectly executed gameplan, along with some big swing plays were the keys to success for the Pioneers against a tough Union squad that received lots of votes in the preseason top-25 polls. Here's the full synopsis on how Utica football started off 2024 in the win column.
The first few drives of the game reflected the type of matchup that most were expecting last night, with both teams fighting hard for position. After a couple punts, Union pinned the Pioneers back within their own 10 yard line. With their backs against the wall, the Utica offense mounted a very composed 13-play 93-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 13 yard touchdown connection between QB Brett Fuller and TE Logan Kraft. That drive gave the Pioneers an early 7-0 lead, and was a sign of things to come for the orange and blue.
After that initial Pioneer push, the Garnet Chargers stole back some momentum, with Union signal-caller Patch Flanagan striking twice in 2nd quarter to give the Schenectady squad a 12-7 lead with halftime looming.
The Pioneers hit back late in the 2nd frame, with 2023 all-conference selection Sam Florio tearing through the Garnet Charger guard for a 35 yard gain, followed by a Florio 3 yard rush into the endzone.
Florio runs:
https://x.com/Utica_Pioneers/status/1832466198132367617
Despite Utica's 15-12 lead, Union still had the momentum in the matchup, and were driving deep into Utica territory with 4 minutes left until half. That was, until Eli Douglas found himself at the center of a momentum-swinging moment. With Union stationed at the Utica 40, Douglas, the Pioneers leading interception man from a year ago, nabbed an impressive interception. Douglas' heads up play allowed the Pioneers and Sam Florio to steal a last-second score and enter halftime with a 22-12 lead.
Douglas Interception:
https://x.com/Utica_Pioneers/status/1832467170686623836
The most impressive part about the Pioneer's first half performance was their ability to control the clock, and mount many long and fruitful scoring drives. Their greatest feat though, was how they navigated play entering the halftime break. The Pioneers had elected to defer after winning the opening coin toss, meaning they would have an immediate opportunity to build upon their 22-12 lead after halftime. Another complete and consistent drive would flip the game on it's head and give the Pioneers a dominating lead.
The Pioneers would go on to capitalize on their first 3rd-quarter opportunity. However, thanks to Matt Brantley, the drive was anything but long. In fact, the drive that blew the game wide open was around 10 seconds long, with Brantley getting the rock and blowing by the entire Union defense for a 90 yard score to open the 2nd half.
Brantley 90-yard touchdown:
https://x.com/Utica_Pioneers/status/1832467685034414538
Suddenly, the Pioneers had opened up a 29-12 lead on a Union team that did some damage in the NCAA Division III Tournament just a single year ago.
Union began to hit the gas, attempting to make up some ground. Another timely stop by Utica slowed their roll, with Denzere Woolcock pocketing the second Pioneer interception of the night midway through the 3rd quarter.
It was here that Union found a swing play of their own, picking off Brett Fuller on a 50-50 play and returning the interception for a score.
With Union starting to get back in the game, the Pioneers returned to the 1st half gameplan: slow and steady.
Utica used back-to-back 6-minute drives to salt away the clock, making it very difficult for a running-oriented Union team to get back into the proceedings.
A couple Freddie Callo field goals, along with a Gabriel Zawalo touchdown tacked onto the late lead for Utica. Brantley added the finishing touches, bolstering his spectacular night and delivering the Pioneers a massive 41-26 victory in their season-opening contest.
There was lots to cheer about outside of Brantley and the clock-dominant offense of Utica.
Freddie Callo had a spectacular night, converting all 5 of his kicking opportunities including a 31 yard field goal make in the 3rd quarter.
The Pioneers also converted all 6 of their redzone opportunities against a Union team that only allowed 19 red zone scores in 64 tries just a season ago.
Utica's defense was huge as well, holding the Fiore-Anderson duo to only 49 yards rushing. Along with the 2 interceptions on the night, the Pioneer D also nabbed 2 sacks courtesy of Norman Booth and John Stroughn.
Booth also led all Pioneer tacklers with 6, followed by Cam'ren Brister and Darius Johnson who each had 5.
Oh yeah… this also happened last night too…
Cianfarani jaw-dropping catch:
https://x.com/Utica_Pioneers/status/1832468538369491187
There were many things to be happy about for the Pioneers on Friday, but they'll turn their attention to next week's matchup against Moravian. Utica will visit the Greyhounds and look to build on their week 1 success, keep an eye out for next week's football preview where we'll dissect that matchup.
A special thank you to James Brown and Jeremy Horowitz of WPNR for calling last night's matchup on the Empire 8 network.
WPNR named Sam Florio and Matt Brantley as their Players of the Game. You can find more from WPNR by following the link below:
WPNR X:
https://x.com/WPNR907?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Brantley, Pioneers Utilize Unbelievable Offense in 41-26 Victory Over Union College
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20240906_ugdg.xml
2024
Union
26
Utica
41
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union (0-1) | 0 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| Utica (1-0) | 7 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 41 |
Sep 06, 2024