Brockport overcomes a slow start to emerge Victorious over Alfred St
By: David Premyslovsky/Satff Writer
BROCKPORT, NY - Fresh off a bye week, the Brockport Golden Eagles traveled south to take on the Alfred State Pioneers as the quest for the Empire 8 Championship heats up. Down 14-0 after a start plagued by turnovers and defensive lapses, Brockport scored 24 unanswered points en route to a 24-14 victory, the fourth straight for the Golden Eagles.
Alfred State entered the matchup, averaging 43.6 points per game, and wasted no time getting on the board. Through a balanced air and ground attack, the Pioneers opened the scoring on their first drive, capped off by a three-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Chase Shepanski. After a two-yard rushing touchdown from Ryan Joseph in the early second quarter, the Golden Eagles found themselves in a 14-0 hole for the second game in a row.
“We just have to stay resilient,” said Jayden Ferrell on how Brockport rallied after going down early. “We have a whole bunch of competitive guys around each other. We’re not trying to lose, so we just had to come back and strike, strike hard,” added Ferrell.
On the Ensuing drive, Brockport quarterback Zymier Jackson led a 71-yard drive, punctuated by a 13-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Slywka to get Brockport back into the game. Following a huge defensive stand, Jackson and Brockport marched 70 yards in 3:29 to tie the game going into halftime via another receiving touchdown by Slywka.
“We just had to take a deep breath and settle in,” said Austyn Gollnitz on the message to the team at the break.
With the score tied 14-14 midway through the third quarter. Christopher Bascetta had his field goal blocked and returned to the Brockport 28-yard line. After a defensive stand by Brockport, Alfred St. attempted a fake field goal that was thwarted by Darius Cervi to keep the score level.
After a series of punts from both teams, and with Alfred St. pinned back at their own 20 yard line, Austyn Gollnitz intercepted Shepanski and returned it the endzone for what ended up being the game-winning score.
“Just pre-snap, I had a feeling, had a tingle, and made a play.” Said Gollnitz on his pick-six.
On the subsequent Alfred State drive, the Pioneers attempted a fake punt. Punter Benjamin Maurer threw a deep ball to Jordan Jackson that was broken up by Owen Ellis. Brockport added a Bascetta field goal on the following drive and held the Pioneers scoreless for the remainder of the game to improve to 5-0 all-time vs. Alfred St.
“I love the way we battle. We come out, second week in a row, Fisher had us down, Alfred St had us down, but we keep fighting, so that’s good,” said Gollnitz on his positive takeaways from the game.
Jackson finished 19-of-28 for 194 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Nolan Slywka led the Brockport receiving game with 11 receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Anthony Diaz totaled 42 yards on two catches; Luke Lockhart brought in three catches for 29 yards; Allan Paul recorded 19 yards on one catch, and Dylan Caraballo finished with two receptions for 14 yards.
Paul led the Brockport rushing attack with 136 yards. Jackson finished with 22 yards on the ground; Derrion Battle gained 18 yards rushing; and Anthony Vino totaled one yard.
Defensively, Colton Thorp finished with eight tackles; Ari Gefell and Ferrell both had five tackles and two sacks, Nazhier Wilson recorded six tackles and a sack, Cervi made six tackles; and Gollnitz totaled five tackles and an interception as the Brockport defense held Alfred St to 174 yards of total offense.
“We came out and played football,” said Ferrell on the defensive play for Brockport. “The fisrt half wasn’t us at all. I just felt we had to come out that second half and dominate,” added Ferrell on what changed in the second half.
With the win, Brockport improves to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in Empire 8 play. The Golden Eagles will be back in action on Saturday, October 24th, as they host the SUNY Morrisville Mustangs. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.
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