ONEONTA, NY – The Utica College football team outscored host Hartwick College 27-9 in the second half to rally for a 52-40 victory over the Hawks in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday at Wright Stadium. The Pioneers have now won seven games for just the second time in program-history and will await a possible berth into next weekend's ECAC Bowl games. The ECAC Bowl game selections will take place on Monday.
Utica (7-3, 5-3 Empire 8) matched its program-best seven win season which was set back in 2014 when the Pioneers earned their first bid into an ECAC Bowl game in program-history.
Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) threw for a career-high 412 yards and three touchdowns as the Pioneers rallied from a 31-25 halftime deficit to earn the victory. Utica senior receiver Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) caught a career-high 14 balls for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Beniquez became just the second player in program-history to catch 200 career passes. He also set a new single season record with 80 catches this season. He is now the fourth player in program-history to register over 2,000 career receiving yards. Beniquez is the first player to post over 200 yards receiving in a single game since Anthony Acevedo (252 yards) eclipsed 200 back in 2013 against Frostburg State.
Senior running back Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) carried the ball 27 times for 142 yards and added two scores. Burnett moved into second placed on the College's all-time list with 1,801 career rushing yards. He is just the second running back in program-history to rush for over 900 yards in a single season. He now has 920 yards rushing this season which ranks second on the College's single season list, just 26 yards shy of Mike Capra's single season record set back in 2005.
Freshman Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) rushed for three scores and tied the program-record for rushing touchdowns in a single season with 12.
Utica senior defensive lineman Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) set a new school-record with 4.5 sacks and he also led the Pioneers with eight tackles on the day. Matthew McCoy (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) added seven stops, while Matt Stone (Rochester, NY/Brighton) picked off one pass and broke up three others on the day. Chancellor Harris (West Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta) also added one interception and three pass break ups for Utica.
The two teams accumulated 1,147 yards of offense on the day. Utica posted a season-high 563 yards of total offense and the Pioneers' 52 point effort is the most points scored in a single game since week one of the 2014 season.
Both teams would combine for 49 points in the opening 21:12. Hartwick jumped in front 2:26 into the game on a Koree Reed 20-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Billy Pine. The Hawks would hold the advantage for the next 14 minutes. Brian McGovern kicked a 22-yard field goal to make it a 10-6 game, but the Pioneers would score a pair of touchdowns to go up 19-10.
Later in the second quarter, the two teams scored three touchdowns in 48 seconds. Pine found Brad Garcia for a 42-yard score and he would hit Reed for a 79-yard touchdown after VanGalen connected with Shawn Marchant (Kingston, NY/Kingston) for Utica. Marchant finished the day with five catches for 134 yards and one score for the Pioneers.
Koree Reed would corral his third touchdown catch of the half with 16 seconds left before the break to give Hartwick a 31-25 lead at the halftime intermission.
A VanGalen to Beniquez 52-yard score for the Pioneers with 9:32 remaining in the third quarter would put Utica in front for good. McGovern added a 27-yard field goal for Hartwick, but Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) would register a pair of touchdowns as the Pioneers built a 45-34 advantage.
A 34-yard strike from Pine to Garcia got the Hawks back to within five, 45-40, with 4:17 left. Utica would then face a 3rd and 7 from midfield with the Hawks needing one stop to get the ball back with under three minutes left, but Beniquez broke free after a short pass from VanGalen and he took it to the house to put the game away with 2:36 left in regulation.
Utica Football Defeats Hartwick in Regular Season Finale
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161112_93cq.xml
2016
Utica
52
Hartwick
40
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica (7-3) | 6 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 52 |
| Hartwick (2-8) | 10 | 21 | 0 | 9 | 40 |
Nov 12, 2016