Upper Montclair, NJ(10/5/02) - Junior quarterback J.J. Tutwiler (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) threw two second-half touchdown passes as SUNY Cortland scored 17 straight points en route to a 20-16 victory over Montclair State before a crowd of 1,225 at Sprague Field in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon.

Tutwiler finished with 261 yards as the Red Dragons (4-1, 2-1 NJAC) defeated MSU for the first time since the 1997 season. Montclair State's JOHN DIGIROLAMO (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) threw for 283 yards as the Red Hawks (1-3, 0-1 NJAC) lost a conference game for just the second time in their last 18 NJAC contests.

Montclair led 10-3 in the third quarter before Cortland tied the score with 9:12 left after marching 93 yards. Tutwiler kept the drive alive with a six-yard, third-down completion to Neal Heaton, Jr. (Bellport, NY/Bellport). Three plays later at the Cortland 42 - again on third-down, Tutilwer scrambled away from three defenders before finding a wide-open Heaton at the MSU 24. Heaton then raced the final yardage to tie the game at 10-10.

After a Montclair punt and blocking penalty that pinned the Red Dragons at their own 4, Cortland marched 96 yards in 12 plays that took over five minutes. A Tutwiler 25-yard pass to Rocco Colucci (East Northport, NY/Northport) helped bring the ball down to the MSU 17. After an incompletion, Tutwiler connected with Tony Romano (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) for a 17-yard touchdown and a 17-10 Cortland lead with 11:18 to play in the fourth quarter.

Things then got worse for Montclair State as a low snap on a punt forced a turnover on downs as the Montclair 26 yardline. The Red Dragons then converted that miscue into a 35-yard field goal by George Oostmeyer (Islip, NY/Calhoun).
Montclair State's final touchdown came with time expired as DiGirolamo connected with JASPER HANKINS (Union, NJ/Union) on a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

In a mistake-filled first-half that saw both teams have long touchdown passes called back due to penalities, Montclair State took a 7-0 lead with 1:11 to play in the second quarter as DiGirolamo hit STEVE ARMSTRONG (Paterson, NJ/St. Mary's (Rutherford)) on an eight-yard scoring strike. But Cortland came back just before the half as they moved the ball 66 yards before Oostmeyer booted a 34-yard field goal at the gun.

Tutwiler completed 20-of-35 passes, including seven to Joe Marzullo (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), who finished with 59 yards. Heaton, Jr. had four catches for 94 yards. DiGirolamo was 14-of-31 for 283 yards, including six to ERIC MAGRINI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills), who had 108 receiving yards. Colucci had two catches as he became the ninth player in Cortland history to reach the 100-catch plateau.

MSU's JERMARL BUIE (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) rushed for 135 yards on 19 carries, while Cortland's Steve Davis (Central Islip, NY/Central Islip) had 83 yards on 20 carries.