Cortland, NY (10/1/05) - Sophomore quarterback Alex Smith completed 16-of-31 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score as Cortland defeated Montclair State, 39-14, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest.
The Red Dragons upped their record to 4-1 overall and a league-leading 3-0 in the NJAC. Montclair is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Cortland scored the game's final 26 points, including 19 in the second half, to erase a 14-13 second quarter deficit. The Red Dragon defense allowed only 14 yards in the second half and 219 for the game, and limited the Red Hawks to 27 rushing yards on 31 attempts.
Cortland's offense gained 461 yards - 192 on the ground. Sophomore tailback Dustin Bowser rushed 21 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman tailback Andrew Giuliano carried
15 times for 68 yards, including his first collegiate touchdown. Junior Drew Lascari caught five passes for 98 yards and junior Anthony Morat made four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Cortland recorded six sacks - all in the second half - including two by junior defensive end Rich Coyne. Coyne, junior linebacker Matt Montpetit and junior safety Stef Sair each finished with five tackles.
Montclair senior quarterback
ERIC FERRIOL completed 10-of-19 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown . Junior wide receiver
FRED CARTER's three catches for 99 yards included an 80-yard touchdown. Senior linebacker
MORGAN BURKLOWmade 11 tackles, seven solo, and also recorded a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
Montclair mounted a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive on its first possession, capped by a 9-yard run from junior Billy Williams with 9:50 left in the first quarter. Cortland answered two possessions later with a 69-yard scoring drive. Bowser ran four yards on 4th-and-2 at the Montclair 29-yard line to keep the drive alive, and later ran two yards around left end for the touchdown.
Cortland used a 36-yard pass from Smith to Lascari to move to the Montclair 1-yard line on its next possession, but two plays later, from the 6-yard line, linebacker
SAL FAMA intercepted a short pass
to end the threat. On Cortland's next possession, Giuliano completed a six-play, 38-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. The extra point failed and Cortland led 13-7.
That lead was short-lived, however. After a touchback on the kickoff, Ferriol connected with Carter on the first play of the drive. Carter caught a pass at the Montclair 44-yard line, broke between two defenders and raced untouched for an 80-yard touchdown and a 14-13 lead for the Red Hawks.
Cortland's next two possessions ended with turnovers in Montclair territory, but the Red Dragons got another chance at their own 35-yard line with 1:26 left in the half and drove 65 yards in just over a minute. Smith's 32-yard pass to Lascari advanced the ball to the 11-yard line with 30 seconds left. On the next play, Bowser withstood an initial hit, kept his balance, and ran 11 yards for a touchdown.
Of Montclair's eight second-half possessions, six were four plays or less and seven advanced the ball less than 10 yards. Cortland took a 26-14 lead with 7:41 left in the third quarter on Smith's 15-yard touchdown pass to Morat. The Red Dragons attempted a two-point conversion after a penalty moved the ball inside the 2-yard line, but
DERRICK SIMMONS broke up the conversion pass. Cortland moved the ball inside the Montclair 10-yard line on its next two possessions before settling for 24-yard and 19-yard field goals by sophomore Derek Ziders. Smith completed the scoring with 7:16 remaining when his 1-yard sneak finished a 20-yard scoring drive.
The Red Hawks return home to Sprague Field for the first time in over a month as they host Kean University in its annual Homecoming Game. Montclair will celebrate former Montclair and NFL stadnout Sam Mills with a presentation at halftime of the event.
