CORTLAND, N.Y.— Tyler Perna (West Seneca/West Seneca West) made a 19-yard field goal with two minutes, two seconds remaining and Cortland's final drive ended on a penalty at the Brockport 1-yard line as time expired as Brockport defeated host Cortland, 17-14, in a non-league game.
Junior tailback Dylan Peebles (Port Leyden/South Lewis) led Cortland with 37 carries for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Brockport quarterback Wayne Bonsell (Binghamton) completed 32-of-54 passes for 292 yards and two scores and Dan Andrews (Rochester/Franklin) rushed 25 times for 112 yards.
Sophomore cornerback Tyler Anderson (Sayville) and junior linebacker Troy Beddoe (Endicott/Union-Endicott) led Cortland's defense with nine tackles each. All of Anderson's nine tackles were solo stops. Beddoe finished with 1.5 tackles for losses. Senior safety Andrew Tolosi (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) recorded six tackles, an interception and three of Cortland's nine pass breakups.
For Brockport, Jake Brickler (Hilton) totaled nine tackles, 1.5 for losses. Matt Szymanski (Lancaster) had eight tackles, 2.5 for losses, and a forced fumble, while James Rupp (Sayville) and Duchein Hicks (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/University School) each intercepted a pass.
Rupp's 20-yard interception return to the Cortland 42-yard line set up Brockport's winning drive with 6:54 remaining. The Golden Eagles faced a 3rd-and-20 at the Red Dragon 40-yard line when Bonsell ran 21 yards on a quarterback draw to keep the drive alive. Cortland eventually held Brockport at the 2-yard line before Perna, who missed a 19-yard field goal on Brockport's previous drive, made the kick from the same distance to put the Golden Eagles ahead.
Brockport elected to squib kick the ensuing kickoff, and upback Peter Smith (Nanuet) returned the ball 41 yards to the Brockport 27-yard line before the kicker Perna made the tackle. With no timeouts remaining, Cortland rushed once before John Grassi (Oceanside) hit tight end Josh Riley (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill) for an 18-yard completion to the 8-yard line. Peebles gained five yards on first down and one yard on each of his next two carries. With the play clock off, Cortland was indecisive as to whether to run a play on fourth down or bring the field goal unit out. The Red Dragons tried to rush a snap, but were called for a penalty with three seconds left. A 10-second runoff was assessed for an offensive penalty in the final minute of the half and the game ended.
Brockport scored in the first quarter on a 3-yard pass from Bonsell to Nate Wilkinson (Elma/Iroqouois) to cap a 20-yard scoring drive set up by a wild Cortland punt snap. The Red Dragons tied the game on a Peebles 1-yard run on the final play of the first quarter.
Tolosi intercepted a pass in the end zone late in the first half to keep the game at 7-7. Cortland took the lead on an 80-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 21-yard catch by K.J. Zimermon (Buffalo/Sweet Home) and a 35-yard completion to Jack Delahunty (East Northport/Northport). A Brockport interception in the end zone was negated by a holding penalty, and Peebles ran in from 1-yard out on the next play to give Cortland a 14-7 lead.
Brockport tied the game on its next possession with a 21-yard TD pass from Bonsell to a wide open Wilkinson on 3rd-and-11 to finish a 53-yard drive. Wilkinson finished with 10 catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Cortland drove to the Brockport 8-yard line on its next series, but Hicks intercepted Grassi at the 1-yard line to thwart a Red Dragon go-ahead score.
Grassi finishd 10-of-29 passing for 173 yards and two interceptions. Riley caught four passes for 45 yards. The Red Dragons were playing without 2013 All-America wide receiver John Babin (Warwick/Warwick Valley) and 2013 All-East cornerback Ke'shaun Stallworth (Pelham/Pelham Memorial), as well as last week's starting tailback Layton Lassiter (Madison, NJ), who were all out due to injury.
Cortland is idle next week and begins NJAC play on Sept. 27 at Morrisville State at 1 p.m.
Cortland Edged by Brockport, 17-14, in Home-Opening Nailbiter
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20140913_igj7.xml
2014
Brockport
17
Cortland
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brockport (2-0) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| Cortland (0-2) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
Sep 13, 2014