EWING, N.J. — Junior John Grassi (Oceanside) completed 25-of-41 passes for 243 yards and a score as Cortland won 24-14 at The College of New Jersey for its first victory of the season.
Cortland is now 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). TCNJ fell to 0-2 in the league and 1-4 overall.
Sophomore tailback Layton Lassiter (Madison, NJ) and junior backup quarterback Lou Buschi (East Meadow) each ran for a touchdown and sophomore Jon Mannix (Elwood/John H. Glenn) caught a TD pass for the Red Dragons. Lassiter finished with 80 yards on 23 rushes, while sophomore tight end Josh Riley (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill) and junior Jack Delahunty (East Northport/Northport) each caught seven passes. Sophomore Shane Cronin (West Nyack/Clarkstown South) made a 35-yard field goal.
Senior Andrew Tolosi (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) led the defense with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery and junior Matt Ambrose (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) had eight tackles. Junior Chandler Williams (Monticello) and junior Julian Santiago (Selden/Newfield) each intercepted a pass, with Williams also forcing a fumble and breaking up two passes.
TCNJ scored its two touchdowns on big plays – a 62-yard pass from Michael Marchesano to Ryan Baranowsky with nine minutes left in the third quarter that cut Cortland's lead to 14-7 and an 85-yard run by Khani Glover that closed the scoring with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Marchesano connected on 22-of-43 passes for 238 yards, including five completions to Conor Mulholland, and Glover ran for a net 82 yards on six carries. Jeffrey Skomsky made 16 tackles, nine solo, and Sean Kley finished with nine tackles. Joseph Urciuoli registered an interception, two pass breakups and two pass breakups.
Cortland drove 53 yards on eight plays on the game's opening drive, capped by Lassiter's 5-yard TD run that gave the Red Dragons a 7-0 lead. TCNJ drove to the Cortland 22-yard line at the end of the first quarter but turned the ball over after incompletions on third and fourth downs.
Cortland proceeded to drive 78 yards on 12 plays, highlighted by a 21-yard pass from Grassi to Riley on 3rd-and-4 at the TCNJ 26-yard line. Buschi ran five yards for a TD on the next play and the Red Dragons led 14-0.
The score stayed that way until Baranowsky's TD catch in the third quarter cut the Cortland lead to 14-7. The Red Dragons responded, however, by driving from their own 37-yard line to the TCNJ 18-yard line to set up Cronin's 35-yard field goal and a 17-7 lead.
Williams intercepted a pass on the Lions' next drive to give Cortland the ball at the TCNJ 44-yard line. On 3rd-and-13, Grassi connected with Mannix on a 47-yard TD pass and the Red Dragons led 24-7.
Glover's 85-yard TD run, on the opening play of a drive early in the fourth quarter, drew the hosts within 24-14. The Lions, however, were unable to move the ball past their own 20-yard line on their final three possessions. Five of Cronin's nine punts pinned TCNJ inside the 20-yard line, including three in the fourth quarter.
Cortland finished with a 334-307 advantage in total offensive yardage. The Red Dragons converted 9-of-22 third downs and held TCNJ to just 1-of-15 third-down conversion success.
Cortland will host Southern Virginia University, a new NJAC member this season, next Saturday, Oct. 18, at 1 p.m.