UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team defeated visiting Morrisville State 38-14 in the Empire 8 Conference opener for both squads on Saturday night at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. Utica quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) completed 25 passes for a career-high 313 yards and two touchdowns as the Pioneers compiled 526 yards of total offense on the afternoon. The UC defense also forced a safety and scored a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the home team.
The Pioneers improved to 2-1 overall on the year and handed conference newcomer Morrisville (1-1, 0-1 Empire 8) its first loss of the young season.
Utica's Alex DeRusso (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) caught a career-high nine balls for 161 yards (seventh most in program-history), while Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) added nine catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.
UC kicker Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) was stellar once again, breaking a school-record with 12 points scored by kicking. He drilled three field goals (20, 19, 30 yards) and added three extra points as the Pioneers cruised to the 24 point victory. Woodburn now needs 21 more points to break the school-record for points scored in a career. Woodburn has made eight field goals this season in three games.
After a scoreless first quarter, Woodburn opened the scoring on the day when he knocked down a 20 yarder in the first minute of the second quarter. Junior running back Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) gave UC a 10-0 lead less than four minutes later when he punched in a nine yard touchdown run to give the Pioneers the early ten point advantage. Gambill finished the day with six carries for 39 yards and a score.
Morrisville then punched back as Cristian Pena capitalized on a special teams miscue, and scored on a 28 yard touchdown run to make the score 10-7 with 10:03 to go in the first half of play.
Woodburn then made his second field goal of the day, from 19 yards out, with 1:47 left on the first half clock to give UC a six point lead, 13-7.
The Pioneers forced Morrisville to go three and out on their next possession and got the ball back with 51 seconds left on the first half clock. UC did not settle, as VanGalen engineered a five-play 87 yard drive in 44 seconds, capped by a 23 yard touchdown pass to Beniquez, to give UC a 19-7 lead headed into the half.
VanGalen and senior wide receiver Gregory Palmer (Richland, NY/APW) put UC on top 26-7 with 5:57 left in the third quarter when they connected on a 20 yard touchdown pass to give the Pioneers a 19 point lead. Palmer finished the day with five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Morrisville was able to cut that lead to 12 points, 26-14, just 1:23 later when Anthony Gray caught a seven yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cory Benedetto, but that was as close as the Mustangs would get. Benedetto completed 13 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown on the afternoon.
The UC defense then took over, scoring nine of the Pioneers' 12 fourth quarter points to put the game out of reach. Utica forced a safety to open the fourth quarter, then senior defensive end Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) picked up a fumble at the two-yard line and took it in for a touchdown at 9:23 to give the Pioneers a commanding 35-14 advantage. Senior captain Mike Sullivan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was credited with the sack and the forced fumble on the play. The Pioneers held the Mustangs to just 75 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter and they forced two turnovers.
Woodburn closed out the scoring on the day with a 30 yard field goal with less than five minutes to go.
Junior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) made a team-best ten tackles, while Sullivan made nine tackles for the Pioneers. Woodman added one sack and now has 20 for his career.
Caleb Wright made a game-high 12 stops for the Mustangs, while Colton Evans added ten tackles including one tackle for a loss.
Utica returns to the gridiron on the road Saturday when it continues conference play against host Cortland State (3-0, 1-0 Empire 8). The Red Dragons earned a convincing 34-17 win over St. John Fisher College on Saturday.
All Utica College football games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by Dave Peroni and UC alum Ray Biggs. Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com.