Sep 14, 2024
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) completed 18-of-19 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters of action, Jaden AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) caught seven passes for 182 yards and two scores and ran for a touchdown, and Ethan Gallo (Slate Hill/Minisink Valley) rushed 17 times for 73 yards and three scores as nationally second-ranked Cortland opened the home portion of its schedule with a 70-7 non-league win over Lycoming.
Boyes became Cortland's career leader with 481 pass completions since 2021, breaking the previous mark of 467 set by Brett Segala from 2016-19. Boyes connected on his first 15 pass attempts, extending his consecutive completion streak to 19, but threw an incomplete pass on a play from the Lycoming 1-yard line and finished one completion short of tying the school record of 20 straight successful pass attempts set by Dick Puccio in 1991.
AlfanoStJohn, a wide receiver this season after three seasons as a tailback, scored his one rushing touchdown off a backwards pass in the left flat. That score gives him 43 career rushing touchdowns, tying the school mark set by Dave Cook from 1981-84. AlfanoStJohn also extended his school career records to 48 total touchdowns and 288 points.
Cortland (2-0) reached the 70-point mark for the second straight week; the Red Dragons scored a school-record 76 points at Hilbert last weekend. The 146 combined points through two games is the best in program history, breaking the previous mark of 138 in 1991. Cortland (2-0) with 663 yards of total offense, the second-highest total in school history. The Red Dragons were poised to break the record of 681 yards, plus possibly the single-game scoring mark, before a wild snap resulted in a 27-yard loss from the Lycoming 9-yard line with less than two minutes left.
Gallo scored three first-half touchdowns - a 9-yard run in the first quarter and a 3-yard run and a 1-yard carry in the second. He's scored six touchdown through two contests. AlfanoStJohn's scores came on a 12-yard catch in the first, a 76-yard reception late in the second and a 14-yard rush in the third.
Cortland's other scores came via a Jayson Zeva (East Northport/St. John the Baptist) 15-yard catch for the game's first score, a 1-yard run by backup quarterback Vin Mazzone (Staten Island/St. Peter's) in the third, a Kyle Stracher (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) 20-yard TD run in the fourth and a 39-yard TD pass from Troy Churney (Auburn) to Matt Klamm (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) in the fourth.
Zeva finished with five catches for 80 yards and Joey Muscarella (Smithtown/Smithtown East) had four catches for 67 yards. In addition to Gallo's 73 rushing yards, Kymanni Dennis (Liberty) ran nine times for 59 yards, Stracher had four rushes for 43 yards and Max Barone (Wading River/Shoreham-Wading River) finished with four carries for 28 yards.
Mike Baloga (New Windsor/Cornwall) made all 10 of his PAT kicks - tying his own school single-game record - and is 19-for-19 on PAT kicks through two games.
Lycoming (1-1) scored its points on a 36-yard TD pass from Will Fish to Dawson Debebe with 8:17 left in the third quarter and Cortland leading, 49-0. The Red Dragons led 42-0 at halftime. Fish finished 8-for-18 passing for 114 yards.
Cortland held the Warriors to 162 total yards of offense, 48 on the ground. Jaden Martinez (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) finished with eight tackles, two for loss, and Jack Winey (Lindenhurst) made seven stops. Frankie Ciaramitaro (Huntington/Harborfields) and Ty Kolar (Sayville) each intercepted a pass. Ciaramitaro's pick came after a pass deflection by Ellis Einbinder (Brighton) in the first quarter. Ciaramitaro returned the ball 30 yards to the Lycoming 9-yard line, setting up a Gallo TD run on the next play.
David Schley led Lycoming with 11 tackles, while Tyler Marshall and Mike Sipps made six stops each. Collin McKeague intercepted a pass.
Cortland travels to 11th-ranked Susquehanna (2-0) next Saturday at noon. The River Hawks are the last team to defeat Cortland, winning 38-35 in Cortland last September on a last-second field goal. Following that game, Cortland won its final 12 contests on the way to a national title and has now extended its school-record winning streak to 14 games.