The Lions football team will look to get back to its winning ways this coming Saturday, Oct. 11, after going a month without winning a game.
The Lions have lost two straight games following their bye week in Week three. The College dropped a 41-13 decision on Saturday, Oct. 4, in Morrisville, N.Y., to Morrisville State after being shutout to Wisconsin-Whitewater the week prior.
Going into this week, the Lions are 1-3 on the season, as they return home to play SUNY Cortland this Saturday at noon. The College has not defeated Cortland since 2007 when the Lions won 30-0.
This could be the year that their long losing streak ends, as the Upstate New York team is winless on the year. SUNY Cortland’s record currently stands at 0-4, including an 0-2 mark in conference play.
However, this past Saturday, Oct. 4 the Mustangs had 519 total yards and averaged 7.5 yards per play. The College had 340 total yards, while averaging 4.6 yards per play.
Mustangs’ Lemar Johnson went 20 of 30 for 244 yards and a touchdown pass. The Lions, on the other hand, used three touchdowns. Sophomore Michael Marchesano began the game and went eight of 19 for 71 yards and an interception.
Junior signal caller Dylan Cotrell went five of nine for 77 before Trevor Osler came in and went seven for seven for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore wide-receiver Jeff Mattonelli lead the Lions with five receptions for 67 yards. No other player had more than 30 receiving yards. Mustangs wide receiver Anthony Gray had 11 receptions for 120 yards, while senior Josh Powell had four receptions for 108 yards.
Johnson led the game with 14 carries for 115 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Christian Pena had six carries for 26 yards, while Darrel West added four carries for 20 yards.
Sophomore running back Frank Fuccello had 13 carries for 64 yards for the visitors. Freshman running back Khani Glover had eight carries for 52 yards, and junior running back Brad Young had seven carries for 29 yards.
Glover was also named NJAC offensive rooke of the week.
In the second quarter, Johnson scored on a four-yard rushing touchdown at 2:36 to increase the lead to 20-0. At 9:49, they also scored on a trick play when junior running back Christian Pena threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Josh Powell to make it 13-0.
Glover made it 27-6 when he scored on a 31-yard rushing touchdown at 10:43 for the Lions. Opposing player, Dennis Scherrer caught a 13-yard reception from Johnson to give the Mustangs a 27-0 lead.
Senior Mustangs quarterback LeMar Johnson added a 29-yard rushing touchdown at 12:08 to make it 41-6. He also added a one yard rushing touchdown in the third to make it 34-6 at 5:04.
Then, the College’s Mattonelli scored with 1:26 left in the contest to make it 41-13. He caught a 35-yard reception from freshman quarterback Trevor Osler.
Johnson scored on a 46-yard run at 5:12 to open up the scoring, while the extra point failed.
