By Matthew Shaffer
Staff Writer
The Lions’ football team hosted SUNY College at Cortland for its second game of the season, but was unable to secure a win in its home opener.
Facing a team coming off a 63-0 victory, the Lions would have one of the more difficult matchups on their schedule. As the final score was 31-7 in favor of SUNY Cortland, who dominated the day on both sides of the ball.
The College kicked off to start the game, but its defense was only on the field for two plays before a 55-yard touchdown reception SUNY broke the silence. For the rest of the quarter, both teams went scoreless, resulting in six punts.
It was a 12-play, 70-yard drive resulting in a touchdown that put the Lions on the board for their only points of the game. Junior quarterback Andrew Donoghue connected with senior wide receiver Vinny Guckin from four yards out to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.
The relentless SUNY Cortland squad went on to score a field goal and a touchdown before halftime, increasing their lead to 17-7. A game that started off terribly for the Lions was still in reach at the start of the third quarter, but a quick turnover gave SUNY Cortland the ball on the College’s 13-yard line, and led to a touchdown.
Finishing the game with 24 unanswered points, SUNY Cortland capitalized on turnovers and buried the Lions, who were incapable of getting anything going after their since their
Despite the loss, some bright spots for the Lions included an eight-reception day for sophomore wide receiver Dave Jachera and an interception by senior cornerback Xavier Santos.
Additionally, the College is the only team this year to score against SUNY Cortland, with Guckin’s touchdown and freshman kicker Bobby Wortman’s extra point. There were several chances for the Lions to drive down and put up points, but those drives were ultimately cut short by turnovers.
The team takes to the road on Saturday, Sept. 21 to go up against St. John Fisher College in another out-of-conference match up.
