Box Score CORTLAND, NY – The 22nd-ranked Susquehanna University football team overcame a 35-21 deficit at tenth-ranked Cortland Saturday with 4:09 remaining off 17 unanswered points, capped by a walk off field goal from
Christian Colasurdo in a 38-35 win. The victory gives the River Hawks their fifth straight 3-0 start and plenty to look forward to in their home opener next Saturday against Western New England in their final non-conference contest prior to Landmark Conference play.
Susquehanna led just once prior to the game-winning field goal when they scored on their opening drive, with
Josh Ehrlich finding
Eddie Nugent for a 12-yard back-shoulder grab to finish off an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:24. Cortland's air attack quickly tied the game on the first play of its ensuing drive thanks to an 80-yard touchdown pass by Zac Boyes to JJ Laap. The Red Dragons led by two touchdowns on a pair of occasions. Leading at halftime, 21-14, Cortland widened its lead early in the second half when Boyes connected with Cole Burgess with a 58-yard touchdown reception with 13:35 showing on the third quarter clock. Ehrlich and the River Hawks offense responded with another drive that lasted six-plus minutes, with Ehrlich running it in himself on a 14-yard run to cut the deficit back to a touchdown. But the Red Dragons passing combination of Boyes and Burgess again scorched 33 yards to bring their lead back up to 14 entering the fourth quarter.
Susquehanna's defense slayed the Red Dragons from getting any further ahead, offering an opportunity that saw Cortland punt out of its own end zone that set the River Hawks up first and ten at Cortland's 44 with 5:22 remaining. Ehrlich wasted no time with a 30-yard run on the opening play, then finding a wide open
Rowen Hershey two plays later on a drag route for a 12-yard touchdown to narrow things down to one touchdown with 4:09 to go. A holding penalty on Cortland's kick return put them back on its own ten yard line, going three and out and punter Patrick Luby booting it to only the Red Dragons' 36 yard line for another prime Susquehanna opportunity with 2:20 left. It took only two plays as a 21-yard Ehrlich run set the quarterback up to find
Kyle Howes, who made a spectacular one-handed catch down the left side for a 15-yard touchdown, tying the game at 35-35 with under two minutes left.
While an unsportsmanlike penalty had the River Hawks kicking off from their own 20, kickoff specialist Dom Bourgeois sent a 71-yard kick in the air that was fielded by Rashad Tucker, who took it 22 yards before getting hit by
Brennen Miller to force a fumble and recovered by
Dominic Winn at Cortland's 31 yard line. With two timeouts remaining, Susquehanna made a series of short plays to gain ground to set up Colasurdo with a 32-yard attempt with two seconds left. In similar fashion to last week, the junior from Center Valley sent it through the uprights, this time with zeros on the clock and a full team embrace to complete the comeback.
Ehrlich's final stat line for the day saw him complete 16-of-22 for 227 yards and three passing touchdowns with one interception. He took off for 19 rushes for a game-high 162 yards and one rushing score. Nugent's opening touchdown was his lone reception on the day, while
Kyle Howes caught nine passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. Hershey had three receptions for 62 yards, with his last going for the touchdown. Running back
Tommy Grabowski saw the bulk of the carries in the backfield, becoming the team's second 100-yard rusher on the day with 100 yards on the nose on 25 carries.
On the other side of the ball
Garrett Carter led the team with nine tackles, including three solo, while
Josh Buck totaled six tackles with half a sack and one tackle for loss.
Keith Green III came through for one sack and one tackle for loss, compiling five tackles on the afternoon. The forced fumble on Susquehanna's final kickoff epitomized yet another crucial performance from the special teams, with Bourgeois' 71-yard boot completing a stellar day where he averaged 58.8 yards on six kickoffs. Colasurdo's game-winner rectified a missed opportunity he had early in the fourth quarter on a 31-yarder, whereas Cortland's Mike Baloga had his lone attempt, a 21-yarder, bounce off the left upright that would have given the Red Dragons a 17-14 lead midway through the second quarter.
The River Hawks' masterful time of possession shined through again this week for a season-best 37:51, amassing 23 first downs and converting on 9-of-16 third downs. Susquehanna ran for 257 yards to Cortland's 98, while the Red Dragons air attack netted 397 yards to the River Hawks' 227 with the quarterback Boyles throwing 11-for-17 with five touchdowns, with his longest of the day going for 89 yards. This gave the Red Dragons the slim edge in total yards, 495-484. Susquehanna found the redzone eight times, which is where all their scores came from on six occasions with five touchdowns and one field goal. Cortland finished 1-for-2 on its red zone opportunities.
Head Coach
Tom Perkovich's team has its fifth consecutive 3-0 start, putting them in prime position to up its ranking in the D3football.com Top 25, where they've sat at number 22 since the preseason poll. With Saturday's win and their season-opening victory at Bridgewater (RV), Susquehanna has beaten two teams mentioned in the national rankings. They have one more non-conference test next Saturday against Western New England in their home opener before starting their Landmark Conference season on Saturday, Sept. 30 at home against Catholic. Susquehanna was the preseason favorites in the Landmark's preseason poll.
