SELINSGROVE, PA – Perhaps the much-anticipated matchup of the early 2024 NCAA Division III football season is set to unfurl Saturday at noon as 11
th-ranked Susquehanna plays host to two-ranked and defending national champion Cortland. The game is a rematch of last year's Week 3 showdown, which served as a turning point for both teams' seasons and fortunes. The River Hawks came back late after trailing 35-21, capped off by a walkoff field goal to win 38-35, boosting their stock on their way to their second straight undefeated regular season and NCAA Playoff berth. While disappointed, the Red Dragons never lost another game from that point on, going all the way to the NCAA Division III championship game, defeating North Central.
Susquehanna, playing its third straight home game, comes in 2-0 after a handy 41-7 victory over Bridgewater in the opener and a Week 2 win, 27-21, over fellow Empire 8 foe Brockport. The defense was in peak form both contests, allowing just 14 points total to the offense, with the other two touchdowns scored on special teams. The defense will have to be at their best to cool off a Cortland team that's averaging 73 points per game following a 76-0 week-one win against Hilbert and 70-7 over Landmark-opponent Lycoming last week.
QUICK LINKS: VIDEO (FLOFOOTBALL) |
LIVE STATS |
RADIO (WQSU 88.9 FM, TALENT: JACK BURNS)
GAME NOTES: SUSQUEHANNA |
CORTLAND
GAME PART OF SAAC'S ORANGE OUT
Susquehanna students and fans are encouraged to deck out in orange as part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's efforts to drive fans out to all of SU's home games this weekend as part of "Orange Out". In addition to noon football, the field hockey team opens their Landmark Conference season against Drew at 1 p.m. at Sassafras Field, followed by women's soccer hosting Delaware Valley at 4 p.m.
DEFENSE SHUTS DOOR ON BROCKPORT FOR 2-0 START
Susquehanna is off to its great 2-0 start thanks in part to its ability to close out last week's win over Brockport in a 27-21 victory. The River Hawks struck first on its way to a 10-0 lead. An 81-yard punt return for a touchdown got the Golden Eagles in business, but SU closed out the half with ten unanswered to lead 20-7. In both ten-point stretches,
Christian Colasurdo booted a field goal while Howes supplied the touchdowns. His first came on a 40-yard touchdown reception from backup
Tommy Wright, then capitalized on a sparkling punt return from
Rahshan La Mons with a nine-yard run on an end-around.
The River Hawks' lone touchdown of the second half came on a La Mons 20-yard reception from
Josh Ehrlich to make the score 27-14. The defense helped make it stand by denying Brockport on every one of its eight third down conversion attempts, along with one interception courtesy of
Ben Mongare. With SU leading 20-14, the Golden Eagles had the ball on their opponents' 30 yard line. Pressure forced quarterback Ben Gocella out of the pocket and attempted a pass on the run. It sailed over his intended target and into the waiting arms of Mongare to stall a potential threat to Susquehanna's lead.
The biggest challenge was yet to come. Brockport cut the lead to 27-21 with 5:43 to go and got the ball back with 1:36 remaining on its own 14. They moved the ball up to their own 46 after converting on fourth down. Faced with third down and four, Gocella completed a pass to Nolan Slywka for what appeared to be a first down in SU territory, but linebacker
Jesse Ruisch stripped the ball and
Ben Fleming dove on it to seal the win with 52 seconds remaining.
Ehrlich completed 22-of-29 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown, along with running for a game-high 63 yards on 19 rushes. Howes eclipsed 100 yards receiving with 108 on seven catches, while La Mons netted over 100 total yards for the second straight game with 96 receiving yards on eight receptions and 37 yards rushing on 15 carries.
