BOX SCORE
The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College football team improved to 8-1 on the year on Saturday with a 64-0 win over host Utica College in an Empire 8 Conference game.
       This marks the fourth straight year that Fisher, ranked 19th in the latest d3football.com poll, has won eight or more games in a season.   It is the fourth time this season that Fisher has held its opponent scoreless, setting a new College-record for shutouts in a season, while the offense scored a season-high 64 points and racked up exactly 500 yards.
       With just one game left (at Alfred University on November 11th), the Cardinals are 4-1 in the Empire 8 and currently tied for first with Ithaca College, but owns the tie-breaker with the Bombers, thanks to a 34-10 victory over Ithaca last month.  If Fisher, who has a bye next week, can win at Alfred, the Cardinals will claim at least a share of the Empire 8 title for the second time in the last three years. 
        Anthony Cucit (Greece Athena/Rochester) blocked a Utica punt on the Pioneers’ second possession of the day and teammate Steve Flagler (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill/Sherrill) scooped the ball up at the Utica 2-yard line and plunged into the endzone to give Fisher the lead for good.
       Fisher scored touchdowns on six of its next seven possessions and led 34-0 at intermission.   James Reile (Herkimer/Herkimer) scored on a six-yard run with 3:47 left in the first quarter and exactly two minutes later, Nick Suchyna (St. Francis/Buffalo) connected with Tim Marion (Warwick Valley/Warwick) from 20 yards out to make it 20-0.
       Suchyna hit Corey Jackson (Iroquois/East Aurora) on a 28-yard pass midway through the second quarter to make it 27-0.  Suchyna finished the game 11-for-13 for 154 yards and two touchdowns, while Jackson and Marion each finished with three receptions for 59 and 32 yards, respectively.
       Reile scored on a four-yard run late in the first half and added his third touchdown of the day on a three-yard scamper on Fisher’s first possession of the second half.  Reile finished the game with 66 yards on 11 carries.
       After a 20-yard field goal with four minutes left in the third quarter from Chris Pierri (Fairport/Fairport), who also kicked seven extra points, Fisher added three more touchdowns.
       Sophomore quarterback Tommy Hammel (Churchville-Chili/Rochester) scored on an 18-yard run with 10:48 left and again called his own number, scoring on a 10-yard run less than two minutes later.
       Ryan Hanson (G. Ray Bodley/Fulton) scored Fisher’s final touchdown of the day on an 11-yard run.  It was a career day for Hanson, as the junior tailback rushed for a career-high 168 yards (all in the second half) on just 16 carries (10.5-yard average), including a career-long 67-yard run.
       Senior All-American Mark Robinson (Bath-Haverling/Bath) rushed for 45 on nine yards in the first half, bringing his season total to 1,002 yards.  This is the second time in his career Robinson has rushed for over 1,000 yards in a season and the sixth straight year Fisher has featured a 1,000-yard rusher.
       The Fisher defense held Utica to just 155 yards of total offense, while forcing four turnovers.  Flagler led the defense with 10 tackles, while Cucit and All-American linebacker Gene Lang (C.W. Baker/Baldwinsville) each finished with seven tackles. Cucit also forced a fumble and broke up a pass, while Lang recovered a fumble, setting up Fisher’s second touchdown.
       Turell Ahmed (St. Joseph’s/Buffalo), Jason Cirulli (Webster Schroeder/Webster) and Jason Casel (Southwestern/Lakewood) each made six tackles.  Casel intercepted his second pass of the season, while Cirulli forced a fumble in the second half, which was recovered and returned 34 yards by Dan Pollock (G. Ray Bodley/Fulton).
       Freshman Derek Melnyk (Monroe Township/Jamesburg, NJ) also made a fumble recovery, while defensive lineman Matt Mahony (Bethlehem/Delmar) finished with five tackles, including the Cardinals’ lone sack of the day.