Box ScoreThe nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College football team shut out Frostburg State University, 21-0 on Saturday afternoon in an Empire 8 Conference battle in Maryland. With the win, the Cardinals move to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8 while Frostburg falls to 3-5, 1-4.
Fisher's last shutout came exactly five years ago today, when the Cardinals won 38-0 over Utica College at Fisher's Growney Stadium.
The final drive for Frostburg really defined the Cardinals' defense all day long, when on 3rd-and-goal
Sean Preish broke right past the center and hit both the quarterback and running back, forcing a fumble and allowing
Joe Leavell to recover the loose ball to preserve the shutout with less than a minute to play.
The Cardinals first scoring drive took only three plays, as Fisher went 80 yards in just 56 seconds for a touchdown. On the first play of the drive
Ryan Kramer found
David Shuey for a 20-yard completion. The next play, Kramer kept it himself and ran for 10 yards and another first down. The third play of the drive went to
Cody Miller, who broke through the tackles and went 50 yards to pay dirt.
Less than three minutes later, Fisher extended its lead to 14-0 when Kramer found
Tyler Stell on a play-action fade to the back left corner of the end zone. Stell and the Frostburg corner both went up for the ball, with the senior grabbing the pass first and being immediately rewarded the score by an official.
In the first half, Fisher's defense either stifled the Bobcats or came up with timely turnovers. The Cardinals forced five punts and held Frostburg to 1-for-9 on third-down conversions. With just over a minute left in the first quarter, the Bobcats were driving and in the red zone. On 4th-and-2,
Adam Burdick hit freshman running back Josh Jackson, causing a fumble the Cardinals' safety
Travis Tones recovered, stopping the threat.
Again with the Bobcats driving with under a minute, this time left in the first half,
Zach Dolan intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone for a touchback.
The defense started the second half where it left off, forcing a three-and-out and a Frostburg punt. After a personal foul penalty on the punt against the Bobcats gave the Cardinals great position at midfield. Fisher than marched 50 yards on 10 plays, capping the scoring drive with Miller's second touchdown of the contest, a nine-yard run on second down to go up 21-0.
Fisher then controlled the line on defense again, but on 4th-and-9 the Bobcats called for a fake punt and the punter ran 26-yards for a first down at the Cardinals 26-yard line. The Cardinals defense would hang tough however, stopping Frostburg on first and second downs before
Wade Kline again intercepted the Bobcats in the end zone to stop a potential scoring drive.
Ryan Kramer finished the day 8-for-13 for 68 yards with a touchdown and ran for another 34 yards on six carries. For the second-straight game Miller went for over 100 yards, rushing 15 times to gain 106 yards.
Mason Judd led the defense with 12 tackles, 4.5 that went for a loss and a solo sack.
The Cardinals outgained the Bobcats 336-239 in total offense. As a defense, Fisher held Frostburg to 2-of-17 on third-down conversions and 0-for-3 in red zone opportunities.
Fisher will return to action at 12 p.m. next Saturday as it gears up for its final home game with the visiting Buffalo State Bengals. The Bengals upset Wisconsin-Whitewater, who was previously-No. 1 and is a perennial championship contender (has won 4-of-the-last-5 NCAA Division III Championships), 7-6 earlier this season.
