Box Score

The St. John Fisher College football team dominated Utica College to the tune of a 55-20 victory in its final regular season game. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Empire 8 while Utica drops to 6-4, 4-3.

Fisher will now wait until Monday to see if it has earn a postseason bid.  The Cardinals have advanced to the postseason (either NCAAs or ECACs) each year since 2003.

As a team, Fisher cruised from the opening kickoff, taking control in the first half with four touchdowns, three interceptions and a fumble recovery.  Ryan Kramer finished the game with four passing touchdowns, which tied a career-high that was set against the University of Rochester in last year's Courage Bowl. Kevin Francis finished with a career-high 136 yards on five receptions. Cody Miller led the Cardinals with 79 yards on the ground on just 11 carries.

Joe Leavell and Zach Dolan led Fisher on the defensive side of the ball, each picking off two passes. Mason Judd and Bryant Moore each had a sack on back-to-back plays, while Moore also recovered a Utica fumble on a punt.  Mike Donitzen had a team-high 10 tackles and also forced a fumble.

Fisher had 519 yards on 63 plays for an 8.2 yards per play average, while Utica had 358 yards.

On the first drive for the Cardinals, Fisher went 77 yards on eight play over 3:07 to get a touchdown on a Kramer pass for 46 yards to Justin Rodriguez. The touchdown was Rodriguez's first career collegiate score and it came a play after the Cardinals benefitted from a pass interference call on third down that would have forced Fisher to punt.

Utica looked like it would strike back immediately, when return man Dakota Peel took it back 39 yards to midfield with only one man to beat, but Fisher kicker Taylor Byrne made the tackle. Two plays later, the Pioneers' quarterback Andrew Benkwitt threw a ball over the middle and Leavell got a hand in the air, stopping the pass mid-flight for an interception, and returning it 25 yards to the Utica 28-yard line.

It took the Cardinals just five plays and 2:11 to post its next score, with Kramer finding Matt Monacelli in the flat for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was missed, giving the Cardinals a 13-0 lead with 6:55 still left in the first quarter.

Much of the same happened on the next drive for Utica, as after two plays, Benkwitt threw a pass that flew past his intended receiver and found Dolan for another Cardinals' pick off. It was Fisher's second interception in a matter of just over three minutes.

This interception also led to a first quarter score for the Cardinals, as Miller capped a six-play, 31-yard drive with a 10-yard scamper to pay dirt. After the PAT flew through the uprights, Fisher led 20-0 with 3:56 remaining in the opening period.

The second quarter started in much of the same fashion, as Fisher's first play was a punt which the Pioneers mishandled with a fumble. Moore recovered the ball at the Utica 30-yard line, but the Cardinals first play on offense went for a fumble lost, returning the favor.

Fisher's defense forced a punt and the Cardinals took over with 11:42 left in the second quarter, and on first down, Kramer found Kevin Francis for 59 yards, a career-long catch, down to the Utica 26-yard line. Two plays later, Kramer again found Monacelli in the flat for a 14-yard score. This made the score 27-0 with 10:30 left in the half, as that drive took only 53 seconds.

On the team's final score of the first half it used some trickery, as Tyler Fenti entered the game but with Kramer still under center. After the snap, Kramer threw the ball backwards to Fenti who chucked it 44-yards to Rodriguez down to the Pioneers' 12 yard-line. Alex Stacy then used two rushes, of 4-and-8 yards, to pound it into the touchdown, putting the Cardinals up 34-0 with 6:50 to play in the second quarter.

One more highlight from the first half was  Leavell's second interception, which came when the ball popped out of a Pioneers receiver's hands when he was drilled by Travis Tones in the middle of the field. The Cardinals drove down the field but stalled at the Utica 33-yard line and allowed the clock to run out after a receiver caught a ball and stayed in bounds.

Fisher started with the ball in the third quarter, after it won coin toss and elected to defer before the game, and marched right down the field for another touchdown. It took just 2:14 for the Cardinals to venture 71 yards, ending the drive with a 33-yard touchdown toss from Kramer to Francis to push the advantage to 41-0 with 12:40 to play in the third.

The quickest drive of the day came in the third quarter when Fisher went 72 yards in just 31 seconds for a touchdown. Kramer started the drive by finding Francis across the middle down to the Utica 40-yard line on a 32-yard pitch-and-catch. On the next play, Miller broke out between the tackles for a 40-yard rush to the goal line for another Fisher six points.

Fisher's final score came on the defensive side of the ball, as Dolan intercepted his second pass of the day, taking it 65 yards to the house, giving the Cardinals a 55-7 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.

Utica added two scores down the stretch to cut the final margin of defeat to 34.