The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College football program improved to 6-0 on the year and 4-0 in the Empire 8 Conference, as the Cardinals picked up a 49-31 win over visiting Morrisville State College on Saturday night.
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Freshman quarterback
Collin Fiutko (two rushing, two passing) and defensive end-turned-running back
Chris Smith (three rushing) combined for all seven Fisher touchdowns, as the Cardinals, ranked No. 14 in the D3football.com poll, outscored Morrisville 28-3 after the game was tied at 21s early in the second half.
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Smith, who rushed for nine touchdowns as a sophomore, but moved to defensive end led the Cardinals in sacks last year, tallied a career-high 145 yards on 22 carries. Fiutko was 20-of-26 for 282 yards, while
Mike Collichio,
William Coon and
Will Blake each gaining over 77 receiving yards.
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Morrisville took a 7-0 lead, as the Mustangs took the game's opening drive 71 yards on 18 plays, while using up over eight minutes of clock with quarterback Corey Benedetto scoring on a 1-yard keeper.
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The Cardinals answered right back however, with Smith scoring on a 13-yard run, capping a 6-play, 83-yard drive. It was the first of three consecutive touchdown drives for the Cardinals.
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On its next possession, Fisher went 80 yards on six plays with Smith rumbling in from 18 yards out in the opening moments of the second quarter.
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Fiutko called his own number on the next drive, scoring on a two-yard keeper with 4:12 remaining in the half
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Morrisville made it 21-14 at the half with Benedetto scoring on three-yard run.  A half-back option pass from Nick Edmond to Marcus Jackson for 38 yards sparked the drive.
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Morrisville forced an interception on the third play from scrimmage in the second half and the Mustangs capitalized six plays later with Benedetto scoring on a three-yard plunge less than four minutes into the third, tying the game at 21-21.
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Fisher took the lead for good, scoring two touchdowns in a 54-second span midway through the third quarter.   Smith scored his third touchdown of the day and put the Cardinals up for good with 8:28 remaining. On the ensuing kickoff,
Anthony Lee recovered a fumble at the Morrisville 27.  Three plays later, Collichio tallied his team-high seventh reception of the game and scored on a 15-yard pass to to make it 35-21.
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After a Morrisville drive ended with a 36-yard field goal late in the third quarter, the Cardinals sealed the win with two touchdowns in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.
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On a fourth-and-two play from the Morrisville 12, Fiutko bobbled a low snap, but scooped the ball up and scored on a scamper into the left corner.   After stopping Morrisville on fourth down, the Cardinals drove 56 yards with
James Flagler scoring his first career touchdown on a 1-yard pass from Fiutko to put the Cardinals up 49-25.
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Morrisville tacked on a touchdown with 39 seconds left for the game's final points.
DJ Logory led the Fisher defense with 14 tackles and four pass breakups. Â
Christopher Biryla,
David Carroll and Lee also finished with double-digit stops.
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Fisher, who is off to a 6-0 start for the fourth time since 2004, returns to action at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Utica College.
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