Nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College rallied from a 28-7 halftime-deficit, as the Cardinals battled back for a 42-38 win over the College at Brockport in Courage Bowl XII on Saturday in an Empire 8 Conference football matchup played in front of over 8,400 fans.
Proceeds from Saturday's game went to Camp Good Days and Special Times, a not-for-profit organization that provides thousands of children with cancer the opportunity to come together in a residential camping experience to be with the only ones who could truly understand what they were going through – other children with cancer. The camp has impacted more than 45,000 campers from 22 states and 29 countries. With a small group of paid employees, Camp Good Days is a volunteer-based organization. To avoid placing any additional financial burden on the families served, all of the programs are offered free of charge for the participants.
The victory marked the largest deficit overcame in a win in Fisher history with senior quarterback
Matt Naton's one-yard dive with 17 seconds left, clinching the win.
With the win, Fisher, ranked 16
th in both the D3football.com national poll and the national coaches poll, improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Empire 8. The Cardinals are a perfect 12-0 all-time in Courage Bowls.
Brockport took the lead on the game's opening drive, but Fisher answered with a 5-play, 70-yard drive with
Dylan Harrington scoring on a 21-yard pass on a fourth-down play.
That would be all the Fisher scoring for the half, as Brockport scored touchdowns on its next three possessions and led 28-7 at the break.
Fisher took the opening possession of the second half 75 yards on 11 plays with Naton scoring his first rushing touchdown of the day on a 1-yard keeper up the middle.
After forcing Brockport to punt for the first time in the game, the Cardinals made it a one-score game with
William Coon winning a jump-ball in the back-left corner for a 12-yard touchdown, capping a 13-play, 80-yard drive.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Naton found a wide-open
Wyatt Stehle, who rumbled 50 yards, knotting the game at 28s.
After a Brockport field goal with 9:30 left, Fisher regained the lead 32 seconds later with Coon getting behind the Golden Eagle secondary and scoring on a 68-yard strike down the left sidelines to give Fisher the lead back at 35-31.
Brockport drove 74 yards on the ensuing drive, using over seven minutes of clock with Dan Andrews scoring his fourth touchdown of the day to make it 38-35 with 1:35 left.
It was more than enough time for the Fisher offense to produce its fifth touchdown of the half.
Will Blake got the ball into Brockport territory with a 14-yard out, and moments later, Naton rushed 14 yards to the Brockport 10 with under 30 seconds left. A nine-yard slant to
Mike Collichio put the ball at the Brockport 1, and two plays later, Naton took a quarter-keep and bounced off the pile and dove left for the game-winning score.
The game ended with
Chris Smith bringing down the quarterback at the Brockport 34.
Naton led the Fisher offense, which produced 501 yards, with 386 yards on 27-of-41 passing and four touchdowns (all career-highs). He also rushed for 42 yards and two scores.
Collichio snagged eight passes for 62 yards, while Coon caught five passes for a career-high 140 yards. Blake finished with four receptions for 48 yards, while Stehle finished with receptions for 65 yards.
Senior
Austin Beck also caught two passes for 26 yards.
James Chambers rushed for 69 yards, caught three passes for 19 yards and returned five kickoffs for 106 yards.
Devin Dzikowicz was a perfect 7-for-7 on extra points.
DJ Logory led the Fisher defense with 23 tackles, tying the College's single-record set in 1993 by All-American Todd Lexer.
David Carroll registered 13 tackles, while
Evan Majewski and
Anthony Lee each finished with double-digit totals. Majewski,
Aaron Jones and
Cole Ansley-Purpura each recorded one sack.
Fisher returns to action at 1 p.m. next Saturday and will host Buffalo State College as part of Alumni Weekend activities
