PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team forced nationally-ranked Alfred University into three turnovers but was unable to come out ahead as the Cardinals fell to the Saxons, 21-14, on Saturday at Growney Stadium.  With the loss, Fisher fell to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference standings, while Alfred, which is ranked 18th in the latest D3football.com national poll, remained unbeaten and moved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 against conference opponents. 

Fisher wasted little time putting the Saxons' defense on notice as the Cardinals orchestrated a 13-play, 73-yard scoring drive that ate up over eight minutes of clock to start the game.  After James Chambers rattled off a 22-yard kick return to set Fisher up with good field position, the Cardinals moved downfield 20 yards thanks to a pair of Saxon penalties.  With a fresh set of downs, Johnathan Letta strung together back-to-back runs before moving the chains with a 13-yard completion to William Coon to put Fisher at the Alfred 28.  From there, Letta completed his next four passing attempts culminating in a six-yard strike to Will Blake in the end zone to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.    

Alfred responded on its next possession, however, after producing an 11-play 80-yard drive capped off with a four-yard run to knot the game at 7-7 with just 16 seconds left to play in the first quarter.

After forcing Fisher to punt to begin the second period, Alfred struck again after using six plays to move 61 yards including a 35-yard touchdown to run to open up a 14-7 lead.  The Saxons continued to move the ball as the second quarter worn on and extended their lead to 14 points with a 25-yard pass after a quick drive that used just over two minutes of time.

Coming out of intermission, Fisher cut into the Saxons' lead and pulled to within seven points, 21-14, with 5:45 still to go in the third.  Chambers moved the sticks on first down with a 14-yard scamper before Letta connected with Wyatt Stehle over the middle for a 13-yard gain.  With the ball at the Alfred 26, Fisher picked up another first down as Letta found Coon for a short gain to set up a first and 10 at the Saxons' 14-yardline.  From there, Chambers broke a tackle and scurried 14 yards to pay dirt to make it a one score game.

In the fourth quarter, Alfred slowed the pace and grinded its way into Fisher territory before William Riechert broke through the line and striped the ball from Alfred's quarterback as LeMar Peters came up with the ball to give Fisher new life at its own 42.  The Cardinals, however, were unable to capitalize on the mistake and were forced to punt the ball back to Alfred with 13:42 still on the clock.

With a seven-point lead and the ball, Alfred went to its ground game and moved the chains three times to set up a first down deep in Cardinals' territory.  Fisher's defense stood its ground though and forced Alfred to throw on third-and-long as Demarre Nelson came up with a big interception in the end zone to halt Alfred's progress and give the Cardinals the ball at their own 20 trailing by seven. 

With momentum on its side, Fisher went to work as Letta and Chambers combined to notch two first downs with their legs before Letta found Stehle down the sideline for a 20-yard gain to spot the ball at the Alfred 18.  With the ball inside the red zone, Fisher's drive seemed to stall before a pass over the middle was picked off by Alfred to all but end Fisher's comeback bid.

Letta was 12-for-19 overall with 112 yards, one touchdown and one pick.  The freshman also added 21 yards on the ground.

Chambers tallied 69 yards and a score over 14 rush attempts. 

Five different receivers hauled in a catch for the Cardinals led by Dylan Harrington who made four grabs for 30 yards.  Stehle had three catches for a team-high 44 yards while Coon came down with three catches for 27 yards.  Will Blake and J.J. Mulvey each snared one pass overall.

Defensively, Nelson came up with two interceptions and made six tackles in all.  Justin Rivera posted a team-leading 12 tackles including one for a loss while Brennen Thompson had nine stops.  Richard Ewell was in on eight tackles overall.  Evan Majewski, Michael Chase and David Carroll were each credited with seven tackles apiece. 

As a team, Fisher gained 202 yards of offense on 57 plays and was 6-for-13 on third down situations. 

The Cardinals continue their short two-game home stand at 6 p.m. next Saturday, October 14, when they host Utica College in another Empire 8 battle.