MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team fell on the road on Saturday as the Cardinals dropped an Empire 8 conference bout to Morrisville State College, 35-28, at Drake Field.  With the loss, Fisher moved to 2-7 overall and 2-4 in the conference standings.  Morrisville improved to 3-6 overall and earned its first win in conference play to end the day at 1-5.

After forcing Morrisville to punt on its opening possession, the Cardinals' offense took the field at their own 37 yard line.  James Chambers, who was named the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, picked up where he left off last week as the Lockport native rumbled his way into Mustangs' territory with a 14-yard run.  Two plays later, quarterback Johnathan Letta lined up at receiver and hauled in a 32-yard pass from Joshua Michels to set up a first-and-10 inside the 10 before Chambers punched it in to cap a seven-play, 63-yard drive to give the visiting team a 7-0 lead.

The Mustangs would answer on their next possession, however, to tie the game after stringing together an 11-play 75-yard drive resulting in a 25-yard touchdown pass on a slant route to make it 7-7 with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter.

With the momentum favoring the home team, Cam Cleveland flipped the field after taking the kickoff 70 yards before being dragged down at the Morrisville 20.  After a 10-yard run by Chambers, Fisher opened up a 14-7 lead as Michels connected with senior Mike Collichio in the end zone for the Webster native's first touchdown of the season.  The score moved Collichio into elite company as it tied him with Jimmy Smith for sixth place on Fisher's all-time receiving touchdown list with 16.

Trailing by seven points with time ticking down in the first frame, Morrisville orchestrated another long scoring effort to the tune of an 11-play 87-yard drive ending with a 34-yard touchdown pass to knot things up at 14-14.

Morrisville would find itself with another chance to score after the Cardinals coughed it up on the kickoff, but Brennen Thompson had other ideas as the junior jumped a route on the sideline and took it 80 yards to the house for the pick-six as Fisher led 21-14 with 9:09 remaining in the first half.

After swapping possessions with time running out in the half, the Mustangs' offense put together a 10-play 75-yard touchdown drive to send both teams into their locker rooms with the score tied at 21-21.

Coming out of the break, the Mustangs started with the ball and moved into the red zone, but couldn't come away with any points after missing a 31-yard field goal attempt.  The home team atoned on its next drive, however, and took its first lead of the game, 28-21, after moving 67 yards on just two plays.

In the fourth quarter, Fisher marched the ball 82 yards on 10 plays to make it a 28-28 game.  After the Mustangs bottled up the run on first down, Michels teamed up with Collichio for a 40-yard gain through the air as the Cardinals set up at the Morrisville 40.  From there, Fisher moved up to the Mustangs' 18 thanks to a personal foul call before Dylan Harrington took an end-around all the way to the three-yard line.  After a holding call negated a touchdown run, the Cardinals were faced with a fourth down situation, but Morrisville was once again whistled for a personal foul, which gave the Cardinals new life inside the five.  With a fresh set of downs, Chambers busted through the line and crossed the goal line for his second touchdown of the day as the score evened at 28 points apiece.   
 
As time ticked down in the final quarter, Fisher forced Morrisville to punt with just over six minutes to go, but was unable to capitalize on the possession as the Cardinals were obliged to give the ball back.  Morrisville didn't waste the opportunity as the Mustangs went 53 yards in 4:38 to hold a 35-28 lead with just over one minute to play in the game. 

With one last chance to tie the game, Fisher moved the ball to midfield, but the Mustangs ramped up the pressure and forced a fumble as the home team recovered for the win.

Chambers had 74 rushing yards on 17 carries to go along with two touchdowns. Ingerson had 21 rushing yards and one reception for 30 yards. 

Michels had 154 yards through the air including 62 yards to Collichio who finished the game with three grabs and a touchdown.  Harrington made three catches as well for 35 yards.

Defensively, Cameron Bellino had 14 total tackles.  David Carroll came up with 13 stops in the loss while Evan Majewski had 11 tackles to his credit.  Thompson had six tackles overall and one interception.

The Cardinals close out their season at 12 p.m. next Saturday as they travel to Buffalo to duel the Bengals in an Empire 8 conference contest.