PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team opened the home portion of its schedule on Saturday as the Cardinals fell to The College at Brockport, 38-7, at Growney Stadium in Courage Bowl XIII. Fisher, which had not suffered a loss in the Courage Bowl in 12 previous appearances, moved to 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Empire 8 standings while the Golden Eagles, who entered the night ranked 22nd in the latest D3football.com national poll, improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 against Empire 8 opponents.
Joshua Michels was 18-for-35 for 224 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore quarterback also threw two picks in the loss.
James Chambers gained 30 yards on the ground on six carries and hauled in a team-leading four catches for 84 yards including a 72-yard touchdown pass.
Mike Collichio had three catches for 50 yards while
Dylan Harrington had four grabs for 41 yards.
William Coon and
Will Blake combined to catch five balls for 34 yards.
Defensively,
Evan Majewski racked up 14 tackles while Brennan Thompson and
Justin Rivera each had 12 for the Cardinals.
Cameron Bellino made 10 stops on the night and
Demarre Nelson added nine tackles and one interception.
After punting on its first possession, Brockport made the most of its second. The Golden Eagles drove 67 yards in just under three minutes to open up a 7-0 lead on a 35-yard run up the gut. Brockport would add to its lead after bridging the first and second quarters with a 13-play 63-yard drive, but was only able to come away with a 29-yard penalty after the Cardinals' defense came up with a big stop on third down.
Trailing by two scores, Fisher cut the deficit to 10-7 just 45 seconds later when Michels connected with Chambers on a short pass over the middle that the senior back turned into a 72-yard touchdown pass to bring Fisher to within a field goal.
That was as close as the Cardinals would get, however, as Brockport tacked on a late touchdown in the second quarter before adding another just 2:38 into the third period to make it 24-7.
From there, the Golden Eagles found the end zone two more times en route to the 38-7 win.
As a team, Fisher compiled 270 total yards of offense while Brockport gained 564 yards including a season-high 313 yards on the ground.
The season continues for Fisher next Saturday, September 23 as the Cardinals travel to Oneonta to take on Hartwick in another Empire 8 Conference clash.
