ONEONTA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team tied the game at 21-21 late in the fourth quarter but was unable to pull out a win as the Cardinals fell to Hartwick College, 24-21, in an Empire 8 clash at Wright Field.  With the loss, Fisher, which had posted a win in eight straight games over the Hawks, moved to 0-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Conference standings while Hartwick evened its season record at 2-2.
 
After coming up with a big stop on fourth-and-two on its own two-yard line, Fisher struck first with an 11-play 98-yard drive capped by a 10-yard scramble from James Chambers to make it a 6-0 contest in Fisher's favor.
 
Both teams halted the others progress as the first quarter changed over to the second until Hartwick got on the board after coming away with an interception in its own territory.  The Hawks went 23 yards on three plays including a six-yard touchdown pass to hold a slim edge, 7-6, heading into the half.
 
Coming out of the break, Hartwick's quick strike offense opened up a 14-6 lead after marching 67 yards on three plays ending in a 38-yard touchdown toss.
 
Trailing by one score, the Cardinals didn't waste any time moving the ball down field as Johnathan Letta handed it off to Chambers who bullied his way 64 yards to paydirt to make it 14-12 with 4:13 to go in the quarter.  The Cardinals would tie the game at 14-14 as Letta found Will Blake in the endzone for the two-point conversion. 
 
With the game knotted heading into the fourth quarter, Hartwick put together a long drive into Fisher territory, but was unable to come away with any points as the Cardinals came up with another stop on fourth down.  After forcing Fisher to punt the ball away, Hartwick moved the chains four times on its ensuing possession en route to a 10-play 90-yard drive that resulted in a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14 with under three minutes left on the game clock.
 
Needing a touchdown to keep its hopes alive, Fisher turned to Chambers who set the tone after reeling off a 17-yard gain to set up a first-and-10 at the Hartwick 44-yard line.  From there, Letta dropped back and delivered a strike to Will Blake that turned into a 53-yard touchdown play to pull Fisher to within one.  Following a critical extra point by Devin Dzikowicz to make it 21-21, Hartwick had just over two minutes to string together a game-winning drive.
 
 The Hawks went into a hurry-up offense and were able to come away with three third down conversions on their final drive before kicking a 21-yard field goal to seal the win.
 
Letta was 7-for-11 in his first collegiate start for 118 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.  The freshman kept the Hawks on their toes, however, after rushing for 92 yards on 17 carries.
 
Chambers proved to be elusive all game after rushing for a career-high 173 yards on 18 carries – good for an average of 9.6 yards per rush. 
 
Blake led the receiving corps with 73 yards and a touchdown on two receptions while Wyatt Stehle and Dylan Harrington each had a pair of grabs overall.
 
Defensively, Evan Majewski had a team-leading nine tackles while Cameron Bellino made eight stops including one tackle for a loss.  Justin Rivera came away with six tackles while Ted Lawson and Tony Silvanic each had five.  John Horne had four tackles and recorded Fisher's lone sack.
 
Overall, the Cardinals had 389 yards of total offense and produced 18 first downs. 
 
The Cardinals will enjoy a week off as the team heads into its bye week.  Fisher will return to action on October 7th against nationally-ranked Alfred in what will be the start of a two-game home stand.  The game also coincides with Alumni Weekend.