UTICA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team was unable to hold an early lead on Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals moved to 0-4 on the season behind a 33-7 defeat at the hands of Utica College in an Empire 8 tilt at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  With the loss, Fisher slipped to 0-2 in the conference standings while the Pioneers snapped a two-game losing streak and finished the day at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Empire 8.

The Cardinals got off to a strong start on both sides of the ball after forcing Utica to punt on its opening drive as the visitors took over on their own 31 yard line.  From there, it took just two plays for the Cardinals to open up a lead as Joshua Michels connected with Will Blake down the sidelines for a 24-yard gain before hitting Cam Cleveland in stride for a 45-yard touchdown pass to open up a 7-0 lead.

Leading by a touchdown, Fisher forced the Pioneers to punt on their ensuing possession only to give the ball back on the first play with an interception at the Utica 49.  The home team would be further aided by a pass interference call to move the chains and set up first and 10 at the Utica nine yard line.  The Pioneers would work their way to their own one and attempted to break the goal line on fourth down, but the Cardinals' defense held its ground as Fisher took over on downs. 

Following the change in possession, Fisher was unable to muster much offense with its feet in the end zone as Utica came away with a safety to cut its deficit to 7-2 heading into the second quarter.

Neither team was able to generate much on the offensive side of the ball to begin the second stanza as the Cardinals punted on three straight possessions before Michael Burton pinned the Pioneers at their own goal line with a 37-yard punt.

Trailing by five points with 9:48 left to play before intermission, Utica proceeded to string together a 10-play 99-yard drive capped off by a three-yard run to claim a 9-7 advantage.

The Cardinals were poised to answer on their next drive after a pass to Pat Galer resulted in a first down and a 28-yard gain, but the Pioneers jumped a route on the next play and scurried 70 yards for a pick six to make it 16-7 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Fisher began the third quarter with the ball, but went three-and-out before Utica orchestrated a nine-play, 42-yard drive that ate up 4:21 and resulted in a 27-yard field goal to bring it to 19-7.

From there, the Pioneers would tack on 14 points to earn their first conference win of the season, 33-7.

Michels went 5-for-7 in the loss for 94 yards, a touchdown and an interception while Alejandro Utset completed 17-of-43 for 142 yards.

Cleveland led the receiving corps with five catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.  Galer added 64 yards on four receptions while Blake contributed 55 yards on three grabs.  Willy Stevenson had five catches overall for 26 yards.

Defensively, Cameron Bellino led the way with 12 tackles while Demarre Nelson had nine stops and a pass breakup.  Justin Wheeler added seven tackles in the loss and Evan Majewski came away with six tackles.  Michael Chase had four stops and picked off a pass.

Burton punted seven times in all for an average of 33.7 yards per kick including two inside the 20.

Fisher will continue its search for its first win of the season when it returns home at 1 p.m. on Saturday for a matchup with Hartwick College.