PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The 49th season of St. John Fisher College football is just two days away as the Cardinals travel to Buffalo State to open up the 2019 season at 12 p.m. on Saturday at the Bengals' Coyer Field. With a wealth of experience and a group of talented incoming freshmen and transfers, the Cardinals are poised for another run at a postseason bid.
Fans unable to make the short trek to Buffalo can still follow all of Saturday's action by clicking the links below:
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THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT: In case you missed it, Fisher Athletics launched its new mobile app last fall - SJFC Athletics - in the App Store and on Google Play. The app, which gives fans, alumni, parents and more yet another opportunity to stay-up-to-date with the latest news, highlights, schedules and more, is free and features push notifications so you never miss a beat. Speaking of apps, don't forget to download the Radio.com mobile app to listen to each and every football game - just search ESPN ROCHESTER.
SERIES HISTORY: These two teams first squared off on the grid iron nearly 40 years ago as Buffalo State edged Fisher 16-7 in 1981. Since then, the two teams have met 21 other times with the Bengals holding a 13-9 overall lead in the series. Buffalo State would lose in 1982, but bounced back with eight straight wins between 1987 and 2000. The Cardinals, however, hold the edge in the new millennium as Fisher has come out on top eight times in 11 chances since 2007.
WHEN WE LAST MET: Last season, Fisher and Buffalo State met in the final game of the season on November 10th in what ended up being an epic comeback for the Cardinals. After trailing 28-7 midway through the third quarter, Fisher erupted for 24 unanswered points including a game-winning 34-yard field goal by
Joe Dotterweich as time expired. The Cardinals' effort matched the longest comeback in team history as Fisher recorded a 21-point comeback against The College at Brockport in Courage Bowl XII.
WINNING STREAK OF SORTS: The Cardinals enter the 2019 season having closed out 2018 with two straight wins after defeating Alfred University on the road, 28-14, before closing out the year with a historic come-from-behind win over the Bengals to cap the year.
SAME TEAM, NEW PATCH: After competing in the Empire 8 conference for nearly a decade, Buffalo State will have a new conference patch on its uniforms as the Bengals joined the Liberty League during the offseason as an affiliate member. The league, which consists of Hobart, Ithaca, R.P.I., Union, St. Lawrence, and Rochester from a football standpoint, needed one more member to solidify its automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. Since joining the Empire 8 in 2012, the Bengals posted a 24-28 (.462) mark against conference competition. The team's best seasons came in 2014 and 2015 when it finished in fourth place at 5-3.
WELCOME BACK: The Cardinals enter the 2019 season riding some momentum from the tail end of last season and with nearly 70 returners from a season ago on this year's roster, the team has high expectations. The entire defensive line is back headlined by Second-Team All-Conference selection
LeMar Peters while the linebacking corps remains one of the top units in the conference with
Justin Wheeler (95 tackles/15.5TFL),
Tony Silvanic (68 tackles) and
Durrel Hutcherson (34 tackles) all in the lineup. Offensively, Fisher has seriously improved its offensive line with an average weight of nearly 300 pounds while the Cardinals will boast some depth at wide receiver with
Will Blake (482 yards) and
Pat Galer (467 yards) back in action. Fisher will also turn to
William Coon who last played in 2017 and contributed nearly 1,000 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 2016.
NEW FACES: The Cardinals were busy in the offseason and recruited 55 newcomers to the 2019 team including some impact transfers. Several will be asked to make an impact right away including
Hunter Walsh who is slated to be the team's starting quarterback at Buff. State. Transfers
TySean Sizer (WR) and
Dahmir Pross (RB) will also be in the starting lineup while freshman
Joe Howard (OL) will line up at right guard for the Cardinals.
HE'S A TRUE PATRIOT: Transfer
TySean Sizer received a boost heading into the team's opener this weekend as the Division I transfer from Colgate University was recently named All-Patriot League as a punt returner after he produced nearly 230 yards in returns during his sophomore season. Over 15 returns on the year, Sizer averaged 15.3 yards on average, which led the Patriot League overall by more than four yards per return. Sizer's biggest return came on November 10th against Lehigh University where he ripped off a career-high 54-yard return to set up a scoring drive for the Raiders. Overall, Sizer, who returned a punt in only four games, had three punt returns of at least 20 yards and would go on to post a career-high with 86 return yards in a win over Lehigh.
SCOUTING BUFFALO STATE: The Jerry Boyes era is over at Buffalo State after 25-plus seasons and nearly 140 wins. In steps newly-minted head coach Christian Ozolins who has coached with the Bengals since 2003 as an assistant.
Last season was a down year for Buffalo State as it finished seventh in the Empire 8 standings with a 1-6 mark. The team's lone victory of the year came on September 29th as it celebrated Homecoming with a 41-7 win over Hartwick College. From there, the Bengals lost six straight games and struggled to get anything going on the offensive end of the field.
Overall, the team ranked at the bottom of the conference in most offensive and defensive categories, however, Ozolins does have depth and talent on this season's roster including Martin Bailey and Jordan Evert. Bailey returns for another season after leading the Bengals' rushing attack with nearly 600 yards and four rushing touchdowns while Evert finished the year just shy of 700 receiving yards and seven scores. With Kevin Torrillo having graduated, the team will turn to Zak Ciezki as its signal caller in 2019.
Defensively, Gino Bonagura is back in the secondary after producing a team-leading 104 tackles in 2018. Along with Bonagura, Devin Delmont (55 tackles), Jay-Quan Wilson (44 tackles) and Elloheim Tucker (three Interceptions) are all set to suit up again in the coming year.
HALL OF FAME NEWS: St. John Fisher College is set to induct eight new members into its Athletics Hall of Fame later this fall including three former football players. All-American Tim Bailey '11 will be inducted after a record-setting career under center. To date, he still ranks first in program history in completions (628), yards (8,352 – 1,500 more than second) and touchdowns with 77 while his 1010 attempts is second in team history. His 62.2 completion percentage is third all-time. On the single season list, Bailey's name appears three times in single-season attempts, yards and completions while he ranks first all-time in touchdowns for a season with 35. James Reile '08 will also be enshrined as the former running back is fourth all-time in rushing yards with over 3,100 while his 39 touchdowns are second in Fisher's storied history. Former All-American defensive end Terry Principe '80 will be inducted as well. Following his time in uniform, Principe played a significant role in helping to fundraise in order to sustain the program, which was a club at that time. Kyle Denhoff '12 (men's lacrosse), Colleen Maloney '11 (women's basketball), Sandy Spero '80 (wrestling), Luke Lennox '10 (men's soccer) and Irene Valentine '97 (softball) will also be honored.
