PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team was unable to match SUNY Brockport on Saturday as the Cardinals were upended, 34-7, in Courage Bowl XVI on the turf inside Growney Stadium.  With the loss, Fisher fell to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Empire 8 while the Golden Eagles, who are receiving votes in the latest American Football Coaches Association national poll, improved to 3-1, 1-0, respectively.

After forcing Fisher into a three-and-out on its opening possession, the Golden Eagles moved 57 yards over 13 plays to get on the board first after converting a 22-yard field goal to open up a 3-0 lead with 7:41 still to play in the first quarter.

Trailing by a field goal, Fisher looked to answer on the other end of the field after TySean Sizer returned the ensuing kickoff to the Cardinals' 27.  With plenty of field to work with, quarterback Joseph Torrillo, who made the first start of his career on Saturday, aired it out to Chris Park for a gain of 34 yards and a fresh set of downs in Brockport territory.

With the ball at the Golden Eagles' 24, Torrillo dropped back to pass again, but threw it right to a Brockport defender who broke to the outside and scampered 72 yards to pay dirt to make it 10-0 in the visitors' favor.  

Leading by two scores with time winding down in the opening period, Brockport added to its lead on its next possession after a 42-yard pass led to a short five-yard touchdown run to open up a 17-0 cushion leading into the second quarter.

After both defenses held their ground in the second quarter, Brockport got the ball to start the third frame, but the Golden Eagles turned it over after lofting an errant pass that Johnny Pagano came down with to give Fisher the ball at its own 36.

Facing a 17-point gap, Torrillo brought the crowd of nearly 3,000 people to its feet after pairing up with Sizer down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown strike that got Fisher on the board, 17-7.

With momentum on its side, Fisher looked to keep Brockport at bay, but the Golden Eagles continued to rely on their running game and moved the sticks three times before settling for a 29-yard field goal to push their lead to 20-7 with the fourth quarter looming.

Holding a two-touchdown lead with 15 minutes remaining in the game, Brockport orchestrated a 9-play drive capped off by another short touchdown run to open up a 27-7 margin.  From there, the Golden Eagles took advantage of Fisher's third interception of the evening that set up a first-and-10 at the Cardinals' 14.  Two plays later, Brockport punched it in from seven yards out to hold a 27-point advantage with just over two minutes showing on the clock.

Torrillo finished the game 13-of-39 for 173 yards, one touchdown and three picks.  Sizer had three receptions for 80 yards and a score while Park had one grab for 34 yards.  Dahmir Pross hauled in three catches for 22 yards while Richie Quinn caught one pass for 19 yards.

As a team, Fisher yielded 241 yards on the ground and was unable to get anything going in its own backfield as it finished the night with negative rushing yards.

Evan Strassberger returned to the field and made 17 tackles in all while Joe Miscia finished with 16 stops in the loss.  Anthony Manna had 11 tackles and broke up one pass while Justin Rodriguez and Ryan Nugent each added eight tackles for Fisher.  Taurian Taylor had five tackles and a team-leading three pass breakups while Pagano had one pick and four stops at cornerback.

Joe Dotterweich punted nine times in all and averaged 31.6 yards as the North Tonawanda native pinned Brockport inside its own 20 twice and had a punt of 54 yards.

The Cardinals will be back in action at 1 p.m. next Saturday when they travel to Morrisville to take on the Mustangs.