Game Notes: Football Wraps Up Regular-Season At Home On Saturday Against Alfred State

St. John Fisher (6-3, 4-2 Empire 8)

Head Coach: Ed Raby Jr. (1st year at Fisher, 6th year overall)

Raby's Career Record: 6-3 at Fisher, 26-25 overall (includes four seasons at SUNY Morrisville)

2025 Results: @FDU-Florham (21-0 W), vs. St. Lawrence (28-23 W), @UofR (28-21 L), vs. Alfred (21-7 W), vs. Brockport (31-24 OT W), @Hartwick (35-21 W), vs. Cortland (31-7, L), @Utica (31-7, L), vs. SUNY Morrisville (21-7, W)

Team Captains: Ryan Whitney* (Jr., QB), Ethan Curtis* (Sr., WR), Timothy Vanderbrink* (Jr., S) and Colin Faust* (Jr., LB) ...  * denotes first-time captain.

• Roster
• Coaching Staff
• Schedule
• Season Stats

Alfred State College (5-4, 3-3 Empire 8)

Head Coach: Scott Linn (8th season)

Linn's Career Record: 31-40

2025 Results: @Anderson (7-6, L), @Hilbert (49-13, W), vs. Buffalo State (56-20, W), @Utica (45-13, L), vs. SUNY Morrisville (41-21, W), @SUNY Brockport (48-14, L), vs. Hartwick (54-28, W), vs. SUNY Cortland (49-7, L), vs. Alfred (35-28, W)

• Roster
• Coaching Staff
• Schedule
• Season Stats

Senior Day

The St. John Fisher football and cheerleading teams will honor their seniors during a ceremony on the field before the game. 

Cheerleading Seniors: Katie Beach, Marissa Booth, Mia Campbell, Mia Nicastro, Hanna Rademacher and Madelyn Szczesek. 

Football Seniors: Deante Hall, Camden Chance, William Frank, Tyler Marks, Carson Crandall, Jaony Mercado, Brennan McElroy, Justin Rojek, Aaron Sommers, Stephen Dowe, Eli Williams, Alexander Day, Chase Vincenzi, Cole Ricci and Andrew Reichelt. 

The 2025 Season In Photos….

A Big Turnaround

The Cardinals have been one of the best turnaround stories in Division III this season under head coach Ed Raby Jr., who came to Fisher from SUNY Morrisville last winter to take over a team that finished 3-7 overall (2-5 Empire 8) in 2024. 

With a win on Saturday, the Cardinals would finish the regular season 7-3 overall (5-2 Empire), completing a full-on swap of their record from last year. 

Notable Accomplishments In Raby’s Year 1 At Fisher

• The Cardinals have secured their first winning season since 2016, when they finished 8-3 overall and 6-2 in conference play. 
• The Cardinals got off to their best overall (5-1) and conference starts (3-0) since 2016 this season. 
• The Cardinals beat Brockport, which had been receiving votes in various DIII football top-25 polls, 31-24 in overtime on Oct. 4 for their first Courage Bowl win since 2016.

November Losing Skid Ends 

The Cardinals ended a 10-game November losing streak with a 21-7 road victory over SUNY Morrisville last Saturday. Fisher hadn't won a game in November since a 31-28 victory over Alfred University to end the 2019 season. 

Fisher's defense limited Morrisville to 268 total yards and allowed a season-low 11 first downs. The Mustangs, who went 1 for 4 on their trips to the red zone, gained just 97 yards rushing and threw for 171 yards.

The Cardinals' offense committed four turnovers – three interceptions and a fumble – but still churned out 409 total yards. They gashed Morrisville for a season-high 259 yards on the ground, averaging nearly 5.5 yards per rushing attempt. 

Junior quarterback Ryan Whitney led Fisher with 86 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts, while fellow junior quarterback Mason Lister, who started the game, had 58 yards on nine carries. Junior running back Shane Zaletofsky had 58 yards on 12 attempts, and senior running back Deante Hall had 57 yards on 11 rushes. 

Lister completed 16 of 22 passes for 148 yards with touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Ethan Curtis and junior wide receiver Jackson Cusack.

Home Field Advantage

The Cardinals own a 3-1 record in home games this season with wins over St. Lawrence, Alfred and Brockport. Their lone home loss to this point came to nationally ranked SUNY Cortland on Oct. 25. 

With a victory on Saturday, Fisher would secure its first season with four or more victories at Growney Stadium since 2016.

A Postseason Trend?

The Cardinals have finished with six wins or more 15 other times since 2000. In all but one of those seasons – 2002 – they qualified for the postseason. 

Year                Wins in Reg. Szn                 Postseason
2025                6                                ???
2016                8                        ECAC Bowl Game
2015                7                        ECAC Bowl Game
2014                8                        ECAC Bowl Game
2013                8                        NCAA Tournament (reached regional finals)
2012                7                        ECAC Bowl Game
2011                8                        NCAA Tournament (reached regional finals)
2010                8                        ECAC Bowl Game
2009                6                        ECAC Bowl Game
2008                6                        ECAC Bowl Game
2007                9                        NCAA Tournament (reached regional finals)
2006                9                        NCAA Tournament (reached semifinals)
2005                8                        ECAC Bowl Game
2004                9                        NCAA Tournament (reached second round)
2003                7                        ECAC Bowl Game
2002                6                        XX

The Cardinal Notebook

• Junior Mason Lister became the first Fisher quarterback since Hunter Walsh in 2019 to earn E8 Offensive Player of the Week honors after a dominant showing against Hartwick on Oct. 11. He set career highs in completion percentage (71/4%) and passing yards (356) as the Cardinals piled up a season-high 432 yards of offense in the 35-21 road win. With four touchdowns passing and one rushing, he became the first Fisher player to account for five or more scores in a game since quarterback Matt Naton threw six TD passes in a win over Hartwick in November 2016. 
• In a 35-21 win over Hartwick on Oct. 11, senior Camden Chance produced the best receiving game by a running back in program history, catching three passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, an 80-yarder and a 54-yarder. That performance made Chance the first Fisher running back to have a 100-yard receiving game since Ryan Kramer caught 11 passes for 108 yards against Ithaca in October 2013. Additionally, with his 80-yard score in the first quarter, he became the first Fisher running back to log a receiving touchdown since Chambers against Cortland in October 2017.
• Chance amassed a career-high 139 yards rushing on 17 attempts against Cortland on Oct. 25. He had 80 of those yards on a six-play, 85-yard drive that he capped with a 1-yard score in the second quarter. 
• Chance amassed 170 yards rushing and 144 yards receiving while piling up 314 yards of total offense over Fisher’s matchups against Hartwick and Cortland. He’s rushed for a score and caught two touchdown passes. 
• Fifth-year wide receiver Jaylen Brantley caught six passes for 132 yards against Rochester and five for 149 with a touchdown against Hartwick. He’s the first Fisher player to have multiple 100-plus yard receiving performances in a season since Will Blake in 2019. Through nine games, Brantley leads the Cardinals with 500 yards receiving on 28 receptions. 
• Curtis leads the Cardinals with four touchdown receptions. With one more, he’d become the first Fisher player to have five or more receiving scores since Gabe Maloni had six in 2022. 
• With their performances against Hartwick, Brantley and Chance became the first pair of Fisher players to surpass 100 yards receiving in the same game since Pat Galer and Blake did so against Cortland in October 2019. 
• Senior running back Deante Hall rushed for a touchdown in five consecutive games to start the season, becoming the first Fisher player to have a streak that long since running back James Chambers found the end zone in six straight games in 2017. Three of Hall's five touchdowns during that stretch came on runs of 20 yards or more.
• Sophomore linebacker Jack Tanoory earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week on Oct. 7 after making 14 tackles, including 13 solo, and forcing a crucial fumble in the fourth quarter of Fisher’s 31-24 win over Brockport. Tanoory, who also made 14 tackles against Hartwick, has 63 total tackles this season, including 46 solo and 5.5 for a loss. 
• Freshman defensive back Colin Clark leads the Cardinals with 70 total and 47 solo tackles. He’s tied with Tanoory for the team lead in pass breakups and is one of six players on the defense with an interception.  
• Safety Timothy Vanderbrink has been one of the top defensive players in the Empire 8 and beyond this season when healthy. While the junior has missed three games due to injury, he still has 58 total tackles, 39 solo tackles, two fumble recoveries and two fumbles forced. Named E8 Defensive Player of the Week twice and to the D3football.com Team of the Week on Sept. 16, Vanderbink has made 10 or more tackles in three of the six games he’s played in this season. He returned a fumble for a score in Fisher’s season-opening win at FDU Florham on Sept. 6 for his second collegiate touchdown. 
• This marks the first season in which the Cardinals have had multiple players (Tanoory/Vanderbrink) earn D3football.com weekly honors since safety Jason Rodriguez and defensive lineman Sean Cleary did so in 2019. 
• The Cardinals’ 14 forced turnovers this season are their most since they amassed 18 takeaways in 2021.

Series History: St. John Fisher vs. Cortland

Series Snapshot: Saturday’s game will mark just the third meeting between the Cardinals and Pioneers. Fisher beat Alfred State 56-0 in 2015 and 61-0 in 2014. 

Last Meeting: The Cardinals dominated Alfred State 56-0 in the first-ever Friday night game at Growney Stadium on Oct. 23, 2015. Steven Strumolo and James Chambers combined for nearly 300 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns apiece. 

Fisher, which attempted just six passes in the game, rushed for 355 yards and a program single-game record seven touchdowns on 43 attempts. The Cardinals averaged 8.3 yards per rush. 

Fisher-Alfred State Connections 

Hayden Ricci (SJF Special Teams/Linebackers Coach): Ricci coached wide receivers at Alfred State in 2021 before joining the Cardinals’ coaching staff in 2022 as running backs coach. He coached Fisher’s quarterbacks in 2024 before transitioning to special teams coordinator/linebackers coach ahead of this season. 

Scouting Alfred State | By Jackson Gallivan, St. John Fisher Athletics Student Assistant 

 Scouting Alfred State | By Jackson Gallivan, St. John Fisher Student Assistant 

Alfred State is 5-4 on the year (3-3 Empire 8) and coming off a massive win over rival Alfred University last week. 

The Pioneers have had an up-and-down season, consisting of really good offensive play and defensive play, just rarely at the same time. 

Turnovers have been the story of the year. Alfred State is second in the conference with 21 turnovers, but first in the conference in turnovers lost with 30. Aside from the turnovers on offense, the Pioneers have been a disciplined football team, as they are first in the conference for fewest penalty yards. 

Players to Watch

#0 Donnell Hall (Jr., DB) - Hall, arguably the top defensive back in the Empire 8, is tied atop the conference in passes broken up (10) and interceptions (5). The junior had a pair of two-interception games earlier this season and has broken up multiple passes in three contests. Hall is one of five Empire 8 players with an interception returned for a touchdown this year. 

#14 Justin Horvath (Sr., QB) - Horvath, an All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) selection last season, has completed 63% of his passes for 1,217 yards with 13 touchdowns to six interceptions. He has also rushed for a score this season. 

#21 Chris Bergman (Jr., DB) - A first-team AMCC selection last year, Bergman leads the Pioneers with 71 tackles this season. He also has three interceptions and five pass breakups to his credit. 

#36 Noah Currier (Jr., RB) - Alfred State’s offense runs through Currier, who averages the second-most all-purpose yards per game (211.7) in Division III entering the final week of the regular season. He’s 13th in DIII and second in the E8 in rushing yards (1,071) and second in DIII and first in the E8 in rushing touchdowns (18). The junior has five 100-plus yard rushing games this season and exploded for nearly 300 yards with two touchdowns in a win over Morrisville on Oct. 4. 

Currier is also Alfred State's top pass catcher with 37 receptions for 346 yards and four touchdowns. 

On top of all he provides offensively, Currier is one of the most explosive kick returners in the country, as he has amassed nearly 500 return yards and two scores on 18 attempts. He's one of just seven players in DIII with multiple kick return scores this season. 

Fisher Football Focus Episode 11

On this week's episode of Fisher Football Focus, student reporter Jacob Rodriguez highlights St. John Fisher’s first winning season since 2016, showcasing a team that has delivered consistent, high-level play all year. Head Coach Ed Raby and wide receiver Jackson Cusack joined the show to break down the Morrisville win and the key factors behind the Cardinals’ resurgence. The episode then shifts to a pivotal regular-season finale against Alfred State, where a victory would put Fisher in strong position for a bowl game — a meaningful opportunity for the program.