Football | 11/7/2025 7:00:00 AM
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Having lost consecutive games for the first time all season, the St. John Fisher football team (5-3, 3-2 Empire 8) will look to get back on track with a road win over SUNY Morrisville (0-8, 0-5 Empire 8) on Saturday afternoon at Drake Field.
In Case You're Just Catching Up…
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With one more victory, the Cardinals would secure their first winning season since an 8-3 2016 campaign.
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The Cardinals got off to their best overall (5-1) and conference starts (3-0) since 2016 this season.
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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.
Trying To End A November Skid
The Cardinals will be looking to put an end to a November skid that began four seasons ago on Saturday against the Mustangs. Fisher has lost 10 consecutive November games since a 31-28 victory over Alfred University to end the 2019 season.
Trending Toward The Postseason?
Since 2000, the Cardinals have made it through October with five wins or more 14 times. In all but one of those seasons (2023), they qualified for the postseason and ended with a winning record.
Year Wins Thru Oct. Postseason
2025 5 ???
2023 5 No
2016 7 ECAC Bowl Game
2015 5 ECAC Bowl Game
2014 6 ECAC Bowl Game
2013 5 NCAA Tournament (reached regional finals)
2012 6 ECAC Bowl Game
2011 7 NCAA Tournament (reached regional finals)
2010 7 ECAC Bowl Game
2008 5 ECAC Bowl Game
2007 8 NCAA Tournament (reached regional finals)
2006 8 NCAA Tournament (reached semifinals)
2005 8 ECAC Bowl Game
2004 8 NCAA Tournament (reached second round)
2003 5 ECAC Bowl Game
The Cardinal Notebook
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 seven games, Brantley leads the Cardinals in catches (27) and yards (480).
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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.
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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.
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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, leads the Cardinals in total tackles (63) and solo tackles (46).
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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 two 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.
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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.
Series History vs. Morrisville
Series Snapshot: Saturday's game will mark the 10th meeting between St. John Fisher and SUNY Morrisville. The Mustangs have won six of the nine games in the series, which began in 2015.
Last Meeting: Morrisville quarterback Chris Stancarone threw two touchdown passes in the first half of the Mustangs' 14-11 win over the Cardinals last November at Growney Stadium. The offensive struggle featured a combined 11 punts – five for Morrisville and six for Fisher – that totaled nearly 500 yards.
Last Win: Quarterback Joseph Torrillo threw for 147 yards with touchdown passes to Shane O'Dea and Johnathan Letta in the Cardinals' 28-23 win over Morrisville on Oct. 9, 2021. Defensive back Justin Rodriguez returned an interception 35 yards for a score in the third quarter to give Fisher a 28-17 lead.
Fisher-Morrisville Connections
St. John Fisher Head Coach Ed Raby Jr.: Raby spent four years as SUNY Morrisville's head coach – the first two as the interim – and led the Mustangs to a pair of ECAC Bowl games. He joined the Morrisville staff in 2017 as defensive coordinator and safeties coach under the leadership of head coach Curt Fitzpatrick, a 2004 St. John Fisher graduate who won a Division III national title at SUNY Cortland in 2023.
Following Fitzpatrick's departure for Cortland in February 2020, Morrisville named Raby its interim head coach. The Mustangs went 2-8 overall (1-5 Empire 8) in 2021, the first season after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season, before improving significantly in 2022. They finished 7-4 (3-3 Empire 8) and reached the ECAC Robert M. Scotty Whitelaw Bowl.
Morrisville had its best season under Raby in 2024, finishing 7-4 overall (5-2 Empire 8) and beating Stevenson University 21-18 in the Robert M. Scotty Whitelaw Bowl. The Mustangs' five conference wins marked the program's most E8 victories in a single season.
Scouting Morrisville | By Jackson Gallivan, St. John Fisher Student Assistant
Morrisville On Offense: The Mustangs have struggled to get much of anything going offensively, as they stand last in the Empire 8 in scoring (12 points per game), total offense (227.4 yards per game) and passing (102.5 yards per game). Morrisville has scored 14 points or fewer in six of its eight games.
Morrisville On Defense: The Mustangs rank last in the Empire 8 in run defense, allowing 222.2 yards per game on the ground. Four teams have amassed more than 200 yards rushing against the Mustangs this year.
Players To Watch
#1 Isaac Sylvain (Jr., RB) - Sylvain has been a bright spot offensively for Morrisville, as the 2024 third-team All-Empire 8 selection has 694 yards rushing with seven touchdowns on 152 attempts. He had 207 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball 31 times in a loss to Hartwick last week.
#8 Dillon English (Sr., LB) - English has made an Empire 8-leading 83 tackles, including five for a loss of yards, to go with three pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. He's made 10 or more tackles in four games.
#13 Aaron Greaves (Jr., DL) - Greaves leads the Mustangs with six tackles for a loss and four sacks. He's also forced a pair of fumbles.
