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St. John Fisher University Athletics

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Hanife Gundogdu | @haniflicks
21
Winner St. John Fisher SJF 6-3 , 4-2
7
SUNY Morrisville MOR 0-9 , 0-6
Winner
St. John Fisher SJF
6-3 , 4-2
21
Final
7
SUNY Morrisville MOR
0-9 , 0-6
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SJF St. John Fisher 0 14 7 0 21
MOR SUNY Morrisville 0 7 0 0 7

Game Recap: Football | | Mike Hogan, Athletics Communications Coordinator

Football Clinches First Winning Season Since 2016 With 21-7 Win Over Morrisville

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher football team got back on track and clinched its first winning season since 2016 with a 21-7 road victory over SUNY Morrisville on Saturday afternoon at Drake Field. 

The Cardinals improved to 6-3 overall (4-2 Empire 8 Conference) and snapped their two-game losing streak with the victory, their first over the Mustangs since 2021. Morrisville fell to 0-8 overall (0-6 Empire 8). 

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. Curtis led the Cardinals with seven catches, while senior tight end Nate McGoldrick amassed a team-high 50 receiving yards on three receptions. 

Freshman defensive back Colin Clark led Fisher's defense with 10 tackles, including seven solo stops. Junior linebacker Kyle DaMore had seven tackles and broke up a pass. 

The Cardinals struck first early in the second quarter, taking advantage of an 18-yard Morrisville punt that set them up at the Mustangs' 27-yard line. Two plays after a Morrisville pass interference penalty got the Cardinals inside the 5-yard line, Lister fired a four-yard touchdown strike to Curtis to make it 7-0. 

Morrisville tied the game on running back Isaac Sylvain's nine-yard touchdown run with 1:55 in the second quarter, but the Cardinals motored down the field before halftime to regain the lead. Lister completed 7 of 8 passes for 71 yards during a 10-play, 81-yard drive that he capped with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Cusack with 12 seconds remaining in the quarter. 

The Cardinals lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half but made up for the mistake on their next drive, a 13-play, 92-yarder that Whitney ended with a 1-yard touchdown rush to make it 21-7. Fisher ran the ball 11 times for 72 yards for an average of 6.5 yards per attempt on the methodical scoring march. 

Fisher amassed 179 of its rushing yards on 31 carries in the second half. Whitney accounted for 79 of those yards. 

Game Notes

  • The Cardinals snapped their 10-game November losing streak. Fisher hadn't won a game in November since a 31-28 victory over Alfred University to end the 2019 season. 

  • The Cardinals reached four Empire 8 Conference victories for the first time since 2016. 

  • Curtis caught his team-leading fourth touchdown pass of the season. 

  • The Cardinals went a season-best 11 for 14 on third-down plays. 

  • The Cardinals gained a season-high 30 first downs. 

Up Next

The Cardinals conclude the regular season next Saturday against Alfred State at Growney Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon.

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