PITTSFORD, N.Y. – St. John Fisher senior quarterback Ryan Whitney delivered one of the best rushing performances in program history to lead the Cardinals to a 27-13 victory over Hartwick on Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium.
The Cardinals will enter their bye week 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Empire 8 Conference play. With the loss, Hartwick, winless in its last eight games against St. John Fisher, dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the Empire 8.
Whitney carried the ball 15 times for a career-high 186 yards – the second most in a game by a quarterback in program history – with touchdowns of 71 and 80 yards in the second half. He became the first player in program history to record two touchdown runs of 70-plus yards in a game.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Whitney also completed 22-of-34 passes (64.7%) for 273 yards and a touchdown, a 35-yard connection with senior wide receiver Jackson Cusack, who set career highs with 11 catches for 148 yards. The Cardinals amassed a season-high 456 total yards.
The Cardinals' defense limited Hartwick to 237 yards and allowed just one touchdown. Senior defensive linemen Greg Rayl and Jedrek Olkowski each had two sacks, and junior cornerback Micah Harshfield snagged his first collegiate interception. Junior safety Ryan Ross made a career-high nine tackles, including one for a loss.
Hartwick quarterback Ty'Lyn Blackwell-Williams completed 17-of-25 passes for 136 yards with an interception. Running back Nicholas Massaregli rushed for 118 yards and a score on 14 attempts.
How It Happened
Whitney's touchdown runs couldn't have been better timed for the Cardinals, who made plenty of mistakes over the first two quarters and change to keep the Hawks in the game.
After Hartwick tied the game at 13 on a 37-yard Landon Smith field goal, Whitney rushed for 14 yards on the first play of the ensuing possession before following key blocks from sophomore offensive lineman Jared Curcio and senior tight end Nathan Delill on the next play to break free for his 71-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
The Cardinals forced the Hawks to punt on the following drive, which lasted just six plays and spanned 19 yards. After a touchback set up Fisher's offense at its own 20 with 11:40 left in the fourth quarter, Whitney, on the second play of the drive, broke a tackle in the backfield and raced through a hole to his left. Senior tight end Nate McGoldrick and senior wide receiver Mykel White delivered crucial downfield blocks to spring Whitney for an 81-yard score that essentially sealed Fisher's 27-13 victory.
Hartwick turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive, and Harshfield snagged his interception on the second play of the Hawks' next possession. The Hawks punted from their own end zone on their final drive, and Fisher drained the final 1:52 from the game clock.
The Cardinals couldn't seem to avoid frustrating gaffes until Whitney and the offense flipped a switch late in the second half.
Hartwick's Javion Gaddy returned the opening kickoff 58 yards to the Fisher 33-yard line, and the Hawks took a 3-0 lead a short time later on a 42-yard field goal from Smith. The Cardinals moved into Hartwick territory on the second play of their first possession but gave the ball away two plays later when Christopher Acompora-Miller sacked Whitney and forced the ball out. Joseph Algieri recovered at the Hartwick 34-yard line.
The Cardinals' defense responded with a stop, and their offense got on the board about three minutes later as Cusack caught a short pass from Whitney and sprinted past multiple defenders for a 35-yard touchdown that put Fisher ahead 7-3.
St. John Fisher went into halftime with a 13-3 lead thanks to a pair of successful field goal attempts by Logan Laratta – from 37 and 31 yards, respectively – in the second quarter. Between those makes, the Cardinals went 3-and-out and turned the ball over on downs.
The Hawks forced Fisher to go three-and-out to start the second half and took advantage, pulling within three on a 10-yard touchdown run by Massaregli that capped a seven-play, 42-yard drive.
Hartwick came up with another stop after that and got deep into St. John Fisher territory in a hurry. On the first play of the Hawks' second possession in the third quarter, Massaregli ripped off a 78-yard run to the Fisher 8-yard line. A roughing the passer penalty by the Cardinals two plays later moved the ball to the 4-yard line, but a holding penalty and sack by senior defensive lineman Ty Rader forced the Hawks to settle for Smith's game-tying field goal.
Whitney, of course, took over from there.
Game Notes
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Whitney's 80-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter marked just the third 80-plus-yard touchdown run by a Fisher player in the last 10 seasons. It marked Fisher's longest rushing play this season.
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Whitney's 80-yard rush marked Fisher's longest since Malachi Duvall's 83-yard TD run against Buffalo State in Sept. 2022.
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Whitney's 186 yards rushing marked the most by a Fisher player since running back Peyton Nolan had 189 yards against Keystone in Sept. 2023.
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Whitney's 186 yards rushing marked the most by a Fisher quarterback since 2014, when Ryan Kramer amassed 244 yards in an October game against Utica.
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Whitney amassed more than 100 yards rushing for the fourth time in his career and the first time this season.
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Whitney has now scored a rushing touchdown in six consecutive games, becoming the first Fisher player to accomplish that feat since James Chambers in 2017.
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Whitney now has 15 career rushing touchdowns, two shy of the program record for a quarterback. Kramer (17 TDs as a QB) holds the top mark.
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Whitney also needs just four more rushing TDs to set the program record for the most in a season by a quarterback. Kramer ran for 12 TDs in 2011.
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Whitney has completed more than 60% of his passes in eight consecutive games dating back to the end of last season, the longest such streak in program history.
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Cusack surpassed 100 career pass receptions. He became just the 12th player in program history to reach the 100-catch mark.
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Cusack recorded his 13th career receiving TD, passing Will Blake, Dan Witkowski and Mike Fusilli for 10th on the program's career TD receptions list.
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Laratta has made eight consecutive field goals, the longest run in program history.
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The Cardinals recorded five sacks in the contest, their most in a game since they had five against Hartwick in Oct. 2018.
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The Cardinals improved to 5-1 for the second straight season. This marks the first time they have started 5-1 (or better) in back-to-back seasons since 2013-14.
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The Cardinals improved to 24-7 all-time against the Hawks.
Game Notes
The Cardinals are idle next week. They next play on Saturday, Oct. 24, at No. 15 SUNY Cortland.
