BROCKPORT, N.Y. – SUNY Brockport scored 24 unanswered points after falling behind 14-0 in a 38-28 victory over St. John Fisher in the 21st annual Courage Bowl presented by Northwestern Mutual on Saturday night at Bob Boozer Field.
The Cardinals (4-1, 1-1 Empire 8 Conference), who entered the contest 4-0 for the first time in 10 years, suffered their first lost of the season. Brockport (4-1, 2-0 Empire 8) recorded its third consecutive victory and avenged a 31-24 overtime loss to Fisher in last year's Courage Bowl.
Brockport amassed 379 yards of total offense and did most of its damage on the ground. The Golden Eagles rushed for 249 yards on 47 attempts, averaging nearly six yards per carry. Quarterback Zymier Jackson carried the ball 15 times for 111 yards and found the end zone twice, while running back Allan Paul gained 88 yards on 17 rushes. Running back Derrion Battle had 40 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts.
Jackson also completed 14-of-21 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Nolan Slywka led the Golden Eagles with six catches for 82 yards and a score.
St. John Fisher senior quarterback Ryan Whitney connected on 19 of his 29 pass attempts for 252 yards and rushed 14 times for 43 yards with two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Jackson Cusack caught seven passes for 107 yards and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Shawn Watson.
The Cardinals' kick and punt return units were explosive throughout, combining for 244 yards on nine returns. Cusack returned two punts for 65 yards and a touchdown, and junior running back Justin Maier ran back six kickoffs for 167 yards.
Brockport's defense forced a pair of turnovers and sacked Whitney three times. Defensive back Jahmere Clarke totaled a team-high eight tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.
How It Happened
It would have been hard for St. John Fisher to script a better start.
Maier returned the opening kickoff 47 yards to the Brockport 49-yard line, and a personal foul by the Golden Eagles tacked on 15 more yards to set the Cardinals' offense up at the 34. Two plays later, Whitney burst through a huge hole and scampered into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown.
The Cardinals went ahead by two touchdowns after Brockport had to punt after just three plays on its first possession. During a nine-play, 65-yard drive, Whitney moved the chains with 10-plus-yard completions to Cusack (twice), Maier and junior wideout Gavin Horton before recording his second rushing score of the game on 2nd-and-goal from the Golden Eagles' 3-yard line.
From there, not much else went right for the Cardinals, who saw their dream start come undone in a hurry.
The Golden Eagles settled in during a nine-play, 72-yard drive that lasted nearly five minutes and was punctuated by a one-yard rushing score by Jackson. The Cardinals' ensuing possession ended on the third play, when Cusack fumbled while fighting for extra yardage at the end of a 9-yard reception. Brockport capitalized on the mistake a short time later.
Jackson, on 4th-and-6 from the Fisher 31-yard line early in the second quarter, completed a 7-yard pass to Dylan Caraballo to keep Brockport's drive alive. He connected with Slywka two plays later for a 17-yard touchdown that pulled the Golden Eagles even.
After Fisher went three-and-out on the subsequent drive, Brockport drove 61 yards on 13 plays over 6:15 and took a 17-14 lead just before halftime on a 21-yard Chris Bascetta field goal.
The teams traded punts to start the second half before the Golden Eagles engineered another lengthy drive (12 plays, 65 yards) to take a 24-14 lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Xavier Smith late in the third quarter.
Clarke snagged a tip-drill interception to thwart Fisher's ensuing possession, but the Cardinals came up with a huge defensive stop to keep their deficit at 10. Cusack then put St. John Fisher right back in it, returning Connor Parker's punt nearly 50 yards to the end zone to cut Brockport's lead to three, 24-21, early in the fourth quarter.
Any momentum regained by the Cardinals there quickly vanished, though, as Jackson ripped off a 60-yard touchdown rush on the third play of the next series. Later in the quarter, after the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs, the Golden Eagles delivered the knockout blow with a six-play, 38-yard drive capped by a 4-yard rushing score from Battle.
The Cardinals added a late touchdown on a trick-play pass from Cusack to Watson. Cusack went in motion from left to right before catching a lateral from Whitney and firing the ball deep down the sideline to the wide-open Watson.
Game Notes
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Cusack recorded Fisher's first punt return TD since Sept. 21, 2019, against TCNJ. TySean Sizer returned a punt 76 yards for a score in that game.
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Cusack recorded Fisher's first punt return TD in a Courage Bowl game.
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Maier's 167 kick return yards marked the most by a Fisher player since Ryan Kramer had 187 yards against Frostburg State in Oct. 2013.
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Whitney recorded his second career game with two rushing scores. He has rushed for a touchdown in every game this season.
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Whitney now has 13 career rushing touchdowns, the second most by a quarterback in program history. He needs four more to match the record.
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Senior safety Timothy Vanderbrink made a career-high 16 tackles, the most by a Fisher player since Joe Miscia had 16 against SUNY Morrisville in 2022.
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Graduate senior safety Eric Sparkman totaled a season-high 12 tackles.
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Junior linebacker Jack Tanoory made six tackles, including 1.5 for a loss.
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Junior linebacker Jack Bierman recorded his team-leading fourth sack of the season.
Up Next
The Cardinals face Hartwick at 2 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 10, at Growney Stadium. Fisher's 2006 team, which reached the NCAA Division III Semifinals, will be honored during the game.
