ALFRED, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher football team improved to 4-0 for the first time in a decade with a 33-15 victory over Alfred to open Empire 8 Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Yunevich Stadium.
The Cardinals throttled the Saxons (1-3, 0-1 Empire 8) with 31 unanswered points in the first half, 24 of which came in the second quarter. Fisher rolled up 371 total offensive yards – 263 through the air and 108 on the ground – and allowed fewer than 100 yards rushing for the fourth straight week.
Cardinals quarterback Ryan Whitney recorded his seventh career game and fourth in a row with at least one passing and rushing touchdown. The senior finished 20-of-31 (64.5%) passing with 263 yards and two scores and rushed for 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 16 carries.
Three players logged at least four receptions for the Cardinals. Junior wide receiver Gavin Horton hauled in four passes for 105 yards and a score; junior running back Justin Maier set career highs with eight catches for 71 yards; and senior wide receiver Jackson Cusack caught four balls for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Senior safety Tim Vanderbrink led St. John Fisher's defense with eight tackles, including five solo and one for a loss of yards. Junior cornerback Nate Parliament broke up a career-high three passes and made three tackles.
Alfred quarterback Matt Parker completed 19 of his 27 pass attempts for 267 yards and two touchdowns, with much of that production coming after the Cardinals established a commanding lead. The Saxons managed just 47 yards rushing on 24 attempts (2.0 yards per rush).
How It Happened
For as great as the first half turned out to be for the Cardinals, it did not get off to an inspiring start. Whitney threw an interception on the game's second play from scrimmage, allowing the Saxons to begin their first possession of the day with the ball at the Fisher 39. Running back Tommy Nyquist picked up a pair of first downs for AU on the ground – including a 20-yard run on 1st-and-15 from the Fisher 30 – as the Saxons drove inside the Fisher 5-yard line.
The Saxons appeared to take an early lead on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Parker to Caden Allen, but a holding penalty took those points off the board and derailed the drive. After another penalty pushed its offense back to the 22-yard line, Alfred ultimately had to settle for a 33-yard field goal attempt, which Dominic Bronco pushed wide left.
Whitney and the Cardinals' offense took over and hardly made another mistake the rest of the first half, slamming the accelerator with five consecutive scoring drives.
The Cardinals went ahead 7-0 with a 12-play, 80-yard drive during which Whitney rushed five times for 32 yards and connected with Maier for gains of 11 and 16 yards through the air. He capped the 6:49 march with a four-yard touchdown rush.
Alfred went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, and a short punt set the Cardinals' offense up inside Saxon territory. The Cardinals ripped down the field for another touchdown, as Whitney completed a 31-yard pass to Maier on the first play of the drive to get Fisher to the AU 4-yard line and rushed for a 1-yard score two plays later.
The Cardinals forced another quick Alfred punt and went ahead 21-0 just more than two minutes later when Whitney, on 3rd-and-6 from the AU 17, connected with Cusack for a 17-yard touchdown.
AU picked up a first down on its next drive before St. John Fisher senior defensive linemen Jedrek Olkowski and Ty Rader teamed up for a five-yard tackle for a loss to put the Saxons behind the sticks.
The Saxons had to punt again and finally managed to flip the field, but it did not matter. On the first play of their fourth possession, Whitney fired a quick pass over the middle to an in-breaking Horton, who caught the ball at the Fisher 30, broke a tackle and followed blocks from Cusack and senior wide receiver Mykel White while weaving his way down the field for an 82-yard touchdown.
After a fourth straight Alfred drive ended with a punt, the Cardinals drained the final 3:58 of the first half with a nine-play, 36-yard drive capped by a 33-yard field goal from senior kicker Logan Larratta.
The Cardinals held the Saxons scoreless until early in the fourth quarter, when Parker connected with Damone Allen for a 50-yard touchdown. Parker threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Caden Allen on AU's next drive and completed a two-point conversion attempt to Nyquist, cutting the Cardinals' lead to 31-15 with 4:21 left.
Fisher added two more points to its lead with a safety with 2:55 left.
Game Notes
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The Cardinals improved to 4-0 for the 10th time as an NCAA Division III team with the win.
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The Cardinals improved to 16-12 all-time against Alfred.
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The Cardinals have won their E8 opener for a second consecutive season. This marks the first time Fisher has started 1-0 in conference play in back-to-back seasons since 2013-14.
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The Cardinals have held four straight opponents under 100 yards rushing for the first time since 2019. Additionally, Fisher has yet to give up a rushing touchdown this season. Dating back to at least 2000, the Cardinals have never gone four consecutive games without giving up a rushing touchdown.
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The Cardinals went 4-of-5 in the red zone, bringing their season totals to 12 scores on 13 attempts (10 TD, 2 FG).
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Whitney became just the second Fisher quarterback to log rushing and passing touchdowns in four straight games, joining 2011 Ryan Kramer.
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Whitney has rushed for at least 60 yards in seven career games, including in five of the Cardinals' last seven games since last November.
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Whitney has completed more than 60% of his passes in every game this season. He has thrown for more than 250 yards with multiple TD passes in three of the Cardinals' four contests.
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Cusack moved into a tie with Will Blake, Dan Witkowski and Mike Fusilli for 10th on the program's career TD receptions list (12 TDs).
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Horton has had at least 70 yards receiving in each of Fisher's first four games. He's the first Cardinal since Will Blake in 2019 to record 70-plus yards receiving in the first four games of a season.
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Horton recorded his second touchdown reception of 70 yards or longer this season. He had a 72-yard touchdown against FDU-Florham in Week 1.
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Horton's 82-yard touchdown was Fisher's longest play from scrimmage this season.
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Senior kicker Logan Larratta has made all six of his field goal attempts since becoming the Cardinals' starter at the end of last season. He's 3-for-3 this season.
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Junior defensive back Nate Parliament broke up a career-high three passes.
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VanderBrink, Rader, Olkowski, junior linebacker Jack Tanoory and senior linebacker Kyle DaMore all recorded tackles for a loss.
Up Next
The Cardinals face SUNY Brockport (3-1, 1-0 Empire 8) in the 21st annual Courage Bowl at 6 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 3, at Bob Boozer Field.
