(BOX SCORE)
EWING, N.J.—The College of New Jersey (1-0) piled up 421 yards, including 312 on the ground, and had four scoring plays of 43 yards or longer as it defeated Buffalo State (0-1), 47-31, in today's NJAC season-opener at Lions Stadium.
Buffalo State had 378 total yards, but was just 4 of 15 on third down conversions and 2 of 6 on fourth down attempts. The Lions scored on runs of 46, 50 and 43 yards and had an 82-yard kick return to the house.
Michael Yetka led the TCNJ ground attack with 12 carries for 101 yards. Quarterback Chris James added 51 yards on eight carries and was just 11 of 16 for 109 yards with an interception in the air. Chris Jones paced the Lions defense with 10 tackles, including six solo stops.
Willie Hordge (Buffalo/Forestbrook (TX)) paced the Bengals' offense with 11 carries for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and
Sammy Smith (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) added 66 yards on 16 carries.
Kenny Murphy (Lancaster/Lancaster) managed the offense, going 21 of 39 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Antonio Speed (Buffalo/East) led the receiving corps with eight catches, covering 55 yards.
Rob Smith (Rochester/Aquinas) had seven grabs for 78 yards and a score, and
Blake Malizia (Rockville Centre/Southside) caught four balls for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Matt Pacana (N. Tonawanda/N. Tonawanda) led the Bengals' defense with eight tackles.
Buffalo State answered a quick touchdown by the Lions with a 34-yard field goal by
Nick Debbins (Lancaster/Lancaster), but TCNJ extended its lead to 14-3 with an 82-yard return for a touchdown by Scotty Mathurin on the ensuing kickoff.
The teams traded scores the remainder of the opening half, with Buffalo State getting a pair of scoring runs from Hordge from 2 and 33 yards, and Murphy and Malizia connected on a 50-yard catch and run play. TCNJ maintained its lead, however, alternating scores with Buffalo State with a 2-yard scoring run and a 50-yard scamper from Yetka, taking a 35-24 lead into halftime.
TCNJ's Joseph Spahn intercepted a Murphy pass on the second play from scrimmage in the second half, returning the ball to the 15-yard line, setting up yet another Lions' score. The Bengals defense rose to the occasion, forcing the Lions to settle for a chip shot 18-yard field goal by Marc Zucconi, pushing the lead to 14 points.
The Lions threatened again on their next possession, but
Joseph Schriever (E. Amherst/Williamsville East) hauled in an interception deep in Bengal territory. Buffalo State could not take advantage, however. The Lions pulled away in the fourth quarter, recording a safety on a holding penalty on Buffalo State in its own end zone, and pushed the lead to 47-24 on a 43-yard scoring sprint by Bill Picatagi.
The Bengals added a late touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Murphy to
Rob Smith to complete the scoring.
“We are obviously never satisfied with a loss, “ said
Jerry Boyes after coaching his first game for Buffalo State since 2000. “We didn't tackle, gave up too many big plays, and we made too many mistakes to expect to come away with a win, but there were some things that I think were encouraging. I think when we look at the film we will see that the mistakes are correctable ones, and we will get back at it this week to prepare for another go at St. John Fisher next week.”
Buffalo State will play its lone non-conference game of the season next Saturday at St. John Fisher at 7 p.m.
