GAME #6 – BUFFALO STATE BENGALS AT ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022 – 12:00 PM
Edwin Fauver Stadium – Rochester, NY
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THE MATCHUP… Buffalo State enters the second half of the 2022 season with a road matchup this weekend. The Bengals head to Rochester for a Liberty League contest against the Rochester Yellowjackets. This will be the sixth meeting of the two sides, and the teams have squared off in each of the past two seasons. Buffalo State holds the 4-1 edge in the all-time series, with victories in the first four matchups during the 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2019 seasons. However, Rochester came away with a 14-7 victory in a defensive struggle last season at Coyer Field.
THE BENGALS' LAST GAME… The visiting Engineers built an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, which the Bengals were able to narrow the gap to 14-7 with a second quarter pick-six, but were never able to get closer as RPI earned a 42-14 victory over the Buffalo State football team on Saturday afternoon at Coyer Field.
The Bengals punted on each of their first two possessions, while RPI was unable to get anything going on its first drive. RPI's second drive covered 55 yards over eight plays, and ended with a Dylan Burnett 16-yard rushing touchdown.
The next Bengal drive resulted in a pick-six for RPI's Carlos Davis, a 30-yard score to give the Engineers a 14-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.
Neither offense found much success in the second quarter, and it was the Buffalo State defense that provided the only score of the quarter.
Ethan Biscaro (Batavia, NY/Batavia) stepped in front of a Jake Kazanowsky pass for an interception and took the ball 70 yards to the endzone for a touchdown with under three minutes remaining.
Nick Sciandra (N. Tonawanda, NY/N. Tonawanda) tacked on the extra point as RPI led 14-7 into halftime.
RPI added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to push its lead to 28-7, including a 6-yard touchdown reception for Shane Allison after the Bengals turned the ball over on downs.
Dameon Ming added a 3-yard dash to the endzone midway through the fourth to increase the Engineers' lead to 35-7.
The Bengals responded with a 5-play, 58-yard drive, capped off by a 38-yard touchdown pass from
Cam Sionko (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) to
Darion Jones (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech), the first touchdown of Jones' collegiate career.
RPI's Joshua Ahrens ended the scoring with an 8-yard rushing touchdown with just over one minute remaining in the game.
Biscaro finished the game with a pair of interceptions, one pass break-up, and 11 tackles, while Jones hauled in 4 passes for 75 yards and one score for the Bengals.
LAST TIME WE MET… Rochester scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, as the Buffalo State football team dropped a defensive battle to the Yellowjackets by a 14-7 score, in Liberty League action from Coyer Field on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
After Buffalo State stalled on its first possession,
Brandon Barksdale (Buffalo, NY/Bennett) picked off a Sean Casey pass on 2nd-and-6, returning the ball to the Buffalo 42-yard line.
Later in the quarter, it was the Rochester special teams' unit that made a play, as Tommy Wunder recovered a muffed Buffalo State punt at the Bengals' 39-yard line.
Rochester got into the redzone in the second quarter, but the 20-yard field goal attempt by Shane Bombace was pushed wide right to keep the score at 0-0 into halftime.
Beginning the second half, Rochester went on a 13-play, 66-yard drive, but Jordan Laudani missed a 21-yard field goal to keep the game scoreless.
Buffalo State took advantage on the next possession, as
Cam Sionko found
Tariq Nelson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) on a screen pass, as he raced 42 yards to the Rochester 40-yard line. Four plays later, Sionko scrambled 19 yards for the touchdown as the Bengals took a 7-0 lead.
On Buffalo State's first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter, the Bengals attempted a flea-flicker that was fumbled and recovered by Rochester's Joe DeBonis at the Buffalo State 27-yard line. The Yellowjackets took advantage 11 plays later, as Will Varney plunged ahead for a one-yard touchdown to tie the game at seven.
Later in the quarter, Rochester took a 14-7 lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Rose to Daniel Papantonis with 4:15 to go.
With the ball and trailing by seven, the Bengals were unable to convert a fourth-down play at the Buffalo State 47-yard line, as Sionko's pass to Nelson fell incomplete. Rochester gained one more first down to run out the clock.
Biscaro made a career-high 16 tackles to lead the Buffalo State defense in the game.
LEAGUE LEADER… Tariq Nelson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) leads the conference with 30 receptions this season. The junior wide receiver has 352 yards receiving, while averaging a league-best 6.0 receptions per game and 70.4 receiving yards per game.
KICKING SPECIALIST… Nick Sciandra (N. Tonawanda, NY/N. Tonawanda) boomed a 65-yard punt last weekend against RPI, the longest for a Buffalo State player since 2013 when Joe Going had a 75-yard punt against Cortland.
Sciandra has also converted on all 7 of his PATs this season, as Buffalo State is the only team in the conference to be successful on all of its extra point attempts.
PICK SIX… Ethan Biscaro's interception return for a touchdown was the first pick-six for Buffalo State since the 2019 season, when Gino Bonagura returned an interception 37 yards for a score against Cortland.
Biscaro also was the first Bengal to have two interceptions in a single game since Darren Wesley had two against Hartwick in 2018.
MOVING UP… Michael Drywa's 14 tackles against RPI moved him into second place in the conference, and tied for 36
th nationally, with 49 total tackles. His 31 solo tackles are also tied for 19
th in the country.
FLAGS ON THE FIELD… Rochester is one of the most penalized teams in the conference this season, being flagged 35 times for a total of 364 yards. Their average of 72.8 penalty yards per game leads the Liberty League. Meanwhile, Buffalo State opponents have been penalized for 60.8 yards per game, also the most in the conference.
FROM THE BRONX TO BUFFALO… Lazarus Morgan was appointed as the sixth head coach in the history of the Buffalo State football program In January 2022.
A native of the Bronx, Morgan was a defensive back at Utica from 2006-08, then began his coaching career at his alma mater from 2009-13. He then moved to Alfred University from 2014-19, serving as the Saxon's defensive coordinator in the final four seasons.
He arrives to Buffalo after serving as the defensive coordinator at SUNY Cortland during the 2021 season, where he oversaw the fifth-ranked overall defense in NCAA Division III, helping guide the Red Dragons to an 11-1 record, an Empire 8 title and a trip to the NCAA playoffs.
CAPTAINS OF MORGAN... Four players will lead Buffalo State in 2022 as team captains.
Seth Penn (Angola, NY/Lake Shore) and
Anderson Osei-Gyimah (Bronx, NY/New Visions) will lead the Buffalo State defense, with
Tariq Nelson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) and
Alex Westcott (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) serving as offensive captains.
YELLOWJACKETS CAN RUN???… Rochester enters the weekend with a 1-4 overall record (0-2 Liberty League). The Yellowjackets were defeated by #12 Ithaca last weekend, 56-10.
The strength of the Rochester offense has been their running game this year. Led by the top individual rusher in the country in Daniel Papantonis (181.0 yards per game), the Yellowjackets are 14
th nationally with 240.4 rushing yards per game. Papantonis has accumulated 905 yards on the ground and 7 touchdowns this year, while averaging 7.9 yards per carry.
Limiting the rushing offense and forcing Rochester to throw the ball will be a key for the Buffalo State defense. Quarterback Ryan Rose is completing just 47.2% of his passes this year, while throwing for two touchdowns with six interceptions. The Rochester passing offense has been statistically the least efficient in the conference, with a 79.5 efficiency rating.
On the defensive side of the ball, Rochester is allowing 34.0 points and 380.6 yards of total offense per game. Caden Cole leads the conference with 51 total tackles, a mark that ranks him 26
th nationally. Bradley Beckwith's two sacks lead the team, and are tied for sixth in the conference.
SCHEDULES/RESULTS…
BUFFALO STATE (0-5, 0-2 Liberty League)
Sept. 3 at St. John Fisher............................... L 62-21
Sept. 17 #15 SUNY CORTLAND………………........... L 66-7
Sept. 24 MORRISVILLE STATE (Homecoming)..L 31-10
Oct. 1 * at Union……………………........................... L 45-0
Oct. 8 * RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC............ L 45-14
Oct. 15 * at Rochester.........................................12:00
Oct. 21 * ITHACA.................................................. 7:00
Oct. 29 at Brockport........................................... 12:00
Nov. 5 * HOBART……………….................................. 1:00
Nov. 12 * at St. Lawrence……………......................... 1:00
* Liberty League 8 game HOME GAMES IN CAPS
Rochester (1-4, 0-2 Liberty League)
Sept. 3 at Utica………….................................... L 43-28
Sept. 10 at Alfred State……….……………….......... W 30-17
Sept. 17 BROCKPORT..................................... L 23-3
Oct. 1 * RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC.......... L 31-3
Oct. 8 * at #12 Ithaca .................................... L 56-10
Oct. 15 * BUFFALO STATE…............................ 12:00
Oct. 22 * at Union…….…………….......................... 12:00
Oct. 29 * ST. LAWRENCE..................................12:00
Nov. 5 HARTWICK………................................. 12:00
Nov. 12 * at Hobart.………………………….................. 1:00
* Liberty League game HOME GAMES IN CAPS
