GAME #3 – BUFFALO STATE BENGALS AT DEAN COLLEGE BULLDOGS
Saturday, Sep. 16, 2023 – 12:00 PM
Longley Athletic Complex – Franklin, MA

FOLLOW ALONG…
 
LIVE STATS

THE MATCHUP… Buffalo State is on the road for the first time in the 2023 season, facing a never-before-seen opponent in the Dean College Bulldogs.

THE BENGALS' LAST GAME… Ale Wilson (Bronx, NY/KIPP College Prep), Cody Phillips (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster), and Basiaka Butcher (White Plains, NY/Valhalla) all scored touchdowns, but the Buffalo State football team fell short by a final score of 37-23 to the Apprentice School on Saturday afternoon at Coyer Field.
     Kenneth Mosley (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West) led the Bengals in tackles for the second straight game, finishing with 11 tackles. Sincere Green (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) had ten tackles and a forced fumble. Phillips rushed for 48 yards on just 10 carries, while Wilson had 47 rushing yards and 15 receiving yards on three catches. Evan Cervantes (Cicero, NY/Bishop Ludden) had 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
     After the Bengals offense went three-and-out on its first drive, Green interrupted an option play on the first play from scrimmage by the Builders, forcing a fumble that Orlando Cabrera (Brooklyn, NY/Plainedge) recovered at the Apprentice School 27-yard line. One play later, Wilson rushed up the middle, broke free from five attempted tackles, and burst to the left for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Bengals up 7-0 after the extra point from Nick Sciandra (N. Tonawanda, NY/N. Tonawanda).
     The Builders needed just eight plays to go 85 yards to tie the score on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Curtis Green, aided by a pair of big receptions along the sidelines by Ta'Kevion Petty and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Buffalo State.  
     The Bengals once again went three-and-out on their third drive, and the Apprentice School embarked on a 12-play, 74-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead after Lawrence Reed plunged into the end zone from three yards out. The Bengals drove inside Builders' territory on the next drive, but turned the ball over after a fumble inside the red zone. Butcher stepped in front of a Mason Tatum pass three plays later for an interception, then returned the pick 41 yards to the endzone to tie the score at 14-14.
     Tatum started the next drive with a deep pass down the right side for a 35-yard gain to the Bengals' 30-yard line, before the Buffalo State defense forced a turnover on downs. Buffalo State's offense was stopped again on three plays, but was given a second chance after a roughing the punter penalty. However, the Bengals fumbled the ball on the next play, giving the Apprentice School great field position at the Buffalo State 49-yard line. The Builders capitalized, scoring a touchdown with just 27 seconds left in the half to go up 21-14.
     Darion Jones (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) returned the ensuing kickoff into Apprentice School territory, and the Bengals were able to get into field goal position, but Sciandra's 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked as time expired.
     The Builders opened the half on an 80-yard touchdown drive to take a 27-14 lead after Mosley blocked the extra point attempt. The Bengals moved inside the Builders' 10-yard line, before Wilson fumbled, which was recovered and returned to the Buffalo State 10-yard line before Noah Kimble (Depew, NY/Lancaster) was able to make a great play to bring him down. The Bengals' defense stiffened, holding the Builders to just a field goal.
     Buffalo State responded with a touchdown drive, led by 43 rushing yards from Phillips, who punched the ball in from 11 yards out. After a defensive stop, the Bengals pulled to within seven on a 30-yard field goal by Sciandra with 12:02 remaining.
     Each team had a possession but was forced to punt, before the Builders took advantage of a short field to score a touchdown to make the score 37-23. The final Buffalo State drive featured multiple penalties and a pair of ejections as the Bengals were unable to get things going again.

BLAST FROM THE PAST… In Week 3 of the 2012 season, Buffalo State took down three-time defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater by a score of 7-6. The Warhawks entered the game with a 46-game winning streak, looking to tie the University of Oklahoma for the third-longest winning streak in NCAA history. The Bengal defense was incredible, holding the number one team in the country to just six points on two field goals. Buffalo State scored a touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Casey Kacz to Ryan Carney with three seconds remaining, and the extra point gave the Bengals all the points that they would need. This upset is considered one of the greatest victories in Buffalo State football history.

ELEVEN IS HIS MAGIC NUMBER… Kenneth Mosley leads Buffalo State in tackles this season with 22.0. He has recorded exactly 11 tackles in both games this season.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES… Darion Jones (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) has 234 kickoff return yards this season on 11 returns, an average of 21.3 yards per return. He also has a season long return of 50 yards, recorded last week against Apprentice School.

LEADING THE CHARGE... Buffalo State has four Liberty League All-Conference selections from last year back on the roster this year. Offensive tackle Alex Westcott (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) was a first team selection, while wide receiver Tariq Nelson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls), defensive end Orlando Cabrera (Brooklyn, NY/Plainedge), and safety Ethan Biscaro (Batavia, NY/Batavia) were second team choices.

TWO FOR YOU... Tariq Nelson has recorded at least two receptions in 17 consecutive games dating back to the middle of the 2021 season. That is the longest such streak for a Bengal since Jordan Evert caught two passes in 23 straight games from 2016 to 2019. 
 
PUT THEM IN REVERSE... In Nicholas Moore's (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo Academy of Science) 12 career games, he has recorded 10.5 tackles for loss. He has been part of a tackle for loss in eight of those games, with a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss last season against St. John Fisher. 
 
GOING FOR 2,000... Tariq Nelson enters today's game with with 1,432 career receiving yards, just 568 shy of reaching 2,000 for his career. The last Bengal to reach that mark was Jordan Evert in 2019, who surpassed that total with a program-record 256 yards in his final game.
 
LONG GAINER... The Bengals' longest play from scrimmage this season was a 36-yard completion from Noah Kimble to Nicholas Bruce (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park).
 
BIG KICK NICK... Nick Sciandra's 40-yard field goal against Brockport was a career long, surpassing his previous career-long field goal of 39 yards against Union in 2021. Sciandra's 1.50 field goals per game are tied for the best mark in the Liberty League, and rank him tenth in the nation.
 
I NOAH GUY… With Noah Kimble in shotgun formation at quarterback, the Bengals are one of just 50 teams in the country to not have thrown an interception.  
 
DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE...  Ethan Biscaro has 70 career interception return yards on four interceptions, while Basiaka Butcher now has 41 career interception return yards on one interception. The Buffalo State career record for return yardage is held by Rey Jordan at 215.
 
SMARTIES... Six student-athletes for Buffalo State were honored on the SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll for the 2022-23 school year. Caden Wheeler (Waverly, NY/Waverly), Ian Behrens (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster), Julian Maloney (Buffalo, NY/West Seneca West), Caleb Kruzicki (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South), Sebastian Sierra (Farmingdale, NY/HHH East), and Jeffrey Burgess (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) all maintained a 3.30 cumulative GPA.
 
BACK IN A NEW ROLE... Michael Drywa '22 is back with Buffalo State as a defensive graduate assistant this year. He led the Bengals in tackles last year with 78.0 and was an All-Liberty League honorable mention.
 
CALLING ALL CAPTAINS... Buffalo State brings back three of four captains from the 2022. On offense, left tackle Alex Westcott and wide receiver Tariq Nelson enter their second seasons as captain. Safety Anderson Osei-Gyimah (Bronx, NY/New Visions) is a captain once again. He is joined by first-time captain defensive lineman Orlando Cabrera as the leaders of the defense.
 
ABOUT THE BENGALS' COACH…
     Lazarus Morgan enters his second season at the helm of the Buffalo State football program in 2023 after being appointed as the sixth football coach in Buffalo State history in January 2022.
     In his first season as head coach, Morgan guided six student-athletes to Liberty League All-Conference selections, as well as seven All-Academic team winners.
     He arrived in 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.
      A native of the Bronx, Morgan was a defensive back at Utica College 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.
    
THE BULLDOG BREAKDOWN...   Dean enters the weekend with a 1-1 overall record, having defeated Fitchburg State by a score of 33-17 in the season opener, but most recently coming off a 70-7 defeat at the hands of Nichols last weekend.
     For the season, the Bulldogs' defense is allowing an average of 235.5 rushing yards per game, after allowing over 400 yards on the ground against Nichols. It has been the tale of two different games, as Dean only allowed 244 yards of total offense against Fitchburg State, and recorded nine sacks and 14.0 tackles for loss. Austin Roy was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week, recording eight tackles, four tackles for loss, and three sacks, while also forcing three fumbles.
     On offense, Dean is averaging only 2.0 yards per rush, but has accounted for nearly 300 yards through the air and three passing touchdowns over the two games. The Bulldogs have also committed just three penalties in two games, for a total of 40 yards. That mark ranks them fourth in the country.   
 
SCHEDULES/RESULTS…
 
BUFFALO STATE (0-2/0-0 Liberty)
Aug. 31    BROCKPORT                   L 42-6
Sept. 9      APPRENTICE SCHOOL  L 37-23
Sept. 16   at Dean                            Noon
Sept. 30   ROCHESTER **               5 pm
Oct. 7       at Hobart **                     1 pm
Oct. 14     at RPI **                           1 pm
Oct. 21     HILBERT                           5 pm
Oct. 28     at Ithaca **                      1 pm
Nov. 4       UNION **                          1 pm
Nov. 11     ST. LAWRENCE **         1 pm
 
* Liberty League 8 game      HOME GAMES IN CAPS


DEAN COLLEGE (1-1)
Sept. 2       FITCHBURG STATE           W 33-17
Sept. 9       NICHOLS COLLEGE           L 70-7
Sept. 16     BUFFALO STATE               Noon
Sept. 23     at R.P.I                               5 pm
Sept. 29     at Husson University          6 pm
Oct. 7        at Curry College                  Noon
Oct. 21      ANNA MARIA COLLEGE** Noon
Oct. 28      at Castleton**                    1 pm
Nov. 4        at Gallaudet**                    Noon
Nov. 11      ALFRED STATE**              Noon