Cortland football cruises to victory over Morrisville State

Visiting nationally ranked SUNY Cortland cruised to a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) victory Saturday afternoon, posting a 42-6 win over host Morrisville State College on Drake Field in Morrisville.

Cortland opened the scoring with a 64-yard rushing touchdown by Justin Autera on the first play of the game to give the Red Dragons the early 7-0 lead.



On the ensuing drive, Morrisville State drove the ball down to the Cortland 16-yard line, but couldn't capitalize, turning the ball over on downs. The Red Dragons responded with a nine play, 84-yard drive capped off by a 28-yard Autera rushing score for the 14-0 lead.



With 32 seconds remaining in the quarter, Morrisville State's Juan Rios (Grahamsville, NY) hit a 22-yard field goal to put the Mustangs on the board.



In the second, Autera posted his third score of the afternoon on a one-yard run to post the 21-3 advantage before the Cortland defense took over, forcing two Joe Shue (Fulton, NY) interceptions that resulted Red Dragon passing touchdowns from Dan Pitcher to Kadeem Miller and Matt Kaufmann for the commanding 35-3 lead at the half.



In the third, Rios added a 21-yard field goal to his tallies on the day to make it 35-6, but Dorian Myles added a one-yard rushing score for Cortland to remain a 36 point advantage.



Autera led all ball carriers with 141-yards on 13 carries for three scores as Pitcher went 17-for-24 in the air for 152-yards and two passing scores for Cortland. Anthony Giuliano caught five for 43-yards to lead the receiving corp.



Cody Allen posted 11 total tackles, four solo stops, for the Red Dragon defensive unit, including a sack for a loss of 11-yards. Lou Crispo added seven.

Sean Barrett (Hopewell Junction, NY) led the Morrisville State rushing game with 13 carries for 74-yards while Shue went 5-for-13 for 61-yards and two interceptions. Lemar Johnson (Ossining, NY) connected on 6-of-15 passes in the second half, throwing for 44-yards and an interception.



AJ Latta (Middletown, NY) posted three catches for 45-yards on the day for the receiving unit.



Tommy Moyon (Woodside, NY) posted a team high nine total tackles to lead the Mustang defensive efforts while Jeremy Stewart (Moravia, NY) added eight to the efforts.



Morrisville State (1-6, 1-5 NJAC) returns to the field next Saturday at Rowan.