Alfred University football teamshuts out Utica College, 10-0 10/19/02
ALFRED The Alfred University football team overcame six turnovers to defeat visiting Utica College, 10-0, Saturday afternoon at Merrill Field.The Saxons (3-4, 1-3 Empire 8) used a stingy defense to log the team's first shutout in five seasons. The last time AU held an opponent scoreless was in the opening game of the 1997 season, when the Saxons whitewashed King's College 30-0.Saturday's game was marked by a sloppy first half in which the two teams combined for four turnovers, three by Alfred. The only scoring came on a 40-yard field goal by junior Pat Breuer (Penn
Yan/Penn Yan) with 2:28 left in the first quarter. Alfred had only 81 yards of total offense and Utica 86 in the first 30 minutes.After a scoreless third quarter, Alfred picked up some much-needed breathing room when sophomore
quarterback Ron Duliba (Forestville/Forestville) hit junior tight end Patrick Bell (Bow, NH/Bow) with a seven-yard TD pass to cap a seven-play 80-yard drive. Junior tailback Cory Raner (Locke/Moravia) had 70 yards rushing on the drive.Utica (1-5, 0-2 Empire 8) drove to the Alfred 9-yard line on its next possession, but a fourth-down pass by Adam Luciano into the endzone fell incomplete. The Pioneers had several opportunities to score, driving inside Alfred's 35-yard line seven times, but came up empty. Raner had a game-high 93 yards rushing for Alfred, which outgained Utica 240 yards to 205. Duliba finished with 68 yards on 19 carries and completed eight of 15 passes for 63 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Junior wide receiver Nick Coleman (Waverly/Waverly) had two catches for 22 yards.Luciano finished with 116 yards passing and an interception, with wide receiver Matthew Connors catching a game-high five passes for 91 yards. Tailback Joe Dattellas led Utica with 81 yards rushing.Sophomore strong safety Mark Smith (Corning/Corning East) led the AU defense with nine tackles, including one for a loss and a sack. Senior linebacker Colin Murphy (Manchester, NH/Central) had a team-high 13 tackles while senior defensive tackle Pete Gaydon (Muncy, PA/Muncy) had six tackles, including a sack, forced one fumble and recovered two.
Senior cornerback Gabe Boutillier (Bridgeport/Cicero-North Syracuse) collected his third interception of the season.Linebacker Adam Venturino led Utica's defense with a game-high 19 tackles, including three for loss, and a forced fumble. Linebacker Michael Romandetti had nine tackles, including two for loss, while defensive end Bryon George chipped in with eight tackles, including two for loss and a sack.Alfred is in action next on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 1 p.m. at Hobart. Utica hosts Ithaca in a 1:30 p.m. game next Saturday.
