CORTLAND, NY – The Alfred University football team dropped a 20-14 decision at SUNY Cortland in a key Empire 8 Conference matchup Saturday afternoon.
 
Alfred hurt itself with turnovers, committing six in all, with four coming on the Saxons' first five possessions of the game (three in Cortland territory).  The most costly occurred late in the fourth, with Alfred trailing 20-14 and facing a fourth-and-one from the Red Dragon 1-yard line. AU tried a rush up the middle and fumbled, with Cortland recovered at their own 5-yard line with just under five minutes left in regulation.
 
Despite the miscues, AU still had a chance to win in the end, driving to the Red Dragon 27-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with 18 seconds remaining. With the loss, AU falls to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Empire 8. Cortland, which had only one turnover, improves to 6-1 (4-1 E8).
 
Cortland opened the scoring on its opening possession, taking over after an Alfred fumble at midfield and scoring on a 34-yard pass from Steven Ferreira to Jake Smith with 11:07 left in the opening frame. The Saxons tied the game just before halftime, going 60 yard in eight plays following a punt. With 25 seconds left in the half, junior quarterback Tyler Johnson (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) connected with junior wideout Brendan Buisch (Hornell, NY/Hornell) on a four-yard TD pass.
 
The hosts went back up on their first possession of the third, with Dylan Peebles rumbling into the endzone from 24 yards out to cap nine-play 69-yard drive three minutes into the frame. Alfred responded, scoring two possessions later on a 19-yard TD pass from Johnson to junior tight end Ralph Pagliei (Lake View, NY/Orchard Park) with 7:12 left in the third. Cortland scored the winning touchdown with 1:44 left in the third, as Ferreira connected with Josh Riley on a 12-yard TD pass. Alfred sophomore linebacker A.J. Licata (Lake View, NY/Frontier) blocked the extra point attempt.
 
Alfred outgained Cortland, 349 yards of offense to 310. Johnson completed 23 of 36 passes for 218 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for a team-high 77 yards.
 
AU junior tailback Casey Bright (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) had 46 yards rushing. Buisch caught seven passes for 56 yards and Pagliei had six catches for 61 yards. Junior wide receiver Maleke Fuentes (Olean, NY/Olean) caught five passes for 51 yards.
 
Ferreira threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns and Peebles finishes with 103 yards rushing on 13 carries. Smith had three catches for 49 yards and Riley caught two balls for 26 yards.
 
Licata had a game-high 12 tackles for Alfred, including 3 ½ for loss and 1 ½ sacks. Senior linebacker Corry Wallace (Mastic Beach, NY/Longwood) had 10 tackles (two for loss); junior linebacker Holden Whitehead (Mill Hale, PA/Central Mountain) (one sack) and junior end Charles Branwell (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) (1 ½ sacks) each had seven tackles.
 
Matt Ambrose led the Cortland defense with 10 tackles, including a sack.
 
Alfred is in action next on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. at home against Hartwick.