BUFFALO, NY – Senior quarterback Tyler Johnson (East Syracuse, NY/East-Syracuse Minoa) rushed for four touchdowns to lead the Alfred University football team to a 34-10 victory over host Buffalo State Saturday afternoon in the Saxons' Empire 8 Conference opener.
 
With the win, Alfred improves to 3-0 (1-0 Empire 8) on the season, while Buff State drops to 1-1 (0-1 E8).
 
Johnson's 22-yard scoring run with 2:33 left in the opening quarter capped an 11-play 58-yard drive. The extra point try by Junior Trevor Monk (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) failed and the Saxons led, 6-0. The miss snapped Monk's streak of 39 consecutive PATs made, dating back to the beginning of last season.
 
AU went up 13-0 3:25 into the second quarter, driving 53 yards in eight plays, with Johnson scoring on a 12-yard run. After Buff State got on the board with a 55-yard Dale Stewart run that made it 13-7, Alfred answered with 1:33 left in the half on Johnson's third TD, a three-yard run that ended a 13-play 66-yard drive and gave the Saxons a 20-7 halftime advantage.
 
A Marc Montana 33-yard field goal 5:31 into the third made it 20-10, but Alfred responded with two unanswered touchdowns to put the game out of reach. After Johnson's 24-yard pass to junior wideout Rodney Etienne (Spring Valley, NY/Ramapo) put the ball at the Buff State 1-yard line, Johnson bulled in for his fourth TD. AU tacked on its fifth TD of the game with two minutes left, as junior tailback Maleke Fuentes (Olean, NY/Olean) scored on a one-yard run on fourth down. Earlier in the drive, AU converted a fourth-and-9 from the Bengal 18-yard line on a 12-yard pass from Johnson to senior tight end Ralph Pagliei (Lake View, NY/Orchard Park).
 
Johnson finished with 92 yards on 19 attempts to lead a Saxon rushing attack that piled up 252 yards. Fuentes had 88 yards on 12 carries and senior tailback Casey Bright (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) had 77 yards on 25 attempts.
 
Johnson completed 11 of 18 passes for 160 yards as the Saxons accumulated 416 yards of offense. Pagliei had four catches for 66 yards and Etienne 55 yards on three catches.
 
The Saxon defense held the hosts to just 196 yards of offense, including a mere 32 passing. Stewart provided nearly all off Buff State's offensive output, tallying 154 of the Bengals' 164 rushing yards on 17 carries. Quarterback Aaron Ertel completed three of eight pass attempts.
 
Junior linebacker A.J. LiCata (Lake View, NY/Frontier) had seven tackles (one for loss) and junior linebacker Shaquille Muscadin (Monsey, NY/Ramapo) had five tackles (two for loss) to lead the AU defense. Freshman linebacker Isaiah Moak (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) had five tackles and senior tackle Andy Miller (Hilton, NY/Hilton) had a sack.
 
Bart Mazzara had a game-high 17 tackles for Buff State, while Dametrius Brown and Khalil Sommerville each had 12.
 
AU is in action next on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 1 p.m., when the Saxons host Empire 8 Conference  Ithaca College on Homecoming.