ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University Saxons (4-3, Empire 3-2) will travel to Oneonta, NY to take on the Hawks of Hartwick College on Saturday, October 27 in an Empire 8 showdown.
 
DATE – TIME:  October 27, 2018 – 2 PM
LOCATION: Oneonta, NY – Wright Stadium
LINKS: Video | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
TICKET PRICES: Inquire with Hartwick College at (607) 431-4700

Series History

The Saxons are 25-8-1 against the Hawks dating back to 1936. During the teams' first matchup, AU and Hartwick tied, 0-0. It is one of 20 games in AU history that have finished tied 0-0. The last time a game finished 0-0 was during Head Coach Alex Yunevich's final season when the Saxons tied the Golden Eagles of Brockport in 1976.
 

The 2017 matchup was a 63-21 blowout for the Saxons during the regular season finale. The Saxons rushed for a school record 627 yards on 57 attempts. AU only attempted one pass in the game, which occurred on a broken punt play.
 

Maleke Fuentes '18 set a new school record with 295 yards rushing in a single game against the Hawks, as well as tied the school record with five rushing touchdowns in a single game. Nas Smith chipped in with 138 yards rushing and a TD while Aaron Griffin and Casey Boston had 96 yards and 90 yards, respectively. Boston found the end zone twice while Griffin scored once.
 

Billy Pine threw for 304 yards for the Hawks, but was sacked six times. AU had a total of nine sacks in the game, terrorizing opposing quarterbacks. Overall, the Saxons held the Hawks to -39 yards rushing in the game.
 

Ty Timmerman '18 and Nick Milgate led AU on defense with 2.5 and 1.5 sacks, respectively while A.J. LiCata '18 and Kyle Moore had an interception, each.


Last Game for the Saxons

AU is coming off its second loss in as many weeks, dropping a 30-22 game on the road to Utica. The Pioneers jumped out to an early 13-0 lead, capitalizing on on a turnover and a drive stalled by penalties by the Saxons.
 

AU answered back before the end of the first quarter, scoring on a 50-yard pass from Ben Burk to Kevin Bragaglia. The touchdown was Bragaglia's first career receiving touchdown and third overall touchdown in 2018. He has scored a rushing, receiving and punt return touchdown this season.
 

The Saxons knotted the game up at 13 only two minutes into the second quarter when Keandre Sanders brought in his second touchdown of the season on a 45-yard pass from Burk. AU jumped out to a 16-13 lead heading into the intermission when Ben Sennett hit a 27-yard field goal - his third field goal of the 2018 season.
 

Utica opened the second half with a 29-yard rushing touchdown to regain the lead, 20-16, in the third quarter. Sennett made it a one point game at the start of the fourth, hitting his career-high 39-yard field goal.
 

The Saxons started to threaten on their next drive, moving into Pioneer territory when Sanders fumbled the ball in the flat and Utica's Dehstin Smart returned the ball 60 yards for the touchdown. On AU's next drive, Utica intercepted the ball and turned it into three points the other way, making the game 30-19.
 

Sennett added another field goal with 1:47 to go in the game, inching closer to the Pioneers, 30-22. However, the Saxons were unable to recover the onside kick and the Pioneers wasted the final seconds of the game for the win.
 

Burk led the Saxons with 252 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-40 (47%) passing. Nas Smith finished the day with 87 yards rushing while Sanders had 120 yard receiving and a touchdown.
 

Leo Pamphile had a career day with 10 total tackles, including 2.5 tackles for a loss. Nick Milgate and Cole Reed had nine and seven tackles, respectively.

Last Game for the Hawks

Hartwick is coming off its fifth consecutive loss, falling to Cortland 56-3 at home last week. The Red Dragons scored 35 unanswered to open the game before Kevin Roberts hit a 27-yard field goal to put the Hawks on the board. Cortland shutout the Hawks down the stretch to the 56-3 finish.
 

Hartwick was held to only 145 yards of total offense in the game with Grant Harman leading the way with 72 yards through the air. Bryce Mancina added 52 yards passing while Corey Sachs rushed for 26 yards.