ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University Saxon football team (5-3, Empire 8 4-2) will host the St. John Fisher Cardinals on Saturday, November 3 in Yunevich Stadium. The Saxons currently hold onto a two-game winning-streak over the Cardinals dating back to 2016.
 
DATE – TIME:  November 3, 2018 – 1 PM
LOCATION: Alfred, NY - Yunevich Stadium at Merrill Field
LINKS: Video | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
TICKET PRICES: Earn Free Admission (Support Navajo Water Project) | Purple Seats (single game) - $15 | Adults - $5 | Children Under 12  - $2 | Senior Citizens - $2 | Alfred Students/Faculty/Staff (with ID) – Free | Opponent Students (with ID) - $2

Series History

•This is the 21st meeting between the Saxons and the Cardinals. AU currently holds on to an 11-9 overall record dating back to 1992. The Saxons have won the last two meetings, 38-17 in 2016 and 21-14 in 2017. AU has not beaten SJFC three years in a row since the 2008-2010 seasons.
 

The 2017 matchup took place in Pittsford, NY where the #18 AU Saxons fought their way out for a win in front of nearly 3,000 Cardinal fans. Fisher set the tone in the opening quarter, scoring on a six-yard pass from Jonathan Letta to Will Blake.
 

Nas Smith had his coming out party against SJFC, rattling off back-to-back rushing touchdowns at the end of the first quarter and midway through the second. His first touchdown came from four yards out, capping off an 11- play 80-yard drive that took 6:22 off the clock. His second touchdown came from 35-yards out, finishing as six-play 61-yard drive.
 

The Saxons scored on their next drive when Casey Boston and Jayden Gavidia connected from 25 yards out. AU took the 21-7 lead into the halftime break.
 

AU was unable to score in the second half of the game, but the defense only allowed seven points to SJFC, holding on to the lead, 21-14.
 

Smith and Maleke Fuentes '18 led the Saxons with 148 and 102 yards rushing, respectively. Gavidia wrangled in four catches fr 90 yards. Boston finished the game with 140 yards and a touchdown through the air.


Last Time Out for the Saxons

•AU is coming off a dominant 41-3 win over Hartwick last Saturday, holding an opponent without a touchdown for the first time in 2018. The defense allowed only 149 total yards against, including only two yards rushing.
 

The Saxons intercepted Hartwick quarterbacks five times in the game to overtake the #1 national ranking for interceptions (20) as well as turnovers gained (30). Ryan Elliott led the Saxons with two interceptions in the game while Kyle Moore, Nick Milgate and Raeqwon Greer each had one interception.
 

Cole Reed led the defense with 10 total tackle and still leads the Empire 8 with 95 tackles on the season. Sophomore Raymond Johnson and Reed had 2.0 and 1.0 tackles for a loss, respectively, for the Saxons.
 

Nas Smith led the Saxons with two touchdowns on the ground while Ben Burk had two touchdowns on 14-of-18 (77.8%) passing. Kevin Bragaglia scored once through the air and once on the ground for the Saxons while Christopher Harders had a receiving touchdown.


One Win for History

•If the Saxons win today's game, the senior class will become the winning class in program history. Overall they have won 33 games as a unit (8 in 2015; 12 in 2016; 8 in 2017; 5 in 2018). One more will put them at 34 overall wins - setting a new four-year standard in wins.