ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University football team lost its first Empire 8 contest of the season behind a second half scoring effort from St. John Fisher University, closing out Saturday's game, 21-7 from Yunevich Stadium.
 
The Saxons (2-4, 1-1 Empire 8) had a 7-0 lead going into halftime before the Cardinals (3-4, 1-2 Empire 8) scored 21 unanswered points in the second half. Saturday's touchdowns were the first scores in the endzone for the Cardinals since September 10 when they lost to Framingham State, 31-20.
 
AU was first on the board in the first quarter as a goal line defensive stand from the Cardinals ultimately opened up to a Max Freeman IV (Painted Post, NY/Corning-Painted Post) one-yard touchdown with the Ian Barbini (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock Area) extra point going through the uprights.
 
Fisher scored its first touchdown in 18 quarters with an Aaron Chase 20-yard pass to Gabe Maloni in the third quarter to tie up the game, 7-7. In the fourth quarter, Kyle Farewell drained a 44-yard field goal but a Saxon personal foul gave the automatic first down that led to a Peyton Nolan five-yard run to the left pilon, reaching for the touchdown, making it 14-7.
 
Malachi Duvall scored what proved to be the final touchdown of the game with 7:17 remaining in the game off a 37-yard field goal (Farewell PAT). The Saxons made a final push for points with 30 seconds on the clock. Zuke Smith (Kane, PA/Kane Area) connected with Connor Englert (Dansville, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) for 11 yards and Darviae Gray (Buffalo, NY/Amherst Central) for 21 yards but a stripped ball that was recovered by Seth Walden (Bath, NY/Haverling) allowed time to expire in Yunevich Stadium.
 
The Cardinals had 215 yards through the air and 146 net yards on the ground compared to AU's 188 receiving yards and 111 net rushing yards. Duvall had 94 yards on the ground while Maloni had 80 yards receiving for Fisher as game-highs. The Saxons were led by Freeman IV with his 90 net yards and Jacob Kelsey (Hilton, NY/Hilton) with his seven receptions for 70 yards.
 
Joe Copp (Minoa, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) led the Saxon defense with 14 total tackles (nine assisted) and 1.5 tackles for a loss of three yards. He added two quarterback hurries on the day. Christopher Cox (Rochester, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland) had nine stops on the day with six assisted tackles and picked off Chase in the endzone, returning it for 30 yards.
 
"It was a very disappointing performance by our football team today," Head Coach Bob Rankl said. "I am not happy with how we played on offense, defense or our special teams. Coaches and players need to improve and get better next week."
 
The Saxons will next travel to Morrisville State College on Saturday, October 22 for a noon Empire 8 start.