ONEONTA, NY – The Alfred University football team picked up their first conference win of the season in a 21-6 victory over Hartwick College on Saturday afternoon from Wright Stadium.
 
The Saxons (2-3, 1-0 Empire 8) finished with 272 yards of offense, with 151 coming from the ground game. The defense limited the Hawks (2-3, 0-2 Empire 8) to 1-for-11 on third down in their win.
 
Max Freeman IV (Painted Post, NY/Corning-Painted Post) finished with 119 rushing yards and a touchdown across 33 attempts. Jacob Kelsey (Hilton, NY/Hilton) led the Saxons with a team-high seven receptions and 68 receiving yards. Joe Copp (Minoa, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception.

"It's always great to get a conference win in the Empire 8," Head Coach Bob Rankl said. "I know that we could have played a lot cleaner, but at the end of the day we will take the victory and move forward. I was really excited about how our defense stepped up today and we look forward to keeping that momentum going into next week!"
 
The Hawks were the first to score following a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter. The Saxons quickly retaliated on the following drive, as a 10-play drive was capped off by a 19-yard touchdown rush by Freeman to give AU the 7-3 lead. Following the touchdown, Copp recovered a fumble on the kickoff to give AU the ball back. Hartwick hit a 25-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half, as Alfred University held a 7-6 advantage entering halftime.
 
In the third quarter, Copp snapped a nine-play drive from Hartwick with an interception. Later in the quarter, Danny Quinones (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) forced and recovered a fumble near midfield for the Saxons. Alfred University capitalized with a 10-play drive that carried into the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown pass coming from Chris Kelly (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North) to Darviae Gray (Buffalo, NY/Amherst Central) to extend the lead, 14-6. Just two plays into Hartwick's next drive, Christopher Cox (Rochester, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland) returned an interception for 32 yards and the touchdown, as the Saxons led 21-6. In the final minutes of the game, a forced fumble by Copp was picked up by Tim Dahl (Cobleskill, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville) to end any chance at a potential comeback by the Hawks.
 
Alfred University will next return home to host St. John Fisher University next Saturday with kickoff slated for 1:00 PM.