Game 10 – The College at Brockport vs. Buffalo State
Saturday, November 15, 2014 – 1:00 pm
Empire 8 Game – Senior Day
Bob Boozer Field at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium - Brockport, NY
This Week: The College at Brockport Football wraps up the regular season with the annual I-90 Bowl game with Buffalo State at 1 pm Saturday on Bob Boozer Field at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium in Brockport. The two teams have met every year since 1982 and the I-90 Bowl has been awarded to the winning team since . The game will also mark the end of the careers for 12 Brockport seniors who will be honored prior to the game.
Records and Common Opponents: Brockport enters the game with a 5-4 overall record and a 3-4 Empire 8 mark after a loss at Salisbury last week 40-28. Buffalo State comes in with a 5-4 overall record and a 4-3 Empire 8 mark after snapping a two-game losing streak with a 35-10 victory over Hartwick last week in the home finale for the Bengals. With the Empire 8 finale this week, both teams have played several common opponents. Each team has beaten Frostburg and Hartwick and each has losses to Utica and St. John Fisher. Buff. State beat Salisbury and Ithaca while Brockport lost to both but beat Alfred who was a winner against the Bengals.
Series History: The all-time series with Buffalo State started in 1982 and the teams have faced each other every year since with Brockport holding a slim 17-15 advantage in the series. Starting in 2002, the I-90 Bowl Trophy was on the line for the annual game between the two schools separated by a mere 60 miles. Brockport won the first nine Bowl matchups until the Bengals won the 2010 game with a 56-45 thriller in Brockport. The Bengals have now won three of the last four meetings.
Coaches: Head Coach Jason Mangone starts his second season at the helm after establishing the best first-year coaching season record in Brockport history with the 8-3 record and is currently 13-7 as the head coach. Jerry Boyes is in his 21st season as head coach of the Bengals and sixth season since taking the reins of the program back after a short leave from the football program to concentrate his energies toward his position as Director of Athletics. He played baseball. Basketball and was a two-time All-American quarterback for Ithaca graduating in 1976. Brockport Assistant coach Bob Ellis was a senior when Boyes was a freshman at Ithaca and Ellis remained as a graduate assistant coach Boyes' sophomore season.
Next up for Brockport: The Golden Eagles will wait for a possible selection to an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Bowl game. The announcement will come Monday following the official announcement of the teams selected for the NCAA Division III playoffs. Last year, Brockport defeated Waynesburg State, 19-12, in the ECAC Northwest Bowl played in Brockport.
Another Brick in the Wall: Linebacker Jake Brickler had a career-best 15 tackles in last week's game at Salisbury. The Sophomore had 14 tackles in a game four times before hitting the 15-tackle mark last week. He currently leads Brockport with 104 tackles and now has 195 career tackles. With five more tackles this year, he will clear the 200-tackles milestone in his first two years. He will be the first to reach the milestone since Nate Bull totaled 269 tackles in 2009-2010. The school standard for tackles by a player in his first two seasons (Freshman and Sophomore) is 199 by Steve Cook in 1988-89.
Mrozek's Records Watch: Senior Andrew Mrozek is already the Brockport record-holder for most career TD catches (25 and counting) and also broke the career reception yardage record with his 132-yard day against Hartwick. He now has 2,741 career yards. He is currently in fifth position for reception yards in a season with 842 and can pass Jake Spalik for fourth place with five more yards and is 12 yards away from Matt Newman's 854 yards in a season. The all-time record is 947 yards by Dan Fichter in 1991.
Empire 8 Rushing Title On The Line: Sophomore running back Dan Andrews leads the Empire 8 in rushing with 961 yards and an average of 106.8 yards per game. Buffalo State's Rich Pete is close behind in second place with 933 yards and an average of 103.7 yards per contest. St. John Fisher's Tony Fusco is the only other running back in the conference averaging over 100 yards per game with 100.8 yards and 907 total yards.
November Numbers: Over the past 10 seasons, Brockport is an impressive 17-8 in November games including four wins in the month of November last year. Since 2004, the Golden Eagles are 8-5 in home games in the month of November including each of the last three.
Finishing Strong: The Golden Eagles have had success recently in their regular season home finale games – also known as senior day. Brockport is 16-4 in the last 20 home finales with a streak of three straight going into 2014. The last loss on senior day was in 2010 – the 56-45 loss to the Bengals.
Senior Day Honroees: The following seniors will be honored prior to the start of the game: Shireem Cobb, Connor Johnson, Tyrone Nichols, Anthony Bianchi, Colby Morabito, Andrew Mrozek, Darrel Flores, Brynell Middleton, Jake Keller, Richie Welch, Sean O'Mara, Matt Moreland and BJ Connolly.
Looking Ahead to Next Year: The tentative schedule for 2015 is as follows: Brockport opens the season on the road at Oberlin with a 1 pm game September 5 and have an open week September 12 before the home opener September 19 against Hartwick at 1 pm. The team finishes September with the Courage Bowl at St. John Fisher September 26 and starts October with Homecoming against Alfred State game time is TBA on October 3 followed by a home game against Utica College at1 pm October 10. The Golden Eagles are then on the road for the next two weeks at Ithaca (Oct. 17) and at Cortland (Oct. 24) before consecutive home games against Alfred University (Oct. 31) and Morrisville (Nov. 7) and finish the regular season at Buffalo State on November 14.
