The College at Brockport football team gears up for arguably its biggest contest of the season as the Golden Eagles travel to nationally-ranked No. 18 SUNY Cortland on Saturday for a battle of the Empire 8 Conference unbeatens. The contest is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on the turf at Cortland's Stadium Complex.

DATE – TIME: Nov. 2, 2019 – 2 p.m.
LOCATION: SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex
LINKS: Video  |  Stats  |  Audio (Radio 89.1 FM)

Game Notes .PDF

Follow the Action: Live video and stats will be provided by Cortland's athletic communications office at www.cortlandreddragons.com. Live audio for all games will be provided by 89.1 The Point, Brockport's student radio station.

Winner Stands Alone: Saturday's matchup features the lone two unbeatens left in Empire 8 Conference play. Brockport enters the contest with a 3-0 record in the Empire 8 and has two conference matchups left on the docket (Alfred, Morrisville) following Saturday's contest. Cortland is currently 4-0 in conference play and has just Hartwick remaining on its conference schedule. Alfred currently sits in third place with a 2-1 Empire 8 record, while Morrisville, Fisher and Utica each have one conference victory.

Road Warriors: Brockport is 17-3 in away games dating back to the beginning of the 2016 season. The Golden Eagles have not lost more than one away game (not including neutral sites) in a single season since 2015.
 
Best in the Nation: Brockport's rushing defense leads all levels of college football, allowing an average of just 20.6 yards rushing per game. The Golden Eagle defense has held its opponents to negative rushing yards in three consecutive games.  Over the course of the last four games, Brockport has posted -67 yards rushing allowed.
 
Six in a Row: Brockport (6-1, 3-0 Empire 8) has now rattled off six straight victories following its week one loss on the road at Hobart. Over the course of the six victories, the Golden Eagles have posted three shut outs and allowed just 42 total points.  Brockport has outscored its opponents 220-42 over the course of the last six games and the Golden Eagles are averaging 36.6 points per game during the win streak. 
 
Game 7 Recap: The College at Brockport football team jumped out to a 20-0 lead over the course of the first 22:58 of the contest and never looked back as the Golden Eagles earned their sixth straight victory, 41-14, against Utica College at Bob Boozer Field on Saturday afternoon. Brockport nearly doubled the visitors in time of possession (39:54-20:06) and held the Pioneers to -2 rushing yards on the day as the Golden Eagles won their 19th consecutive Empire 8 Conference contest.
 
Tough to Score On: Coach Fox's defense is once again among the national leaders in several defensive categories -- including the most important of categories – points against. The Golden Eagles ranks first in the Empire 8 and sixth nationally allowing an average of just 10.7 points per contest.  Brockport has three shut outs this year and they have allowed just 20 points in their last four outings combined.  The Golden Eagles also rank fourth nationally and first in the E8 in total defense, allowing just 188.1 total yards of offense per game.
 
Empire 8 Dominance: Brockport was now won 19 straight Empire 8 Conference contests dating back to Oct. 29, 2016. Over the course of the last four seasons the Golden Eagles are 23-2 in conference games, including an unblemished 7-0 record in each of the last two seasons.
 
Series History: Cortland and Brockport are meeting for the 71st time. The teams have played every season since 1948, except for the 1950 season. Cortland leads the overall series 49-19-2, but Brockport has won five of the last six meetings after Cortland won five straight from 2008-12. Brockport has won three straight against the Red Dragons, outscoring them 94-73 in the stretch.
 
Chasing Records: Senior All-American candidate Alex West posted six tackles, three QB hurries, and added two more sacks to his 2019 resume in the win over Utica. He now leads the Empire 8 with 7.5 sacks this season.  West now has 24 career sacks and needs just two more to tie the program's career record of 26 set back in 2002 by Mike Condello. West currently has 170 career tackles and needs 30 more to reach 200 for his career. The program's career record for tackles is 399, originally set by Steve Cook back in 1991. West also ranks sixth nationally with an average of 2.1 tackles for a loss per game.

When We Get the Ball We Keep It: Brockport currently ranks 10^th nationally and first in the Empire 8 in time of possession. The Golden Eagles are averaging a 34:25 TOP per contest.

Hard to Be Efficient Against Our Secondary: Brockport ranks fourth in the nation in passing efficiency defense this year. Opposing QB's are averaging an efficiency rating of 86.50 against the Golden Eagles this season.

In the Backfield: Brockport's pressure defense has disrupted plays in the backfield all season long.  The Golden Eagles currently rank fifth nationally with an average of 10.1 tackles for a loss per game.

2000 Yard Club: Senior receivers Joseph Ortiz and DaQuan Hubbard both joined the 2,000 yard receiving club this season. Ortiz now has 2,225 career receiving yards, while Hubbard now has 2,106.

1000 Yard Club: Senior running back Justin Morrison entered his senior season with 1,109 career rushing yards and he recently eclipsed 1,500 career rushing yards following his 70 yard rushing performance against Utica. Sophomore running back Jala Coad now has 939 yard rushing on 185 career carries and needs just 61 more rushing yards to eclipse 1,000 for his career.
 
All-Time Receptions Leader: Senior wide receiver Joseph Ortiz caught two more balls against Utica Saturday and extended his lead in the College's all-time receptions record book with 226. He has a team-best 21 catches this season for 250 total yards.
 
Get Loud it's Third Down: The Brockport defense leads all of NCAA Div. III football in third down conversion percentage.  Brockport is holding opponents to a .178 success rate in third down situations. On third down, the Golden Eagles have allowed just 18 first downs out of 101 attempts against.
 
Receiving Votes: Brockport is receiving votes for the eighth straight week in the latest d3football.com national poll (28 votes in week eight). They are just four spots away from cracking the top 25. The Golden Eagles rose to as high as No. 3 in the national polls headed into the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships last season. Brockport has been a fixture in the top 25 each week dating back to week 1 of 2017. The top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.
 
Our Leader: Brockport seventh year Head Coach Jason Mangone has been named the AFCA Region I Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons and he recently picked up his 55^th career victory as the Golden Eagles defeated Utica College at home last weekend. Mangone has an impressive 55-20 overall record over the course of six-plus seasons at the helm. Mangone and his staff have earned two straight Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year honors after compiling a 24-2 overall record in that span.  In 2017 he was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year after guiding the Golden Eagles to the semifinals of the NCAA Div. III Championships.

National Team of the Week Pick: Sophomore defensive back Kenny Hernandez became the second Golden Eagle cornerback this season to earn D3football.com National Team of the Week honors following his big game against Utica. Hernandez picked off two passes, one of which he returned 42 yards for a score in the fourth quarter, as Brockport topped visiting Utica. He also added three tackles and one pass break up in the victory. He currently ranks second in the conference with four interceptions this season. He also ranks 12^th in the conference with six total passes defended. He ranks fifth on the team with 24 total tackles and he also has 2.0 tackles for a loss through seven games. He was also named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

Dual Threat: Freshman quarterback Freddy June ranks eighth in the league with an average of 56.5 rushing yards per contest.  He is currently averaging 6.4 yards per carry, which ranks sixth in the E8, and he has four touchdowns on the ground. He has also completed 46 passes for 762 yards and five TDs through the air.  He ranks fifth in the league with an average of 183.5 total yards per game.

Don't Throw His Way: Freshman defensive back Raylens Boutin ranks tenth in all of Division III football and first in the E8 with an average of 1.9 passes defended per game.  He has 10 total pass breakups and three interceptions, two of which were returned for a touchdown. He also ranks third on the team with 26 tackles this season.
 
Proud of Our Ground Game: Brockport's rushing attack ranks second in the conference with an average of 234.0 rushing yards per game.  The Golden Eagles have 1,638 yards rushing on 342 carries and they are lead the league with 21 rushing touchdowns this season.

Spreading the Wealth: Brockport's Freddy June, Jala Coad and Justin Morrison all rank in the top eight in the conference in rushing yards per game.  Coad leads the way with 61.4 rushing yards per game and he is followed closely by Morrison (58.4) and June (56.5).

Coad Green: Sophomore running back Jala Coad has found the end zone often this season and currently leads the conference with an average of 9.4 points scored per game.  His 10 rushing touchdowns rank 13^th nationally this year. He has scored at least one touchdown in six of seven games this season. He caught a receiving touchdown in the season opener, and he has added ten rushing TDs over the course of the last five games.
 
DaQuan Goes Deeeeeeep: Senior wide receiver DaQuan Hubbard leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with an average of 25.50 yards per reception.  He has 14 catches this season and averages 59.50 yards receiving per game. He also has one touchdown.

Another BIG Target: Wide out Imhotep Cromer leads the team with 387 yards receiving this season. He has 20 catches and three touchdowns. He is averaging 19.35 yards per catch.

It's a Pick Party: The Golden Eagles have seven different players who have posted at least one interception so far this season. Hernandez ranks second in the conference with four interceptions, while Boutin is tied for third with three picks.

Knocking Down Kicks: Senior kicker Dustin Moyle was on target all afternoon against Utica as he drilled first half field goals of 32 yards and 36 yards to help the Golden Eagles jump out to a 13-0 lead by the 10:30 marker of the second quarter.  Moyle was also a perfect 5-for-5 on extra point opportunities to finish the day with 11 total points. He now has six total field goals this season.

Meet Cortland: Cortland has a chance to clinch the Empire 8 title as it hosts two-time defending league champion Brockport. The Red Dragons, ranked 18th nationally, are 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference with two league games remaining. A victory over Brockport (6-1, 3-0 E8) would guarantee Cortland at least a share of the title and the tiebreaker over both Alfred and Brockport, the two teams that would have a chance to tie for first. QB Brett Segala is 122-for-204 (59.8 percent) passing for 1,820 yards and 17 touchdowns with three interceptions and Zach Tripodi averages 117.4 rushing yards per game and has scored six times. Cole Burgess leads the Red Dragons with 32 receptions, including seven touchdowns. Head Coach Dan MacNeill is in his 23rd season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 154-82 (.653) ranks him first at Cortland in career victories and winning percentage. He was the 2015 HERO Sports National Coach of the Year and the D3football.com East Region Coach of the Year, and he and his assistants were chosen as the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, he's been the New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2012, and also was a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Division III Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Red Dragons to the league title and the NCAA quarterfinals. In addition to six NCAA appearances (1997, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015), MacNeill's teams won the inaugural New York Bowl in 2017 and qualified for the game again in 2018 (game was canceled due to lack of Liberty League opponent). The Red Dragons also won ECAC bowls in 2002, 2007 and 2012, and they played in five other ECAC postseason games, most recently in 2016.

Next Week: Brockport returns home on Nov. 9^th to take on visiting Alfred University in an Empire 8 matchup at 12 p.m. The contest marks the final regular season home contest of the year for the Golden Eagles.