November 8, 2008. The SUNY Cortland Red Dragons won a wild home shoot-out 42-30 over the Brockport State Golden Eagles. The teams combined for 1053 yards of total offense, but ironically the difference turned out to be five turnovers forced by the Cortland defense.

 

Senior tailback Andrew Giuliano scored 4 touchdowns to increase his season total to 21. This breaks the previous school record of 18 touchdowns scored in one season by Omar Darling (1998). Giuliano also set the school single season scoring record with 126 points.

 

Senior quarterback Ray Miles passed for a career best 348 yards, completing 20 of 30 passes for 2 touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Zacc Guaragno had 8 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown. Eric Hajnos added 4 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.

 

Freshman corner D.J. Romano made two key interceptions, forced a fumble, and had 8 tackles. Senior linebacker Jim Smith had 19 tackles and an interception to lead the defense.

 

Cortland started fast and never slowed down. On the first play from scrimmage, Miles found Guaragno on a post pattern for 44 yards to the Brockport 19-yard line. Three plays later Giuliano broke a 4th-and-1 rush up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown to put Cortland ahead 7-0.

 

After a Brockport field goal cut the lead to 7-3, Cortland put together a 7-play 60-yard drive. Giuliano finished the drive with a 2-yard run over the left guard to increase Cortland's lead to 14-3.

 

Late in the second quarter Eric Hajnos caught a Miles screen pass and ran 36 yards to the Brockport 20-yard line. Two plays later Giuliano ran 6 yards up the middle for his third rushing touchdown of the day. Cortland built a comfortable 21-3 lead heading into half-time.

The Brockport offense came out firing in the second half. It took a fantastic showing by the Cortland offense to continuously match them throughout the final 30 minutes.

 

On the first drive of the second half the Golden Eagles went 77 yards on 12 plays to score a touchdown. Felipe Diaz caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Zack Luke to cut the Cortland lead to 21-9. The extra point was blocked by Lou Crispo.

Cortland immediately answered. A 20-yard kickoff return by Derrick Woodard set Cortland up at its own 43-yard line. Two plays later, Miles found Hajnos streaking down the middle of the field for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Cortland increased its lead to 28-9.

Brockport responded with a 7-play 73-yard drive capped off by a Garret Lynch touchdown run. Zack Luke rushed the football into the end zone for a two point conversion to pull Brockport to within 28-17.

 

The Cortland offense went right back to work. A 30-yard run by Giuliano put Cortland at the Brockport 32-yard line. A 13-yard completion from Miles to Hajnos was followed by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Miles to Guaragno. Cortland once again had a comfortable lead at 35-17, late in the third quarter.

 

A 10-play 56-yard touchdown drive by Brockport cut the Cortland lead to 35-23 mid way through the final quarter. But once again the Cortland offense responded with its own scoring drive. Facing a 3rd-down-and-3 from the Cortland 37-yard line, Miles found Guaragno for a 38-yard reception down the Brockport sideline. Two plays later Giuliano rushed 28 yards for his fourth touchdown of the afternoon. Jeffrey Lang added his sixth extra point to put Cortland ahead 42-23.

Brockport never quit fighting. Luke completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Diaz with just over 2 minutes to play to make it a 42-30 game. But the Golden Eagles had run out of time. An onside kick attempt failed to go the required 10 yards before being touched by a Brockport player. Cortland was able to run out the clock to preserve the victory.

 

Andrew Giuliano rushed 21 times for 146 yards, averaging 7 yards per carry. The offensive line opened gaping holes for Giuliano, who did not have a single rush for negative yardage. The line also gave Miles tremendous time to throw the football.

Zack Luke passed for 399 yards for Brockport, but was intercepted 4 times. While the Red Dragons defense did not have its best game of the season, it forced 5 turnovers to clinch the victory. Brockport has twice scored over 50 points in 2008, so it was not a surprise to see them move the football against Cortland.

 

Cortland will need to find a way to slow down the opposing passing game if it wishes to move to the next level. Next week's home tilt with Ithaca will feature an explosive Bombers offense which put 40 points on Cortland in last season's Cortaca Jug. Cortland needs to win to secure home field in the first round of the NCAA playoffs beginning November 15.