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HOME FOR TWO: The Union College football team will play in front of the home crowd for the final time in 2024 as the Garnet Chargers look to send their seniors off with a victory on Senior Day against the University of Rochester.

LAST TIME OUT: Union was shut out for the second straight outing against Ithaca, falling by a 24-0 score. Junior Patch Flanagan attempted a career-high 41 passes on the day, throwing for 186 yards; more than half of that yardage went to junior Gil Rivera, who caught seven balls for a career-best 95 yards. Senior Cole DaSilva had 15 tackles to lead the defense while first-year John Droggitis added his second interception of the year.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS: Rochester had its hopes for a potential three-way tie atop the Liberty League quashed with a 35-21 loss to Buffalo State last weekend. Playing without leading rusher Daniel Papantonis, the Yellow Jackets were limited to 42 rushing yards while Ryan Rose threw 39 times for 229 yards and two touchdowns but was also sacked five times. Samuel Nuamah and Jackson Kane both recorded 52 receiving yards and a touchdown.

TACKLING THE PROBLEM: After recording 15 tackles last week, senior Cole DaSilva has registered 88 tackles through eight games so far in 2024, ranking him ninth in Division III in tackles and marking the most in a season for a Union player since Colin Lama ’22 had 96 tackles in 2019. DaSilva is bidding to become the first player to reach triple-digits for Union since Jake Lombardo ’18 registered 114 in 2017.

TOP-10 TOLBERT: With four receptions against Ithaca, senior Robbie Tolbert became the 12th player in program history to record 100 career catches. His 101 grabs currently are 11th all-time at the school, six back of 10th place. The senior also ranks 10th with 14 receiving touchdowns, while his 1,290 career receiving yards are 13th on the school’s all-time ledger.

HE’D BE HONORED: First-year linebacker John Droggitis was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Week after finishing second on the team with seven tackles against Buffalo State. The rookie also grabbed his first collegiate interception, had one tackle for loss and forced a turnover-on-downs with a fourth-down tackle. The first-year ranks fifth on the team with 29 tackles so far in 2024.

WHAT A RUSH: Junior Patch Flanagan’s 87-yard touchdown run against St. Lawrence was the longest rush by a Union quarterback in program history and the fourth-longest ever by a Union player overall, as well as the longest since Tom Arcidiacono ’07, HOF ’19 scampered 94 yards to paydirt against Merchant Marine in 2005. Flanagan also became the first quarterback in program history to run for over 200 yards in a game and the first Union player overall to reach 200 yards since current senior Jonathan Anderson ran for 211 last year at Rochester.

GOING FOR TWO: Union has shown a penchant for two-point conversion attempts this season, eschewing the extra point on 8-of-17 opportunities. Union is 5-of-8 on two-point tries this year, succeeding on passes from sophomore Mike Dinardo, senior AJ Condemi and junior Cam Fries as well as two Condemi rushes. Senior Max Gluck and first-year Francesco Pileggi are a combined 7-of-9 on extra-point attempts so far this season as well.

2K CLUB: Senior Michael Fiore became the 13th player in program history to rush for at least 2,000 yards with 73 yards at Springfield. He moved into 11th place on the program’s all-time rushing list against Ithaca and his 2,222 career yards place him 219 yards away from surpassing Darnel Thomas ’15 for a spot in the top 10.

ONE-TWO PUNCH: Last season seniors Michael Fiore and Jonathan Anderson combined for 2,118 yards on the ground, becoming the first Union teammates and the 27th in Division III history to both rush for quadruple digits in the same season. After Fiore reached the 2,000-yard mark for his career against Springfield, Anderson is 29 yards away from making them the fifth set of Union teammates to both rush for 2,000 yards and the first to both crack the 2K mark while on the team at the same time.

DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT: Junior Cam Fries (actually pronounced “freeze”) made the switch from quarterback to tight end this season and had three touchdowns over the season’s first five weeks. Two of his three receptions went gone for touchdowns against SUNY Maritime and Montclair State, and he chipped in a one-yard touchdown run against St. Lawrence. Against Buffalo State, he also added a successful two-point conversion pass to his ledger.

TOUCHDOWN TOMMY: After scoring three touchdowns in his first three seasons combined, senior Tommy Leonard recorded his first career multi-touchdown game on September 6 at Utica, catching passes of six and 11 yards. Union went the entirety of the 2023 campaign without a player catching more than one receiving touchdown in a game, with the last time coming by Nicholas Dunneman on October 29, 2022 against Hobart.

THAT’S OUR GUY: Junior Guy Bellingrath returned to the lineup after missing the entire 2023 season and made an immediate impact, taking a pick-six 56 yards for his first collegiate interception and touchdown on September 6 at Utica.

ROAD WARRIORS: Five of Union’s first seven regular-season games and six of 10 overall this season will be played away from Schenectady. This year marks the first time since 2018 that the team only has four home games during the regular season and the first instance since 2010 with only one non-conference matchup in front of the home fans.

COUNTDOWN TO 600: Union entered the 2024 season with an all-time record of 590-504-64 (.537) in the program’s first 139 years of competition since its first season in 1886 (including no seasons in 1906, 1943, 1945 and 2020). Since the arrival of Al Bagnoli in 1982, Union has amassed 31 winning records and 36 seasons of .500 or better in the last 41 seasons.

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS: Seniors Cole DaSilva, Michael Fiore, Nate Sullivan and Robbie Tolbert have been elected to serve as captains of the Union football team in 2024. DaSilva served as captain during the 2023 season as well and joins Fiore and Sullivan as returning for their fifth-year at Union, while Tolbert is the lone four-year player to earn a captaincy.

NEW TECH ON THE SIDELINES: This season the Liberty League has been approved by the NCAA Football Rules Committee to use an experimental sideline technology provided by GoRout for all conference games. The technology involves the coach or coordinator sending in plays via a tablet on the sideline or press box to players wearing wristwatches on the field – a maximum of three on either side of the ball can wear them during play. GoRout has provided this experimental technology free to the Liberty League to try out this year.

A NEW BEGINNING: The 35th coach in the history of the Union football program that dates back to 1886, Jon Drach is just the fifth Union head coach in the last 43 years, joining Union Athletics Hall of Famer Al Bagnoli (1982-91), all-time winningest coach John Audino (1992-2015), Jeff Behrman (2016-22) and Jon Poppe (2023). Union’s last four head coaches have a combined record of 290-130 (.690) over the last 42 years, with only five losing seasons.

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK: A new year brings an almost entirely new coaching staff for Union this season; in addition to head coach Jon Drach, seven of the team’s eight assistant coaches are new to the program as well. The only coaching holdover is Devin Smith, who was promoted to a full-time role and is back for his third season. With longtime assistant Pete Brown ’83 not on the Union sidelines for the first time since 1991, Jason Nelson ’18 takes over as the lone Union alumnus on the coaching staff this year.