CANTON, NY – Sophomore quarterback
Jared Gourrier (New Orleans, LA) rushed for a career high 103 yards and a touchdown to lead Union College to a 20-9 Liberty League football victory at St. Lawrence Saturday at Leekonby Stadium. The Dutchmen, winners of five straight, are now 5-0 in the league and 5-2 overall while the Saints fell to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in league play. This was Union's 12
th straight win in the series.
Gourrier was 8 for 14 with two interceptions and 95 yards passing. Senior running back
Zach Tillo (Lancaster, MA) had 78 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown in the wet conditions at Weeks Field. Tillo also led the Dutchmen with 39 yards on three receptions. Senior linebacker
Vito Pellerito (Pompano Beach, FL) recorded eight tackles, including six solo hits, while
Joseph Catalano (Albany, NY), Mike Daley (North Bridgeton, ME) and
Mike Wess (Allendale, NJ) each posted seven tackles.
St. Lawrence quarterback Brad Heil was 22 for 42 with two interceptions and 215 yards. Connor Hackett led the Saints on the ground with just 32 yards, while Troy Lassial had 78 yards on five catches.
The Dutchmen, who were averaging 233.3 yards rushing in the psat three games, had 221 on the day, while allowing just 34. Union was a perfect three for three in the red zone.
After a scoreless first quarter that featured a steady rain, Tillo put the Dutchmen on the board with 8:37 left when he ran in from four yards out. It was an eight play, 47 yard drive that consumed four minutes. The Dutchmen then stopped a nine play drive when pressure by Wess forced Heil to throw an incomplete pass on fourth down from the Union 33. Eight plays and 3:37 later, Gourrier somersaulted over his blockers into the endzone from three yards out and after a failed kick, it was 13-0 Union with 1:51 remaining in the half.
On the next drive, on a second and 10 from the Saint 44, Heil was sacked by
Charles Hovsepian (Hingham, MA) and fumbled, where Union's
Sean Conerly (Mableton, GA) recovered at the St. Lawrence 37.
Union took over on its own 36 with 11:10 left in the third, and had a long and productive time consuming drive that was capped by a 15 yard scoring run from Tillo with 4:39 left in the quarter. The 12 play, 64 yard drive featured 42 rushing yards by Gourrier, including a seven yard run on a third and four from the Saints 34 yard line to keep the drive alive. After the kick was converted the Dutchmen had a 20-0 lead.
But on the fourth play of the Saints ensuing drive, punter Matt Popov's kick was downed at the Union two yard line. After Tillo was stopped for a one yard loss on the first play, he was stopped in the endzone on the next play for a safety, making it 20-2 with 2:39 remaining in the third quarter. St. Lawrence got the ball back after the free kick and started a drive from the Saints 43. But on the fifth play of the drive, after marching down to the Union seven, Heil's pass was intercepted in the endzone by
Pat Sheridan (Short Hill, NJ) with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter.
St. Lawrence closed out the scoring with a four yard touchdown reception from Connor Hackett from Heil with 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Union hosts Hobart next Saturday at 12 p.m. at Frank Bailey Field. The Statesmen are 6-2 (4-1 in the Liberty League) after defeating previously undefeated Alfred today.
