SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College football team mustered only 129 yards of total offense as the Garnet Chargers dropped a 26-0 matchup to #24 SUNY Cortland in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
Union struggled to get much going offensively on Saturday, with only two of the team's nine drives taking more than five plays. The Garnet Chargers' two more promising drives of the day – a 13-play drive in the first quarter and a 15-play march in the second frame – both ended on turnovers on downs inside the Cortland 30-yard line.
Junior
Luke Sheehan got his first collegiate start for Union behind center, throwing for 98 yards on a 13-of-28 effort. Senior
Owen Corrigan was the team's leading receiver with three catches for 29 yards, while sophomore
Kaden Gore had 28 yards through the air, including the team's longest reception of 18 yards.
Defensively, senior
Alex Carucci recorded a team-leading 10 tackles, while junior
John Droggitis and sophomore
Myles Beckett both added seven tackles and a half tackle for loss.
After Union went three-and-out to start the game, Cortland kicked a field-goal on its opening possession to take an early lead. The home team took over six minutes off the clock on its next drive, converting a third-and-one and a fourth-and-one with Sheehan rushes before stalling out at the Red Dragon 34-yard line.
The Union defense held Cortland down on its next three drives, including a huge fourth-and-one stuff by Droggitis that denied Ethan Gallo a first down and forced a turnover. After Droggitis' stop, Union put together a long drive, taking almost eight minutes off the clock. The home team reached first down at the 14-yard line and looked primed to at least tie the score, but back-to-back penalties pushed Union out of field-goal range and resulted in another turnover on downs.
Cortland killed whatever momentum Union had with a late touchdown in the second quarter, getting the ball with 1:13 left and going 68 yards in eight plays, helped by a key roughing-the-passer penalty on second-and-long, to take a 10-0 lead into the half.
The second half was all Cortland, as the Red Dragons possessed the ball for over 25 minutes and limited Union to just 4:07 of possession time over three chances with the ball. That advantage was helped by a fake punt for a first down and another successful fourth-down play on the first drive of the second half that resulted in a touchdown. After a Union punt, Cortland followed up with a 19-play, 60-yard drive that finished with a field goal to put the game out of reach midway through the final frame.
Union will look to get into the win column next Saturday with a matchup at SUNY Morrisville at 12 p.m.
