SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College football team received contributions up and down the roster as the Garnet Chargers kicked off its Liberty League title defense with a 63-14 romp over Buffalo State University on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
Three different quarterbacks combined to throw five touchdowns to five different receivers, and three more players scored on the ground in the dominating win, which saw Union (2-2, 1-0 Liberty League) out-gain Buffalo State (0-4, 0-1 Liberty League) by a 407-170 margin and gain a least 200 yards both on the ground and through the air in a well-balanced effort.
Junior
Luke Sheehan completed 11-of-15 passes for 110 yards and three touchdowns, while seniors
Cole Brisson and
Mack McManus both passed for 42 yards and a score while junior
Max Cho ran in a score as well in a good day for the quarterback room.
Sophomore
Brady Markowski led 13 different Union runners with 75 yards on 12 carries, with junior
Jah'Cire Jones and
Justin Singh joining Cho in finding the end zone on the ground. Gore led the receiving corps with 65 yards and a score, and was joined in catching touchdowns by Markowski, seniors
Owen Corrigan and
Joe Curran, and first-year
Peyton Kellett.
The defensive unit was all over Buffalo State all afternoon, combining for 14 tackles for loss, four sacks and one interception. Thirty-three players recorded at least one tackle on the day, with no Garnet Charger finishing with more than six stops. Seniors
Jordan Black had six tackles and two sacks, while first-year
Jimmy Mortarelli joined Black with two TFLs and junior
Michael Barnes-Pace had a pick-six.
After the defense set the tone by forcing a turnover on downs to start the game, Union marched 81 yards on nine plays to open the scoring. The home team ripped off five plays of at least 10 yards on the drive, including a drive-best 22-yard catch and run by Gore, before finishing with an eight-yard connection between Sheehan and Corrigan.
Union needed just six plays to score on its next drive, with the big play a 30-yard reception by junior
Declan Flaherty before a Jones two-yard TD plunge. Following a Buffalo State punt and matching fourth-down stops, the Garnet Chargers got the ball on their own five-yard line and quickly went 95 yards in nine plays, helped by a 37-yard run by senior
Michael Dinardo and finished by a 35-yard catch in the corner of the end zone by Gore on third-and-16.
Up by 21 at the half, Union closed the door with a 21-0 third quarter. Sheehan finished his day with a four-yard touchdown to Markowski on the first drive of the third. Back-to-back turnovers gave Union short-field drives on the next two possessions, as a Black strip-sack of quarterback Amir Cameron set up a two-play TD drive capped by a Singh eight-yard run just 42 seconds later, followed by Brisson connecting with Curran for a 12-yard score on the first play after a Coy Patterson fumble that was recovered by junior
Peter Nizolek.
Cho started the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal to make it a 49-0 game. Again the defense turned to offense on the next drive, as Buffalo State got the ball on their 10-yard line and promptly were backed up on two straight plays before Barnes-Pace intercepted a desperation Patterson pass in the end zone for another six points. Union's last touchdown drive also was a short one, a three-play drive capped by a 42-yard catch-and-run by Kellett off a check down from McManus.
Union will have a quick turnover before its next game, when the Garnet Chargers head to the North Country for a Friday night matchup with St. Lawrence University.
