Falcons Fall to SUNY Cortland on Opening Day

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University football team opened its 2018 season this afternoon, dropping a 51-14 decision to the Red Dragons of Cortland State at Elliot Field.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 14, Cortland State 51

Records: Fitchburg State (0-1) | Cortland State (1-0)

How It Happened

After punting on their first possession, Cortland State reeled off three straight touchdowns to conclude the first quarter with a 21-0 lead. Junior quarterback Brett Segala (Webster, NY) opened the scoring as he found senior wide receiver Jake Smith (Albany, NY) for a 40 yards touchdown with 8:25 left in the first quarter. Just four minutes later Segala connected with sophomore Jason Carlock (Babylon, NY) for a 14 yard score. Segala rounded out the first frame with his longest pass of the day, a 67 yard strike to senior Alex Wasserman (Closter, NJ) for the 21-point advantage.

Trailing 44-0 after three quarters the Falcons finally tipped the scoreboard. With first down on the Cortland 48-yard line, freshman quarterback Brandon Brown (Lake Mary, FLA) connected with a streaking wide receiver Jesse Brown (Yonkers, NY) down the left sideline for a 45 yard pick-up. Senior running back Sterlin Garvin (Canton, Mass.) scampered three yards on the next play for the Falcons first touchdown of the season.

Cortland answered on the next series to push the score to 51-7, however the Green and Gold would round out the scoring with a late bootleg touchdown from B. Brown resulting in the 51-14 final.

Inside the Numbers
First meeting between Fitchburg State and Cortland State.

Offensively for the Falcons quarterback B. Brown completed 7-of-20 passes for 84 yards and 56 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Fitchburg State's ground game was sparked by Sterlin Garvin, who ran for 97 yards on 21 carries and one TD.

Jesse Brown led all Falcon receivers with four catches for 56 yards.

Defensively for the Green and Gold, senior defensive back Jovon White (Meriden, Conn.), registered a team-leading six stops on five solo tackles, and two assisted stops.

The Red Dragon's offense was paced by quarterback Segala who was 11-for-18 for 247 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Johnnie Akins (Roosevelt, NY) ran for 74 yards on 17 carries and senior wide receiver Nick Anderson (Saratoga Springs, NY) paced Cortland with 80 receiving yards on three catches.

Cortland finished with 511 yards of total offense, while the Falcons collected 265 yards.

Up Next

The Falcons will host the Castleton University next Saturday for a contest starting at 2 p.m. Cortland will host Framingham State on the same day for a match up starting at 12 p.m.