BROCKPORT — The I-90 Bowl trophy will reside at the College of Brockport for the first time since 2012, t, as Buffalo State dropped a season-ending 48-24 decision to the host Golden Eagles today in an Empire 8 contest.
Kyle Hoppy (Orchard Park/Orchard Park) was 12 of 27 for 211 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, before giving way to senior Aaron Ertel (Depew/Depew) who was 12 of 19 for 111 yards. Stephen Johnson (Buffalo/McKinley) had four catches for 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Bart Mazzara (Lockport/Starpoint) was the Bengals’ leading tackler with 12 stops, including a sack and two for loss.
Things started well for the Bengals, forcing a three-and-out to open the game and then struck first on their first offensive play when Hoppy hit Johnson for a 64-yard touchdown. Brockport answered, finding the end zone on each of its next three possessions on three-straight touchdown passes by Joe Germinierio, taking a 21-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Germinerio hit Dan Andrews for a 29-yard score, Nate Wilkinson from 41 yards, and Ian Gilhousen covering 71 yards.
Buffalo State stopped the bleeding with a 19-yard field goal by Marc Montana (E. Amherst/St. Joe’s) early in the second quarter, but the Golden Eagles responded with a nine-play, 94-yard drive that ended with Germinerio’s fourth touchdown pass to Wilkinson from 7 yards. The Bengals cut the deficit to 28-18 before the half, as Hoppy hit Had Bryant (Bronx/Cardinal Hayes) with a 29-yard scoring strike with just 33 seconds before the break. Hoppy and Nick Jones (Buffalo/W. Seneca West) then hooked up for the two-point conversion.
Hoppy was picked off twice in the third quarter, and the second led to another Brockport touchdown on a 1-yard run by Andrews that capped a nine-play, 61-yard drive. Hoppy threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Johnson on the ensuing possession. After a blocked extra point, Brockport led 35-24, and Buffalo State would not score again. The Golden Eagles added two more scores by Andrews to complete the scoring. He scored from 6 yards out late in the third quarter, and then added a 62-yard run for the only points of the fourth. Brockport piled up 536 yards of total offense with 374 through the air, and 162 on the ground. Buffalo State finished with 336 passing yards, but had just 72 rushing.
Buffalo State had won the past three I-90 Bowls and five of the previous six. The Bengals have finished .500 or better in each of the past six seasons.
from BuffaloStateAthletics.com via IFTTT
