Nov 14, 2015
BUFFALO, N.Y.—Buffalo State piled up 483 yards of offense and at one point found the end zone on five a six possessions in a 35-28 victory over visiting Brockport to capture its third-consecutive I-90 Bowl title and keep its postseason hope alive.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 35, Brockport - 28
LOCATION: Coyer Field - Buffalo, N.Y. (I-90 Bowl)
RECORDS: Buffalo State (7-3/5-3), Brockport (5-5/3-5)
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE
- Senior quarterback Dan Serignese (Pt. Jefferson/Pt. Jefferson) finished 18 of 25 for 266 yards with a touchdown through the air and another on the ground.
- Dale Stewart (Niagara Falls/Niagara Falls) led the Bengals' ground attack with 155 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries and added three catches for 28 yards. Tre Jones (Rochester/Greece-Athena) added 22 carries for 68 yards and a score.
- Stephen Johnson (Buffalo/McKinley) caught three passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.
- Seniors Marquis Artis (Amherst/Amherst) and Shaq Frederick (Brooklyn/Holy Cross) led the Bengals' defense with nine tackles each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Buffalo State outgained Brockport, 483-338. The Bengals had 145 rushing yards in the first half, compared to 77 passing yards, but took to the air in the second half with 189 passing yards, and 72 yards on the ground.
- Mitch Thomas (Buffalo/Sweet Home) picked off Brockport's Wayne Bonsell on the first play from scrimmage, but the Bengals could not cash in, going three-and-out.
- The Golden Eagles took a 7-0 lead after Buffalo State fumbled a snap on a punt attempt, creating a short field for Brockport. Dan Andrews capped the short five-play, 22-yard drive with a 9-yard scoring run.
- The Bengals answered with a heavy dose of Stewart for a 14-play, 57-yard scoring drive to even the score. Stewart found the end zone with a one-yard plunge on his 11th rush of the drive.
- Brockport reclaimed the lead on the ensuing possession with a trick play running back pass from Andrews to Ian Gilhousen covering 50 yards.
- Buffalo State made it four-straight combined possessions resulting in a touchdown just before halftime, driving 73 yards on 11 plays, ending with Stewart's second score of the day from 2 yards out, tying the score at 14-14 at the intermission.
- Johnson returned the second-half kickoff 47 yards, and the Bengals took 10 plays to go 35 yards capped by a 3-yard Jones touchdown run to take its first lead of the game.
- Buffalo State pushed its lead to 28-14 later in the third quarter on a 66-yard scoring strike from Serignese to Johnson down the right sideline.
- The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, but Buffalo State never relinquished the lead. Brockport scored on a 3-yard pass from Wayne Bonsell to Brendan Fessinger to conclude a 77-yard drive.
- The Bengals answered quickly to restore the two-score advantage, marching 75 yards on five plays, including a 65 yards catch and run byTrent White (Kenmore/Kenmore West), and a 3-yard quarterback keeper by Serignese.
- Brockport cut the deficit back to 7 with a 5-yard scoring run by Andrews with 5:17 remaining, but could not compete the comeback.
- After a failed short kick attempt, Buffalo State ran the clock down to 1:37 remaining, but missed a short field goal, giving the Golden Eagles the ball with no timeouts and 80 yards to travel.
- The Golden Eagles worked their way down to Buffalo State's 20 in the closing seconds with a deflected completion by Jerry Thompson that covered 36 yards, but a desperation pass at the gun was intercepted in the end zone by Nick Anderson (Sloan/JFK) to end the game.
FOR THE FOES
- Andrews finished with 80 yards on 22 carries with a pair of touchdowns. His 80 rushing yards was his second-lowest output of the season. Andrews also threw a 50-yard touchdown pass on a running back option.
- Bonsell finished 14 of 31 for 184 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
- Thompson was the leading receiver with eight catches for 114 yards.
- Alex Egglinger paced Brockport's defense with 13 tackles, while Jake O'Connell finished with 12.
NOTEWORTHY
- Buffalo State claimed the I-90 Bowl trophy for the third-consecutive season.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will wait to hear if its name is called during in Monday's ECAC Bowl bid announcements.