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(12/03/08 5:00pm)
The wrestling team continued their hot streak the week before Thanksgiving with three wins in dual meets on Nov. 19, while taking second-place honors at the Oneonta Invitational on Nov. 22.
The Lions started their streak off with a 38-9 victory at Hunter College. They followed it up with two victories at New York University (NYU), beating the host Violets 38-3. The Lions finished off their successful day in impressive fashion with a 60-0 victory over Yeshiva University. The three wins put the Lions at 4-0 so far this year.
Perhaps the biggest wins of the day came from senior Greg Osgoodby (174 pounds), who went 3-0. Osgoodby has now reached 100 victories in his collegiate career.
"It felt great," Osgoodby said. "I came into the season with high expectations for myself and the team, and reaching 100 wins was one of the goals I had set for myself."
Osgoodby had a big win over a familiar opponent, Naum Shuminov of NYU. Shuminov is ranked ninth in the 174-pound weight class. When the two met earlier this season, Osgoodby came away with the win in a close match. At Hunter, Osgooby won again but in a more decisive fashion, pinning Shuminov at the 2:04 mark.
"To get a more decisive win was great," Osgoodby said. "I knew I did not wrestle my best the first time around. I changed some things around and it worked out very well for me."
The Lions had four other wrestlers go 3-0 on the day. Sophomore Kyle Kinchen (125 pounds), senior Dan DiColo (165 pounds), sophomore Mike Denver (184 pounds) and freshman Ed Broderick (285 pounds) all went undefeated on the day.
The Lions followed up their success in the dual meets on Nov. 22 by finishing in second place at the Onenta Invitational. The College's wrestling team finished with 128.5 points, trailing only 13th-ranked SUNY-Cortland (157.5) in the 11-team competition.
"We had a strong performance in Oneonta," junior Tyler Branham said. He said that despite being somewhat short-handed due to injuries, "the guys who were there all wrestled hard."
"I feel if we had our full team there, we could have topped Cortland," he added.
Branham took first-place honors in the 149-pound class, edging out teammate John Barnett by a score of 3-1. Branham went a perfect 5-0 on the day, while Barnett finished with four victories.
On beating his teammate, Branham said, "Having a team with as much depth as we do, it's bound to happen, and when it does you just have to look at it as any other match."
It was also an all-Lion showdown in the 157-pound class, with senior Dan DiColo narrowly beating freshman Joe Falco by a score of 5-1.
The third and final Lion to finish with first-place honors was Osgoodby, who went 4-0 on the day with two wins by fall. The four wins keep Osgoodby undefeated on the season with a current season record of 14-0.
Regardless of how well the team members have performed thus far, they know there is always room for improvement.
"We still have alot of work to do before our bigger tests come up later in the season," Branham said.
The Lions will return to dual-meet action today as they host King's College at 4 p.m. in Packer Hall.
(12/03/08 12:00pm)
In the world of strength training, not many men have accomplished as much or have as much knowledge of the sport as trainer Joe Carini. His credentials and accomplishments speak for themselves. Who could compete with a six-time New Jersey Strongest Man?
Carini has dedicated his life to training athletes at every level, from peewee football to professional-level players. Just ask some of his satisfied customers, like Tampa Bay Buccaneer's cornerback Ronde Barber, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs and Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson. They may all attest to Carini being one of the best there is in the field.
However, it is thanks to retired Giants running back Tiki Barber, one of Carini's most accomplished professional clients, that Carini's knowledge will be at the disposal of strength training fans of all ages across the nation through their new book, "Tiki Barber's Pure Hard Workout," which the two friends co-authored.
"When Tiki (Barber) first started training with me, he was looking to build some upper body strength," Carini said. "The two seasons prior to (his) training with me, he led the league in fumbles. In the next three years that we worked together, he amassed 10,000 all-purpose yards. That's quite a testament to how hard he worked."
But Barber gives the credit to Carini.
"Joe Carini is the savior of my career," he said in a Nov. 6, 2005, interview with the New York Post.
The two men's accomplishments over that three-year period were the origins of of this book.
"The publisher (Gothem Books), approached Mark Lepseltser (Tiki's agent) wanting to publish a book about Tiki's transformation as a player at the end of his career," Carini said.
Obviously, nobody could explain that better than Barber and Carini themselves.
In the book, they outline the workout regimen that helped make Barber the player he became and explain everything from the importance of stretching to how to eat to increase muscle. They then break down all of the body's muscle groups and give information on more than 50 different lifts. The exercises are demonstrated throughout the book by Barber and Carini.
"The photographers said they had never seen anything like it," Carini said. The book features a photo of Carini shrugging more than 1,000 pounds.
When asked what it was like to collaborate with Tiki Barber on the book, Carini said, "It was an honor and a privilege."
However, Carini does not get to take a break even though all the work on his first book is done. He looks forward to the end of the collegiate football season when he will be training multiple NFL prospects and the many high school athletes that train with him on a daily basis.
"I don't have any preference in who I train," says Carini. "The body is a work in progress."
While Carini does not have anything decisive planned for the future, he looks forward to the possibility of another book and his future in training more athletes.
As for now, Carini says he will "keep lifting heavy and staying healthy, and keep growing."
(11/19/08 5:00pm)
The College's wrestling team opened their season in impressive fashion this past week, rolling over No. 27-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday, and walking away with five first- place finishes at the Ursinus College Fall Brawl on Sunday.
"Any win is a positive but, it's always a good feeling to win at a home dual meet," senior Bill Tenpenny, who won his match by pinfall at 4:21 in the 141-pound weight class, said. He was one of nine out of 10 Lions to win their match. The College finished the match in decisive fashion, defeating Stevens 31-3.
"After any win you feel good," junior Dan Dicolo said, after participating in the closest match of the night, squaring off against Stevens' Leo Dormann in the 157-pound matchup.
"To get the first one of the season under your belt is a little different especially since my win came in overtime," Dicolo said. His win came after a grueling 11-minute match that ended in the second tiebreaker after a reversal, putting the final score at 3-1.
The win over Stevens was not all the Lions wrestling team had going for them last week, as the Lions also found success at Ursinus' annual Fall Brawl. The College's five first-place championships at the tournament belonged to freshman Anthony Rizzolo at 141 pounds, sophomore John Barnett at 149, freshman Joe Falco at 157 and sophomore Justin Bonitatis and senior Greg Osgoodby at 174.
Osgoodby, an All-American, had one of the most impressive wins at the tournament, edging out Naum Shuminov of New York University (NYU), who was ranked ninth in the nation in his weight class.
Osgoodby welcomed the competition: "It was a close match but it's good to have those every once in a while," he said.
"We practice hard every day so we know that we're physically and mentally prepared for whatever competition we have," said Dicolo, who, along with Tenpenny, grabbed second-place honors Sunday.
The Lions' domination at the Fall Brawl was a true tribute to their training as Dicolo and Tenpenny finished second only to their own teammates in the 157- and 141-pound weight classes, respectively.
"It gives us good momentum going into the rest of the season. It makes everyone on the team excited to continue wrestling in competition and working hard in practice," Dicolo said.
If their performances this past week were any indication of what is to come, the College's wrestling team is in for an exciting and successful season. They will look to keep their momentum going this week, with two matches this Wednesday, the first at 4 p.m. at Hunters College, followed by a 7 p.m. faceoff with Yeshiva at NYU. They finish the week up with a 9:30 a.m. tournament Saturday at the Oneonta State Invitational.
(11/19/08 12:00pm)
When Mark Twain wrote, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog," he probably didn't have a pitbull the size of Brock Lesnar staring at him from across the way.
But that's exactly who Randy "the Natural" Couture went up against on Saturday in the biggest challenge of his professional fighting career: a 6-foot-3-inch, 265-pound former national collegiate champion/ex-professional wrestler. No matter how hard the Natural's fans wanted to believe he could pull off the win, there was nothing he could do to stop Lesnar from becoming the new UFC heavyweight champion.
I don't want to take anything away from the former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion. Couture is easily one of the most talented fighters to ever grace the octagon with his presence, but natural disasters have caused less damage than Lesnar is capable of inflicting on his opponents.
From the get-go, Couture had the odds stacked against him. Not only is Lesnar 14 years younger, as well as 55 pounds heavier when he was fully hydrated for the fight, but the freak of nature has the speed of a guy half his size. Not to mention Couture hadn't had a match in more than 14 months.
Still, Couture put up one hell of a fight. Lesnar couldn't gain the leverage he needed on the mats to put Couture away, and everyone rallied right behind their favorite 45-year-old underdog when the Natural busted open his goliath opponent. I'd be lying if I said that the cut above Lesnar's eye didn't make me say, "Holy shit, this guy might actually do it."
But that was as close as Couture would come. He never backed down. He sure as hell never looked scared, smiling on his way to the cage and continuing to do so throughout the fight. Considering everyone was nervous about seeing a knockout early in the first round, I wasn't too disappointed when this fight went well into the second round. Couture's strategy was working. The mammoth Lesnar was getting tired.
You can't help but wonder how much longer Lesnar could have kept going. You could see from the look on his face that - even with all the advantages Lesnar had - Couture was in better shape, which says a lot about the self-proclaimed "old man."
However, one stiff punch to the temple was all it took to crush everyone's hope of an upset as Couture was obviously stunned as he fell to the mat. The defending champion did the only thing he could do: He covered up and waited to hear the bell signaling the end of the round or for the ref to call the match. Unfortunately for him, the latter happened first.
Regardless of how disappointed I was to see Couture lose his belt, it was motivating to see how hard he fought and to hear him say he still believes he's getting better as a fighter. That means I can look forward to seeing my favorite former UFC champion back in the octagon sometime soon.
Lesnar proved a lot by winning this fight, but he still has a lot more to prove. This is a guy who has a career record of only 3-1 and had a huge loss to another former champion, Frank Mir, in his debut match. But one thing is for sure: Beating one of the best in UFC's history is definitely a great way to show people you are for real.
(11/12/08 12:00pm)
Let me start by saying I have no vendetta against Stephon Marbury. In fact, I have more of a grudge against the Knicks for trading Patrick Ewing to the Supersonics more than eight years ago. However, if I ever hear another group of people start a Marbury chant, I will do something that makes the guy from "No Country for Old Men" look like Bugs Bunny.
As I said earlier, I have no personal beef with the artist formerly known as Starbury, but let's be realistic: This is a man who signed an $80 million contract to put up the numbers you would hope to get from your second-best bench player. 13.9 points and 4.7 assists is, in my opinion, unacceptable for the second highest-paid point guard in the league.
However, Steph is finally doing something to contribute to his estranged team this season. How is he doing this? By riding the bench. Is he doing so willingly? Of course not.
But who cares? Coach Mike D'Antoni has the right idea. He doesn't care who it pisses off. Marbury will receive less playing time than I will from the Knicks in the foreseeable future under the new Knicks head coach. There is no point in trying to go over D'Antoni's head, because after meeting with new team president Donnie Walsh, Marbury learned the front office is completely backing D'Antoni's decision.
Unless all three of the Knicks' top guards - Chris Duhon, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson - come down with an incurable disease simultaneously, I think it's safe to say Stephon Marbury's days as a New York Knick are in the past.
Let's be honest. No matter how good his numbers were in the past, the statistics are misleading. He may have averaged more than 19 points and close to eight assists a game in his 12-year career, but how many times has he helped any of his teams make the playoffs? Four times, plus, he only made it with the Knicks the year he was traded halfway through the season and didn't have a chance to ruin the mechanics of their offense.
The New Jersey Nets failed to make the playoffs all three years Marbury was a member of their team. However, after Stephon was traded to the Suns for Jason Kidd, the Nets won two consecutive Eastern Conference championships, reaching the playoffs six years in a row.
What does the future hold for the former All-Star? Who the hell knows? I'd say he could go overseas, but I don't think anyone would want him. They are getting enough players who still have talent at this point. I would say he should give the CBA a call, but the Knicks' other greatest acquisition this past decade, Isaiah Thomas, caused the CBA to go bankrupt years ago, so I guess that's out of the question, too.
All jokes aside, Marbury is still young enough to turn his career back around for the better. One thing's for sure, though: He's got to get on the court to make that happen, and that sure as hell isn't going to happen while he's a New York Knickerbocker.
(10/08/08 12:00pm)
$35 million over five years. $11 million just this season. That's a whole lot of money to pay somebody who hasn't participated in a practice in almost two years.
I don't mean to take away anything from how important wide receiver Plaxico Burress is to my favorite team, the New York Giants; not only did he help take us to the Super Bowl, but he caught the actual touchdown pass that allowed the G-Men to win it. When they gave him the contract extension that he demanded all preseason, I really couldn't be mad.
What I can be mad about, however, is that the Giants had to go into Week 4 without their leading receiver, and there is nobody to blame but Plaxico himself. Don't get me wrong; I firmly believe the Giants knew what they were getting into when they signed the troublemaker. He held his reputation way before he came to New York.
But the fact is the Giants gave Plax his contract extension. They gave him exactly what he wanted, and how does he respond? By "no call/no-showing" a practice. For $11 million dollars in a single season, I don't think it's too much for him to just pick up the damn phone and say, "Hey Tom, I can't come to practice."
Having a family emergency is a legitimate excuse for missing practice, but there is no excuse for not letting your team know you won't make it to the field that day.
The Giants responded with a $250,000 fine and a two-week suspension. Burress didn't think this was fair. He appealed and was rewarded a large portion of his money back, but the suspension stood.
Was the suspension fair? If it were for a first offense, I would have to say it would be excessive. But it doesn't take a football genius to know there is no chance this was a first-time offense for Plaxico. Not only is the suspension fair, it was necessary.
I've read the reports. According to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer, Burress has been fined between 40-50 times since coming to New York. The Giants need to make the statement that this behavior is unacceptable. Otherwise, what's to stop him from doing something like this again?
Plax is a team leader and he should start acting like it. He needs to stop making excuses and start accepting responsibility for his actions. Everyone knows Burress is one of the biggest reasons the New York Giants have shiny new rings on their fingers, but that doesn't give him an excuse to come and go as he pleases.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I am being a little too tough on Plaxico. Maybe the suspension and fine were excessive. But there's one thing I know for sure: Next time Burress can't make it to practice, he is going to pick up the telephone and let someone know.
(12/05/07 5:00pm)
The wrestling team fared well this week, improving to 3-0 on the season against King's College last Wednesday and giving a solid showing at the Spartan Invitational hosted by York College on Saturday.
The College trampled King's College 43-6.
In the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III poll, the Lions are ranked eighth. They have also won 16 straight dual meets dating back to last season.
The College got the early lead when freshman Kyle Kinchen (125 pounds) scored a pin in 4:13. The Monarchs earned their first win when their defending national champion David Morgan (133 pounds) faced the College's seventh-ranked senior Ray Sarinelli.
Morgan got the win in the third period when he scored an escape and broke a 2-2 tie. The final score was 3-2 in favor of Morgan and was Sarinelli's first loss on the year.
The Monarchs tied the score with a win at 141 pounds, but the Lions took the lead for good when sophomore Tyler Branham (149 pounds) posted an 11-0 major decision.
"In my matches, I try to build a lead and then work for bonus points," Branham said. "Every extra point that you can earn for the team, whether it be by pin or major, can have a big effect on the overall match."
Sophmore Dan DiColo (157 pounds) scored a win with a pinfall at 4:39. The Lions then received back-to-back forfeits at 165 pounds and 174 pounds, pushing the College's lead to 28-6.
Next, senior Jim Tomczuk (184 pounds) won by a score of 6-5 for the Lions, followed by a pinfall victory for Shawn Vanwingerden (197 pounds) at 4:13. Senior heavyweight Steve Carbone topped if off for the Lions with another pin, getting the win in 5:33.
On three days' rest, the team traveled to York College for the Spartan Invitational. Sophomore Greg Osgoodby (174 pounds) and junior Al Wonesh (165 pounds), who both won by forfeit against King's College, wanted to stay on top of their games.
"Before the match I wrestled a mini-match with Al," Osgoodby said. "We did that do get a little workout in and stay sharp."
And sharp they were, as Osgoodby finished in first place and Wonesh advanced to the finals at 165 pounds but lost his final match 6-2. Wonesh finished the tournament with a record of 3-1.
In the upper weight classes, the College got strong performances out of Vanwingerden and Carbone, who took third place in their respective classes.
Sophomore Joe Bozzomo (184 pounds) was the third Lion to follow in Vanwingerden and Carbone's footsteps as he also took third.
The Lions had wrestlers place in the top four in each of the final five weight classes.
Rounding off the rest of the Lions' success was Branham, who took fourth at 149 pounds, and freshman Dan Hughes, who took fourth at 125 pounds.
"We are going through a very busy portion of our schedule, so it makes it hard to stay physically healthy and mentally focused," Branham said. The retuning All-American went on to say that the team "is a little banged up with injuries but just need(s) to focus and keep working hard."
"If we do this, good things will come the rest of this season," he added.
"We are a real focused team," Osgoodby said. "We know our goal is to send as many guys as we can to Nationals in March, but to get there, we have to focus on the matches ahead of us."
(12/05/07 12:00pm)
What do Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs, Tiki Barber, formerly of the New York Giants, and Ronde Barber of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have in common?
Along with being multiple Pro Bowlers, they all work out with famed strength trainer of New Jersey Joe Carini.
Carini has been a strength trainer for 28 years, but he has been working with weights much longer.
"When I was 13, my cousin gave me my first set of weights and that was it for me," Carini said. "All I've ever wanted to do was be a professional trainer."
His dream came true with the opening of his gym, Joe's House of Iron, which he currently runs in Montville, N.J.
Carini has the knowledge and experience to be one of the best at his job. From 1981-1987, Carini won New Jersey's World Strongest Man competitions in three different weight classes.
In 1986, this monstrous man was the fifth-strongest man in the world in his weight class.
Some of Carini's other records include being the first man in New Jersey to officially have a power lifting total over 2,100 pounds or to squat 800 pounds.
The strongman also had a short stint as a professional wrestler. He was known as Joe Strong of the tag team The Executioners in the National Wrestling Alliance. After wrestling, Carini got back into training and has been doing that ever since.
One of his most famous trainees was Tiki Barber, formerly of the Giants.
"In 2003, I got a call from Tiki's agent, who I was training at the time," Carini said. "He (said that Tiki Barber) wanted to work on getting some upper body strength. I said he was coming to the right place."
Barber started working out with Carini following the 2003 season in which he led the league in fumbles. After training with Carini, that would never happen again.
With Carini's help, Barber went on to have his three best seasons statistically.
"Joe Carini is the savior of my career," Barber said in a Nov. 6, 2005, interview with the New York Post.
Barber and Carini are collaborating on a book about weightlifting which is scheduled to be released in 2008.
While training Barber was one of the highpoints of Carini's professional career, it was only the beginning.
After word spread about his ability to make stronger, faster and all-around better athletes, several other players asked for Carini's help, including Barber's fellow Giants Gabril Wilson, Sean O'Hara and Brandon Jacobs, as well as numerous other college and professional athletes. According to Carini, he trains about a dozen professional athletes during the offseason.
While Carini is busy being one of the most renowned trainers in the business, he has also continued to weightlift. At the age of 48, he recently squatted 1,210 pounds for two repetitions on a hammer squat machine using only a weightlifting belt and without any assistance from knee raps.
He also recently shrugged 1,300 pounds for three repetitions on a hammer strength machine.
Many people believe lifting such heavy weights for so many years could be detrimental to the body. Carini enjoys proving this myth wrong.
"(My age) hasn't stopped me from doing anything yet," Carini said. "I keep strengthening the tendons, ligaments and muscles. How could it be bad? It's good for the psyche. To me, there is nothing else."
"A lot of people ask me when my strength is going to start winding down," he said. "I tell them the Earth will go first."
(11/14/07 5:00pm)
The College's loss Saturday to Kean University was not enough to stop the Lions from making it to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Lions' strong play throughout the season made this year one of the best in the football team's history, and a lot of the success can be attributed to the standout performances of key players including sophomore starting quarterback Chris James.
The second year player's improvement in play was one of the main reasons the Lions were able to be such a powerhouse in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
"I think I've adjusted well with the change," James said. "The only change is that I am the starting quarterback and not switching in. It gives me more power as a play-caller because I know the offense better."
The improvements from last season to this season can be seen when the numbers are compared. Last year, James played in seven games and had a 37.4 completion percentage, four touchdowns and eight interceptions. This year, James completed 48.7 percent of his passes, and threw for 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
As much as the young quarterback has stepped up his level of play, he knows there is always room to improve.
"I want to cut down on the interceptions and my completion percentage to go up," James said, "but the only thing that matters is the win. I could play my worst game of my life and if we win that is the only thing that matters."
The Lions have racked up the wins behind their sophomore gunslinger, losing only two games and winning eight in a row, giving the College its highest winning percentage (.800) since the 1990 season.
James credits a lot of the team's success to the coaching. He said going to the NCAA Division III Tournament "shows how well-coached we are and the character that this team has."
"We win and we never overlook anyone," he added.
James also spoke about how the offense is far from the only reason the Lions have been so successful this year.
"Our defense is one of the best in the country," he said, "and special teams is a huge part of our success."
While this season is almost at its end, James' playing days are not. The sophomore still has two more years to play at the College. James plans on getting stronger, learning more about the offense and continuing to become more of a leader. With his strong performance this season, there is every reason to think James will continue to improve at the fast pace he has over the last two years.
(11/07/07 5:00pm)
This past weekend, the wrestling team took first place at the Ithaca College Invitational for the third straight year, beating out 15 other teams. The Lions finished with 166.5 points, well ahead of Ithaca (133) and Hunter College (96).
The College entered the tournament ranked eighth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III preseason poll.
Three Lion wrestlers took home championships in their respective weight classes.
"We have a lot of talent on this team, but beating the competition that badly was a little surprising," senior Ray Sarinelli (133 pounds) said.
Sarinelli, who entered the tournament ranked eighth nationally in his weight class, went 5-0. Sarinelli won the championship by decision 8-6 over Steve Valastro from the University of Southern Maine.
"We have been preparing for this for a long time," Sarinelli said. "We have been wrestling hard for four weeks straight and have been working hard at getting in shape for this tournament."
Senior Shawn Vanwingerden (197 pounds) entered the tournament as the second seed in his weight class and went 4-0. The only one of the three first-place finishers to win by pin fall, he pinned freshman Nick Cambi from Roger Williams University in 2:44.
Returning All-American sophomore Tyler Branham (149 pounds) took first place as well, finishing 5-0. Branham entered the tournament ranked sixth nationally in his weight class.
Branham won the championship in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the weekend. He squared off against nationally ranked wrestler senior Matt Shrank of Gettysburg College. Branham won by decision 4-2, scoring the winning two points in overtime.
Three more Lions took home second-place honors: sophomore Dan DiColo (157 pounds), junior Al Wonesh (165 pounds) and senior Steve Carbone at heavyweight. Other key finishes from the Lions came from freshmen John Barnett (141 pounds) and Justin Bonitatis (165 pounds), both taking home a third-place finish.
Freshman Kyle Kinchen (125 pounds) placed fourth while sophomore Dan Suozzo (141 pounds) and junior Jon Biango (157 pounds) both took fifth in their respective weight classes.
Taking home sixth-place honors were sophomore Dave Kiley (165 pounds), junior Greg Osgoodby (174 pounds) and senior Jim Tomczuk (184 pounds).
The Lions return to action on Friday for their first dual meet of the season as they go head-to-head with No. 30 New York University at Packer Hall. The matchup has a 7 p.m. start.
(10/31/07 4:00pm)
In one of the College's most highly anticipated football games this year, the Lions won their seventh straight game by shutting out the SUNY-Cortland Red Dragons 30-0 at home Saturday.
The Lions secured the first seed in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament.
The last time the College's football team shut out an opponent was Nov. 13, 2004, when it defeated Kean University 37-0.
Next up for the Lions is an away game at Buffalo State University on Saturday at 1 p.m., which head coach Eric Hamilton referred to as a "business trip" when talking to his team in the huddle after the win.
"We're going on a business trip on Friday," he said, "and the business at hand is the league championship."
While it rained for most of the first half, the Lions were still able to use their running game effectively to dominate the clock and the scoreboard.
The main competition on the field was the battle between two of the College's running backs, senior Dan Dornacker and sophomore Chase Misiura, to see who would be the first to rush for 100 yards. Dornacker rushed the ball 18 times for 104 yards while Misiura carried the ball 23 times for 118 yards and a touchdown.
Nobody was more pleased with the Lions' backfield than Hamilton.
"You kind of expect it from (Dornacker)," Hamilton said, "but Chase Misiura - you look at him and go, 'how in the world?' He just gets the job done and gets better every week."
"To be honest, I haven't been expecting anything," Misiura said when asked if he expected to have such an impact on the game. "I just do the best I can every play. I have to give credit to the O-line and fullbacks. The blocking was amazing."
The game was not just an offensive showcase for the Lions. Defensive ends senior Joe King and junior Marc Fabiano kept pressure on Cortland's junior quarterback Ray Miles all day, and Fabiano accounted for 2.5 of the College's seven sacks on the day. The Lions defense also forced five turnovers.
According to Fabiano, the College went into the game looking "to shut (Cortland) down and get as much pressure on the quarterback as possible."
"As a defense, we also all worked together to completely shut down their offense," Fabiano said. "Our defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs worked especially hard all week, and it showed in the game."
The Lions had some difficulty getting on the scoreboard at the start of the game. They got the ball into Cortland territory on the opening drive but could not get into the end zone. Senior kicker Matt Dalessio missed a 46-yard field goal attempt that hit off the goalpost.
On the Red Dragons' first offensive drive, senior running back Dustin Bowser broke into a 43-yard run that looked like it would end in a touchdown until senior defensive back Andrew Larkin caught Bowser from behind and forced a fumble. The fumble was recovered by the Lions who used the possession to score a field goal.
The Lions scored again on a 10-yard run by Misiura with Dalessio adding the point after. The next score came in the third quarter when senior defensive back Jeff Struble picked off a Cortland pass deep in Red Dragon territory. Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Chris James connected with senior tight end Mike Thormann in the end zone. Dalessio's extra point made the score 17-0.
The next touchdown also came from James who launched a 63-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Cameron Richardson. James connected on 11-of-21 passes for 224 yards and the two touchdowns.
The defense closed the book on the win for the Lions as junior strong safety Dave Fontoura intercepted a screen pass when Cortland was threatening in Lions territory. Fontoura returned the ball for 81 yards and the touchdown. Dalessio added the extra point, giving the College its final score of the day.
"This game proved that we are really becoming one team working together as a unit," Dornacker said. "Now that we are a game away from clinching the NJAC championship, we have to stay focused on what is at hand. We have a good shot at making a strong playoff run, but we have to win the next two games. We have to continue getting better."
"The game at Buffalo is very important to us," Hamilton said. "When you beat the first place team, all that means is that we went from the hunter to the hunted. We have to go up there and finish the job."