Box Score

TCNJ WINS 7TH STRAIGHT WITH 30-0 SHUTOUT OF CORTLAND

FINAL SCORE: The College of New Jersey 30; Cortland State 0
Cortland State (6-2, 5-1 NJAC) vs. The College of New Jersey (7-1, 5-0 NJAC)
October 27, 2007; Lions' Stadium, Ewing, NJ

Ewing, NJ (10/27/07) – The College of New Jersey's Chase Misiura (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) and Dan Dornacker (Jersey City, NJ/Brick) each rushed for more than 100 yards and the Lion defense forced five turnovers en route to a convincing 30-0 victory over Cortland State on Saturday.

The win, TCNJ's seventh straight, put the Lions in driver's seat in the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings as they remained the lone undefeated team in conference play. TCNJ is now 5-0 in the conference, while the Red Dragons lost for the first time in the NJAC slipping to 6-1.

The shutout was the first for the Lions since the 2004 season with a 37-0 win over Kean. On the other side of the ball, it marked the first time Cortland has been shut out by an NJAC opponent since joining the league seven years ago and its first since SUNY Brockport blanked the Red Dragons, 14-0 in 2000.

Misiura carried the ball 23 times for 108 yards and one touchdown, while Dornacker racked up 104 yards on 18 attempts. It was Misiura's first 100-yard game of his career with Dornacker eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the third time this season.

TCNJ's defense gave the Red Dragons, ranked second nationally in scoring offense at 37.4 points per game, fits all game long holding them to 214 total yards. Cortland quarterback Ray Miles (Port Byron, NY/Port Byron) also found it tough going again the Lion defenders completing only 10-of-35 for 115 yards and four interceptions. Miles came into the game ranked among the national leaders in passing efficiency and had only thrown only three interceptions coming into the game.

TCNJ's first scoring drive started with a key defensive play by Andrew Larkin (Hamilton, Square, NJ/Notre Dame) as the senior safety punched the ball free from Cortland running back Dustin Bowser (Jamestown, NY/Southwestern) after long run inside the Lion 10 and Chris Tranchina (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township) pounced on the loose ball halting the Red Dragon drive.

The Lion offense quickly moved the ball down the field as sophomore quarterback Chris James (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) lofted a long pass to classmate Austin Misiura (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) that covered 72 yards putting them in scoring position. A couple of plays later senior kicker Matt Dalessio (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) split the uprights on a 33-yard field goal 5:43 into the game.

Cortland also came up with a big defensive play later in the period as Ronny Rodriguez (Harlem, NJ/John F. Kennedy) blocked a Lion field-goal attempt and then recover the ball bringing an end to the scoring threat.

TCNJ increased the advantage to 10-0 in the second quarter as Misiura found a seam up the middle to score from 10 yards with Dalessio adding the point after.

In the second half, the Lions recorded the only points of the third quarter with the defense again forcing a turnover that led to the score. This time, senior defensive back Jeff Struble (Toms River, NJ/Manchester Township) picked off a Cortland pass deep in Red Dragon territory. Two plays later James hit senior Mike Thormann (Glenwood, NJ/Vernon Township) in the near corner of the end zone with a pass and Dalessio's extra point made it 17-0.

James took to the air again for TCNJ's next scoring play as he launched a 63-yard pass to Cameron Richardson (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township) for a touchdown increasing the lead to 23-0. James went on to finish the game hitting on 11-of-21 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The defense put the final stamp on the win for the Lions as junior Dave Fontoura (Roseland, NJ/West Essex Regional) intercepted a screen pass at the Lion 19 and went untouched for 81 yards and the touchdown. Dalessio added the PAT making the final, 30-0.

On the ground for Cortland, Bowser also recorded a 100-yard game finishing with an even 100 yards on 16 carries.

Defensively for the Red Dragons, Brian Haas (East Aurora, NY/St. Francis) and Colan Shue (Theresa, NY/Indian River) each finished with 12 tackles.

TCNJ travels to Buffalo State for a NJAC match-up with the Bengals on November 3 at 1 p.m., while Cortland State hosts Rowan next week, also in a 1 p.m. NJAC contest.