Ewing, NJ ….. The College of New Jersey football team entered Saturday's game with The College at Brockport boasting the top-ranked scoring defense in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. That defense came through with another solid performance with a number of key big plays as the Lions held off the Golden Eagles 26-17.

While the defense was making plays, senior quarterback Jay Donoghue (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) had a career day as he went 28-for-38 for a career-high 299 yards and took care of things on the ground as well gaining 46 yards on 15 attempts with three touchdowns.

The win keeps the Lions in the thick of the race for the NJAC crown as they moved to 3-1 in conference play and are 4-1 overall. TCNJ is also a perfect 3-0 at home this fall. The loss kept the Golden Eagles searching for their first win as they fell to 0-5 overall and 0-4 in the NJAC.

TCNJ opened the scoring the first play of the second quarter as Tyler Olsson (Kendall Park, NJ/South Brunswick) split the uprights on a 20-yard field goal for a 3-0 edge. That score was set up by a forced fumble and recovery by linebacker Nick Bricker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South).

The Lion defense then came up with a series of impact plays that resulted in two more scores.  Bricker had the first of those as he broke through the Brockport line to stuff the Golden Eagles on a fourth-and-inches giving the ball back to TCNJ's offense.

Donoghue quickly converted that stop into points on the scoreboard as he raced around the left end for a four-yard touchdown run. Olsson added the PAT extending the gap to 10-0.

Bricker provided another key play forcing his second fumble of the game on Brockport's next drive as Shawn Brown (Long Branch, NJ/Long Branch) pounced the loose ball.

Olsson accounted for three more points as he nailed his second field goal of the period, this one coming from 21 yards.

The Lions pushed the difference to 19-0 on its opening drive of the second half as Donoghue plunged into the end zone from the one.

Brockport came alive with three straight scores quickly turning it into a two-point game. Alex Hendrickson (Unadilla, NY/Unatego) got that first score on a run of four yards before Joe Scibilia (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) raced in from the eight.

The Golden Eagles made it a one-score game as kicker Bobby Giambra (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca East) made a 21-yard field goal trimming TCNJ's lead to 19-17.

Donoghue and the offense then countered with an explosive drive needing only five plays to cover 60 yards. The big play was a 26-yard completion to Joe Falco (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township) out of the backfield. The final play came as Donoghue raced six yards extending the lead to 26-17 following the PAT by Olsson.

The defense had one more big play in store to secure the win as Brown intercepted a Scibilia pass at the Lion six.

TCNJ's special teams also got into the act as Andrew Carbone (Hacketstown, NJ/Hacketstown) reeled in a muffed punt that gave TCNJ possession in Brockport territory. The offense made that turnover count as they ran out the remaining 2:27.

Falco finished with a workman like 78 yards on 23 rushes, while junior receiver Matthew Rosati (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) had a breakout game with seven catches for 119 yards.

Bricker had a monster game on defense with a career-high 15 tackles, including nine solo, forced two fumbles, and recovered fumbles. Junior Greg Burns (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) added 10 tackles in the win.

Scibilia finished with 232 yards passing hitting on 28-of-41 attempts, while he also led the Golden Eagles in rushing with 65 yards on 15 carries.

The Lions embark on their longest road trip of the season this coming weekend as they head to Buffalo State to face the Bengals on Saturday, October 15 in a noon start. Brockport is also in action on Saturday hosting 10th-ranked Kean University at 1 p.m.