Ewing, NJ ….. SUNY Cortland scored three straight touchdowns in the second half to break open a tie game as The College of New Jersey football team fell to the Red Dragons 42-28 on Saturday at Lions' Stadium.
 
The win kept Cortland undefeated in New Jersey Athletic Conference play at 4-0 and they are 4-1 overall. The loss dropped the Lions 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
 
The Red Dragons led 21-14 at the half, but the Lions quickly erased that deficit at the start of the second half scoring on their initial possession as Fred Sprengel (Wall, NJ/Wall) scored on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Daniel Dugan (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson). The extra point by Derick Hughes (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) then tied the game. That touchdown came 2:20 into the second half.
 
Cortland then scored twice in a span of 7:05 with the first score coming on a one-yard run by Bronson Greene (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) before quarterback Chris Rose (Victor, NY/Victor) tossed a 12-yard pass allow the visitors to surge out to a 35-21 lead. The first of those touchdowns came in the third quarter and then the latter in the early stages of the final period.
 
The Red Dragons notched that third consecutive touchdown with 5:35 left in the game with Rose again going through the air, this time connecting with Dorian Myles (Lackawanna, NJ/Hamburg) on a screen pass that covered 29 yards.
 
TCNJ did get another score with 2:17 left in the contest with Dugan crossing the goal line from the three and Hughes further closed the gap to 42-28.
 
Cortland then recovered the ensuing on-side kick and later intercepted a pass in the closing seconds to secure the win.
 
The first half saw the Lions get grab the lead on their second drive as senior Justin Doniloski (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) bulled his way into the end zone from the two-yard line. Hughes made the extra point putting the hosts in front 7-0.
 
That lead was short-lived as Rose completed a 21-yard strike to Mike Humphrey (Le Roy, NY/Le Roy) just inside the far pylon to tie the game just over three minutes later.
 
Cortland's defense put them in front as Andrew Tolisi (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) intercepted a pass and returned it 32 yards for a score. Mike DeBole (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) made both PATs for a 14-7 advantage.
 
Rose went to the air again to push the Red Dragon lead to 21-7 with a 33-yard scoring pass to Jack Delahunty (East Northport, NY/Northport).
 
TCNJ ended the half on a positive note with Doniloski again hitting paydirt. This time he scored via a six-yard run with 38 seconds remaining before the half. Hughes tacked on the PAT making it a one-score game at the break.
 
Dugan had a busy game for the Lions throwing for 281 yards on 25-of-41 through the air and also had 24 yards on the ground with a touchdown. Doniloski just missed his fourth 100-yard game of the season finishing with 90 yards on 21 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Greg Burns (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) had a monster game with 14 tackles, including six of the solo variety. Nick Bricker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) and James Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) also reached double digits in tackles as they each finished with 10.
 
For Cortland, Rose threw four touchdown passes going 26-for-41 for 315 yards. Delahunty was on the receiving end of 10 of those passes good for 150 yards and Humphrey also eclipsed the 100-yard mark with 105 yards on eight receptions.
 
Cortland linebacker Troy Beddoe (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) led the Red Dragons on defense with 14 tackles.
 
Next on the schedule for the Lions is a road date at Montclair State University. That game is set for Saturday, October 13 at 3 p.m., while the Red Dragons return home to take on The College at Brockport at 1 p.m.