September 30, 2006. Cortland remained undefeated with a 30-14 league victory over the William Paterson Pioneers. The Red Dragons controlled the tempo rolling up 423 yards of offense to just 150 for the Pioneers.

For the second consecutive week Cortland scored a touchdown on its first possession. The Red Dragons marched 80 yards on 15 plays while controlling the ball for over 8 minutes. Tailback Matt Rickert ran for 11 yards on each of his first two carries, and wide receiver Anthony Morat had 3 receptions on the opening drive. Two of Morat's receptions came at critical junctures. Facing Fourth down and 4 yards to go from the William Paterson 26-yard line, quarterback Alex Smith found Morat in the open field for a 12 yard gain. On the next play Smith passed to fullback Mike Sveda who rumbled 13 yards to the 1-yard line. After a penalty pushed Cortland back to the 10-yard line Smith completed a third down touchdown pass to Morat. Matthew Mintz added the extra point to give Cortland a 7-0 lead.

Just as Buffalo State quickly struck back one week ago, the Pioneers evened the score on their second offensive play of the game. Tailback Calvin Johnson broke outside containment and raced 64 yards down the right sideline for a William Paterson touchdown. The score was tied 7-7.

The Red Dragons continued to carve up the William Paterson defense. On their second possession of the day Cortland drove 74 yards on 7 plays for another touchdown. Matt Rickert started the drive with a 35-yard run into Pioneer territory. Dustin Bowser entered the game with a 12-yard run. Facing third down and 9 yards to go at the William Paterson 26-yard line, Alex Smith scrambled for exactly 9 yards. Two plays later Smith ran the ball 16 yards into the end zone to give Cortland a 14-7 advantage.

From this point forward the Red Dragons defense took control of the game. William Paterson would not score another point on offense against the vaunted Cortland defense. However the William Paterson defense held the fort for the next several minutes, until the special teams helped out. With the score still 14-7 the game entered the second quarter. After stopping Cortland deep in its own territory William Paterson's Harold Green blocked a Jimmy Cunneen punt. All-NJAC linebacker Shadee Davis grabbed the football and ran into the end zone to tie the score at 14-14.

However the William Paterson momentum would last only one play. On Cortland's first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive, Alex Smith found Drew Lascari deep along the left sideline. Lascari grabbed the ball, juked one defender, and sprinted for a 64-yard touchdown. Mintz added his third extra point and Cortland regained the advantage 21-14.

The William Paterson offense went backward on its next possession. Red Dragon Ben Nagle sacked Pioneers quarterback Juan Garcia on third down forcing a punt. Cortland took the ball at the William Paterson 28-yard line following a shanked punt. The Cortland drive would stall at the Pioneers 14-yard line. Matthew Mintz split the uprights with a 31-yard field goal to give Cortland a 24-14 lead 2:41 before the half. Again the Cortland defense shut down William Paterson. Rich DeJesus came through with a clutch third down sack forcing another punt. Cortland drove the ball 38 yards to the William Paterson 3-yard line. However the clock was down to 2 seconds remaining before the half and Cortland settled for another Mintz field goal. Cortland took a 27-14 lead at the break.

An uneventful second half saw each team's defense play well. Matthew Mintz added a fourth quarter field goal to ice the game for Cortland at 30-14.

The Red Dragons offense moved the ball very well again. Alex Smith had another 250-yard passing game, and Drew Lascari caught 6 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. Matt Rickert had 104 yards rushing on only 18 carries, and Anthony Morat caught 8 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line gave up only a single sack to a highly regarded William Paterson defensive front.

On defense Cortland dominated. Except for Calvin Johnson's long touchdown run on William Paterson's first possession, the Pioneers were stifled all afternoon. Cortland had another 5 sacks on defense, with Rich DeJesus leading the way with 1.5 sacks. Adam Haas had 4 solo tackles, 1.5 for losses. The Cortland secondary yielded only 38 net yards passing. Both teams took care of the ball with neither offense turning the football over.

The one problem for Cortland on the day continued to be penalty yardage. Cortland was hit for 9 penalties for 65 yards.

Cortland hosts Kean University in an NJAC showdown next week at 1 PM. Kean destroyed Buffalo State 50-30 on Saturday to move to 3-1 on the season.