FB: Empire 8

[AlfredSaxon8]

Congrads to AU for another great win!  And also a congrads for Fisher (never thought I would say that) for beating Ithaca.  Beating a team with a great history such as IC is always a win for the program.  Its like beating a perenial powerhouse such as OSU, USC, Texas, or Notre Dame... Okay maybe not Notre Dame, but I figure I would put that out there    A team like IC has a great history of football both present and past and they should be proud of that.  But being a former player, I also understand that makes a win against a school like that even better and something they will never forget. Kudos to both programs for some great football.

It's nice to see AU holding its own fate sitting in the drivers seat of the E8.  I know they have tough games ahead but I think this AU team is the best team in the E8.  Coach Murray will always have one of the toughest defenses in the E8, the man is a pure defensive genius.  And with Coach Pooch and Rank's calling the plays AU's offense is not only explosive but incredibly efficent.  I think AU's late season failings have come to an end.  

Was thinking about you, Saxon 8...wondering if you'd fallen off the face of the earth. Heard rumors you have someone special in your life now? 

haha well the rumors are true... I have a very special lady in my life.  And we have a little foxhound puppy named Butch... Thought about naming him Saxon but didnt think it would go over too well.  I've been working at Gander, selling firearms and with hunting season coming up I have been working on Saterdays.  Im trying to get off for the Fisher game next weeked so I can make a trip to the Roc.  Hopefully all goes well and I'll be able to stop down a catch a home game as well!  Maybe I'll bring the trumpet!

[theoriginalupstate]

The SJF Press Release regarding the O-line:

I'd like to call them the Fisher Fatties again but not one of them is above 285...

The St. John Fisher College offensive line was honored this week by D3football.com, the number one source of Division III college football information.

Left tackle Pete Soehner, left guard Vince Perrone, center Matt Lowney, right guard P.J. Colombo, and right tackle Corey Balcerzak were all named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for week six of the college football season. The offensive line was dominant in the Cardinals' 40-17 win over the Ithaca College Bombers. They were a large part in Fisher becoming the second program since 1974 to beat Ithaca in four consecutive years.

On Saturday, Fisher accumulated 33 first downs and ran for 303 yards after rushing for 296 yards in the first four games of the season. The line led the way for the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week, running back Christian Zemaitis. He set a Fisher single-game record with five rushing touchdowns by carrying 18 times for 178 yards and scoring on runs of 50, 9, 4, 18, and 2 yards. He tied the Fisher record for touchdowns in a game with five (a record shared by All-American Mark Robinson, who scored five touchdowns - four rushing, one receiving - in a 65-20 win over Mt. Ida College).

The offensive line also helped the Cardinals gain a season-high 533 total yards of offense. After allowing 11 sacks on the year, the offensive line shined in their pass protection as quarterback Tim Bailey was not sacked and completed 28 of 40 pass attempts for 230 yards in the win.

"Offensive linemen usually don't get the accolades that they deserve, but everything we try to do offensively, starts with that group," says head coach Paul Vosburgh. "Pete, Vince, Matt, PJ and Corey all did a great job, as did Dominic Fotia  and our tight ends, Jeff Same and Marcus Miles. If we're going to continue our quest for an Empire 8 title, the O-line is going to have to continue blocking people."

Fisher (3-2, 1-0 E8) will return to action at 7 p.m. on Saturday and will host Utica College (3-3, 0-2 E8) under the lights of Growney Stadium.   The Cardinals lead the all-time series vs. Utica 8-0, including last year's meeting that saw the Cardinals pull out a 17-10 win, despite out-gaining the Pioneers 360-73.

[AUKaz00]

It's nice to see AU holding its own fate sitting in the drivers seat of the E8.  I know they have tough games ahead but I think this AU team is the best team in the E8.  Coach Murray will always have one of the toughest defenses in the E8, the man is a pure defensive genius.  And with Coach Pooch and Rank's calling the plays AU's offense is not only explosive but incredibly efficent.  I think AU's late season failings have come to an end.  

I hope you're right about the end of the late season failings.  I took Kaz00 2.0 and 2.1 down to Merrill last night to run around and the cold wind reminded me of those late season losses.  I guess as a Dolphins fan I come to expect the team to perform well while the weather is nice then fall apart along with the leaves when the cold air moves in.  Hopefully Alfred will continue to play meaningful games straight through the end of the season yet again!

[maxpower]

To channel dlip, how the **** did all you Alfred peeps become Dolphin fans? Were you all dropped as children? At the same time?

[AlfredSaxon8]

It's nice to see AU holding its own fate sitting in the drivers seat of the E8.  I know they have tough games ahead but I think this AU team is the best team in the E8.  Coach Murray will always have one of the toughest defenses in the E8, the man is a pure defensive genius.  And with Coach Pooch and Rank's calling the plays AU's offense is not only explosive but incredibly efficent.  I think AU's late season failings have come to an end.  

I hope you're right about the end of the late season failings.  I took Kaz00 2.0 and 2.1 down to Merrill last night to run around and the cold wind reminded me of those late season losses.  I guess as a Dolphins fan I come to expect the team to perform well while the weather is nice then fall apart along with the leaves when the cold air moves in.  Hopefully Alfred will continue to play meaningful games straight through the end of the season yet again!

Lol well at least the dolphins were winning in the warm weather... The Bills suck no matter what the conditions are!!

[theoriginalupstate]

To channel dlip, how the **** did all you Alfred peeps become Dolphin fans? Were you all dropped as children? At the same time?

The full time residents of Alfred and the surrounding towns (Dansville, Hornell, Scio, Wellsville) take pride in being "different"...

[sjfcards]

I'd like to call them the Fisher Fatties again but not one of them is above 285...

I think it is about time that a unit for Fisher had a nickname. My friend and I were talking at Ithaca this week about the old Cortland State D-Line that was called the Gravediggers. We tried to come up with something, but nothing really worked.

[AUKaz00]

I'd like to call them the Fisher Fatties again but not one of them is above 285...

I think it is about time that a unit for Fisher had a nickname. My friend and I were talking at Ithaca this week about the old Cortland State D-Line that was called the Gravediggers. We tried to come up with something, but nothing really worked.

SPOILER ALERT: This very thing has been in the works for Alfred since last fall and will be rolled out next week (we don't want to steal Utica's spotlight).

EDIT: When looking through Empire 8 past records, two things have stuck out to me.  First, I think Ithaca is the only school to go undefeated in conference play.  And second, Hartwick's 2007 conference record is listed at 4-1.  When you think about it, that makes sense since no one won when Wick prevailed in that 72-70 overtime affair with Utica!

[BoSox0322]

Bored out of my mind staying home sick from work, I decided to see if I could spark some conversation. After a little research I have thrown together my list of Fisher's Top 10 wins since 2000. Here it is in the order I put them in. What do others think? Anybody have a top 10 for another team?

10) 2005 - Fisher beats U of R 58-32 to win the first Courage Bowl.

9) 2003 - Fisher wins the ECAC Northeast Championship Bowl, beating SUNY Cortland 47-37, for their first ever post season win.

8 2003 - Fisher upsets Hobart 17-14 to secure their first winning season.

7) 2006 - Fisher scores 34 unanswered points in the second half to beat IC 34-10, setting up Fisher's best season.

6) 2007 - Fisher beats Curry 38-7 in the NCAA tournament. Advance to play MUC for 2nd straight year.

5) 2007 - Fishers wins 37-16 at IC. Fisher's first win at Butterfield Stadium.

4) 2004 - Fisher beats Muhlenberg 31-3 for their first ever NCAA win.

3) 2004 - Fisher wins 45-38, against IC in overtime. Fisher's first win against IC. The infamous INT that never was game.

2) 2006 - Fisher avenges a mid season loss to Springfield with a 27-21 win against the Pride in the NCAA 2nd round. Advances to the East Region Final.

1) 2006 - Fisher Beats Rowan 31-0 in the East Region Final. Advances to play MUC in the NCAA semifinals. Fisher's first East Region Title.

Just my thoughts from the couch.

Kinda disappointed to see the 2004 Hail Katherine game left off...

Port scores with 38 seconds left to take the lead.  SJF's DB gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play for arguing with ref.  Port kicks off from the 50 and kicks it out of the back of the endzone instead of squibbing it to run some clock.  With no time outs left SJF takes over from the 20 and on the 2nd play of the drive their starting QB gets hurt.  The back up comes in to complete 4 passes for 34 yards (one on 4th and 3 from their own 27) to get them in range to have the starting QB, that had the stronger arm, throw the hail mary to Noah!

If it wasn't for my wife being pregnant and having to go to the bathroom I would have missed it as we started to walk back to the car after Port scored...

WOW...I totally overlooked that game. It never entered my mind. That is a big time oversight on my part. I guess that is the problem with doing this without input from others. I think hearing what IC fans would have to say would be interesting. Does the 2005 win against Fisher make the list? How about the 20-19 win two years earlier? Is Hartwicks #1 and # 2 from the last two Fisher games? ETc.

I threw the since 2000 restriction because I didn't feel like looking up their first ever win in DIII, or obscure wins in a 1-9 season.  I am open to whatever people think. Fisher fans...Any others that I missed?

I would say no on the Fisher wins the last two years being number 1 and 2 for Hartwick... I would put them at the lower end of the top ten ... but I would say the wins of Hobart (late 90's), RPI, Union, Muhlenberg, Kings and ECAC win (early 2000's) would be higher... just being a younger program trying to gain credibility ... then i would say Ithaca then Fisher recently.

[theoriginalupstate]

I would say no on the Fisher wins the last two years being number 1 and 2 for Hartwick... I would put them at the lower end of the top ten ... but I would say the wins of Hobart (late 90's), RPI, Union, Muhlenberg, Kings and ECAC win (early 2000's) would be higher... just being a younger program trying to gain credibility ... then i would say Ithaca then Fisher recently.

I'd like to think that when you beat a then ranked #5 team in the country it would be in the top 3 considering the team in question has gone 48-43 from 2000-2008...

[Bombers798891]

Bored out of my mind staying home sick from work, I decided to see if I could spark some conversation. After a little research I have thrown together my list of Fisher's Top 10 wins since 2000. Here it is in the order I put them in. What do others think? Anybody have a top 10 for another team?

10) 2005 - Fisher beats U of R 58-32 to win the first Courage Bowl.

9) 2003 - Fisher wins the ECAC Northeast Championship Bowl, beating SUNY Cortland 47-37, for their first ever post season win.

8 2003 - Fisher upsets Hobart 17-14 to secure their first winning season.

7) 2006 - Fisher scores 34 unanswered points in the second half to beat IC 34-10, setting up Fisher's best season.

6) 2007 - Fisher beats Curry 38-7 in the NCAA tournament. Advance to play MUC for 2nd straight year.

5) 2007 - Fishers wins 37-16 at IC. Fisher's first win at Butterfield Stadium.

4) 2004 - Fisher beats Muhlenberg 31-3 for their first ever NCAA win.

3) 2004 - Fisher wins 45-38, against IC in overtime. Fisher's first win against IC. The infamous INT that never was game.

2) 2006 - Fisher avenges a mid season loss to Springfield with a 27-21 win against the Pride in the NCAA 2nd round. Advances to the East Region Final.

1) 2006 - Fisher Beats Rowan 31-0 in the East Region Final. Advances to play MUC in the NCAA semifinals. Fisher's first East Region Title.

Just my thoughts from the couch.

You shouldn't have opened up that can sjfcards...The Ithaca people have been feeling really down lately and you just gave them the opening they needed to brighten their collective days.  Bring it on Ithaca posters, I am ready to hear about those championships, the last of which coming when I was in 2nd grade...

I'll go from 2000 on, since apparently, that's when football became relevant for certain schools...from Pittsford...who wear Cardinal and Gold...(although even that list doesn't start until 2003)

This is chronological, because I'm too lazy to go otherwise

10) 2000: Beating Buffalo State for the first time since the 1994 playoffs

9) 2001: Young to Marks- 74 yards, keeping the Jug and earning a trip to the playoffs

8) 2001: Destroying a laughably overrated RPI in the 2nd round of the playoffs on the road 27-10 with our backup QB and a WR playing cornerback

7) 2002: Felliceti to Marks for a 19-18 win over Hartwick and the start of the Felliceti era (if you can call it that)

6) 2003: Beating #10 Brockport by scoring 31 straight points after the first quarter. Included because Bob Darnley was such an arrogant QB and beating the heck out of them was awesome

5) 2003: Beating Brockport again on the road in the playoffs 14-9 with two red zone interceptions

4) 2005: Beating St. John Fisher on an actual, real, legitimate interception, which was then returned 91 yards for a touchdown

3) 2006: Whipping Springfield 24-7 the week after we had to hear non-stop about how good Chris Sharpe was and getting to listen to their fans complain about how the field was the reason he was held to 154 yards below his season average

2) 2007: With the playoffs on the line, smiting Cortland 40-17 to win the Jug and get a shot at MUC

1) 2008: Taking what might have been the second-best Cortland team ever and blowing them out in the Cortaca Jug, ruining their undefeated season in front of the best Cortland team ever (which also saw their undefeated season end at the hands of the Bombers)

[theoriginalupstate]

Bombers,

sjfcards put the wrong date on his #8 Hobart game, it should have been 2002 not 2003...

Before that year wins during the 2000-2001 seasons over St. Lawrence (x2), Mass Maritime and Utica don't really have a lot of substance to them...

Also the some of the wins during the 2002 season before the Hobart game were significant (AU-97 yd punt return by Dias, UR-beating them for the first time in 8 tries) they weren't against undefeated and ranked teams...

[Bombers798891]

Bombers,

sjfcards put the wrong date on his #8 Hobart game, it should have been 2002 not 2003...

Before that year wins during the 2000-2001 seasons over St. Lawrence (x2), Mass Maritime and Utica don't really have a lot of substance to them...

Also the some of the wins during the 2002 season before the Hobart game were significant (AU-97 yd punt return by Dias, UR-beating them for the first time in 8 tries) they weren't against undefeated and ranked teams...

Upstate,

It's all good man. Just giving a little ribbing back to Booby for his "2nd grade" comment.

[pg04]

I'm not sure if "arrogant" is the right term for Darnley

['gro]

8) 2001: Destroying a laughably overrated RPI in the 2nd round of the playoffs on the road 27-10 with our backup QB and a WR playing cornerback

Bombers(old numbers) you've made a powerful enemy today my friend!!

that was my last game at RPI, and aside from an azz whoopin at the hands of Hobart in 2000, the most frustrating loss of Gro's career. You say RPI was laughingly overrated (sarcasm duly noted, the #1 ranking was a bit much) but gro thinks to this day IC was not that much better than we were (doesn't everyone say that when they lose?). The better team definetly won that day don't get me wrong, we just got outcoached and outplayed.

Long story short: blizzard bowl, blizzard bowl, blizzard bowl, curry, blizzard bowl, curry, blizzard bowl.   8)