PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Fueled by a timely defense and the strong right arm of sophomore quarterback Braezen Subick, the University of Rochester staged a magnificent rally before falling just short, 35-33, against St. John Fisher in Courage Bowl V.
Subick led the Yellowjackets to three fourth quarter touchdowns as Rochester fought back from a 22-point deficit in the last 13 minutes. The comeback was denied when his two-point conversion pass to Mike Coolbaugh was ruled incomplete with 48 seconds left.
Fisher stretched its lead to 35-13 on a one-yard TD run by C. Zemaitis with 6:55 left in the third. It came four plays after Fisher's John Sheridan picked off a Subick pass and ran 58 yards down to the Yellowjacket 21.
The Cardinals (2-1) turned the ball over three times in the fourth and Rochester capitalized each time. Dan Reynolds intercepted Nick Adrian's pass at the UR 12 and ran it back 16 yards. Subick completed seven of eight passes in the drive. He hit Clarence Onyiriuka for 14 yards on 3rd and 6, then found Pedro Sosa for 20 yards, moving the ball to the Fisher 18. He followed with two straight passes to Mike Coolbaugh, one for six yards and a 12-yard TD. Zachary White-Stellato kicked the PAT with 10:33 left, cutting it to 35-20.
Fisher got a 52-yard kickoff return by Dan Witkowski, but the drive stalled deep in Rochester's end. Subick drove UR from its own 30 to the Fisher 39 before his pass for Adam Barrett bounced into the hands of Fisher's Andre Bliss. The Cardinals gave it bacxk again when Peter Vercillo recovered a Fisher fumble at midfield.
Facing a 4th-and-4 at the Fisher 44, Subick found Tony Messana for 10 yards down to the 34. Three players later, he hit Onyiriuka in the left flat and the junior back dodged tacklers into the end zone. The PAT made it 35-27 with 3:03 to go.
Ed Dauphin pried the ball loose from Fisher on its next drive and recovered at the Fisher 44. Subick threw 10 yard to Elvis Njoku. After two incompletions sandwiched around a sack, he produced one of the biggest plays of the season. On 4th-and-16, he found Barrett streaking down the right sideline for a 32-yard gain to the eight. He killed the clock on first-and-goal, then hit Onyiriuka in the right flag on second down and Onyiriuka flipped into the end zone as he was hit before the goalline. With 48 seconds left, Rochester was down two. Subick tried to throw to Coolbaugh in the right corner of the end zone, but officials ruled it incomplete.
Subick finished with 18 completions in 28 attempts for 210 yards and three TDs. He was intercepted twice and sacked twice. He replaced Patrick Keegan who was injured following a third quarter sack. Keegan was 14 of 19 for 162 yards and two TDs – one to Corey Brizzee and one to Njoku.
Rochester rushed for 62 yards and passed for 375. Coolbaugh caught eight passes for 67 yards. Sosa had 7 catches for 81 yards, Njoku five for 74.
Fisher totaled 357 in offense. The Cardinals rushed for 110 (Brad Carlton had 49) and passed for 246 (Tim Bailey was 14 of 19 for 199 and three TDs).
Defensively, Brendan Pidgeon, in his first varsity start, had four solos and seven assists. Andrew Kryszak was in on eight tackles, as was Bill Campi. Chris Bickford had a sack and one other TL.
