Records fall as Bengals take down Cortland in season opener

Buffalo State entered this season - its first in the Empire 8 - ranked fifth of eight teams in its new conference. After Saturday's 49-31 win over old NJAC rival Cortland, the Bengals may now command a little more respect as the new kids on the block.

The Bengals put up a school-record 706 yards of offense in the non-conference win and quarterback Casey Kacz completed 30 of 42 passes for a school-record 579 yards. He also matched the school's mark for touchdown passes in a game with five - the first of which came on a 68-yard pass to wide receiver Caesarae Lewis on the Bengals' first possession 57 seconds into the game.

"We decided before the game, if they wanted to go one-on-one with Caesarae, Medley, Carney or any one of our players with no safety over the top, we were going to take it," Kacz said. "Scoring on the first drive gave the whole team confidence including the defense."

Cortland scored on its first drive as well. Quarterback Chris Rose threw a 23-yard touchdown to Mike Humphrey, tying the game at seven with 11:25 left in the first quarter.

Buffalo State running back Rich Pete lost a fumble on the team's second possession, but the Bengals' defense was quick to respond. Cornerback Chris Hall intercepted Rose, ending the Red Dragons' drive. Hall finished with three interceptions, matching a school record.

"We're brand new back there," head coach Jerry Boyes said of the Bengals' defense. "They're feeling their way a little bit. I think we had some errors in the first half. I think the coaches did a great job of correcting those errors and all of that and we had some kids make some big plays like Chris Hall."

Following Hall's interception, Pete capped off a Bengals' drive with a 32-yard touchdown run, giving Buffalo State a 14-7 advantage with 4:18 left in the first quarter. The Red Dragons marched down the field on their next possession, tying the game 14-14 on a three-yard touchdown pass from Rose to Humphrey.

Hall's second interception came early in the second quarter. He picked off Rose at the Cortland 24, helping to set up a four-yard touchdown pass from Kacz to wide receiver Ryan Carney. However, trailing 21-14, Cortland capitalized on great field position when Rose connected with Kordel McInnis on a 23-yard strike to tie it up.

Buffalo State's offense was once again quick to answer. Kacz connected with Lewis for their second scoring hookup, a 20-yard pass to put the Bengals in front 28-21 - a lead they would carry into the half.
 

"It was a spark for the team," Lewis said. "It's something me and the quarterback worked on the whole week of practice. We stayed after practice throwing deep balls all day and that's what happens."

Red Dragons' kicker Mike DeBole kicked a 32-yard field goal on their opening possession of the second half to pull within four, but Kacz found Lewis again for a 25-yard touchdown pass to widen their lead.

Trailing 35-24, Cortland ended the third quarter with a controversial 79-yard touchdown pass from Rose to Humphrey as time expired.

"There's a little bit of adversity there on that long pass play where people thought it was down and it was ruled not," Boyes said. "A lot of our people said that he rolled over the top of him, but his legs never went down. There was a little bit of adversity and we stared it in the face and overcame that."

On Buffalo State's next possession, Rich Pete hauled in a 46-yard catch to put the Bengals on the Cortland 27. A 21-yard strike from Kacz to Carney on fourth down kept the drive alive and Pete finished it off with a one-yard touchdown run, increasing Buffalo State's lead to 42-31 with 10:41 left.

The Bengals' defense took over following that score. The unit forced a three-and-out on Cortland's next possession, leading to 49-yard touchdown pass from Kacz to Carney. The next two Cortland possessions resulted in interceptions by Matt Wesoloski and Eddie Weiser.

Carney, who earned his first collegiate start after Mike Doherty suffered a season-ending injury, finished the game with 12 receptions for 242 yards and two touchdowns.

"Coming in, I hadn't played football in two years and my last game I had 200 yards, so I just wanted to pick up from there," Carney said. "I didn't think I was going to pick up that much, but I just wanted to come out here and make plays and get a victory.

"Once Mike went down, we stayed after practice and we talked a lot. We didn't really run too many routes together, but we went over all of the signals and we were on the same page."

Lewis finished with seven receptions for 156 yards and a record-tying three touchdowns. Pete led the ground attack with 12 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

Buffalo State will hit the road to compete in the I-90 Bowl against Brockport at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Bengals won the trophy last year in a 51-30 blowout victory.

A.J. Speier can be reached by email at speier.record@live.com.