Bengals lose to Cardinals 12-7

For the second straight game, the Buffalo State Bengals came up empty-handed, losing on the road to the St. John Fisher Cardinals on Saturday by a score of 12-7.

The Bengals held the lead for most of the game and it looked as if they might pull away with the victory before the Cardinals scored a late touchdown to seal the Bengals' fate.

"On the winning touchdown, it was a great throw and a great catch," said head coach Jerry Boyes. "You have to give them credit for great execution on their final drive."

The Bengals got off to a good start, with their offense racking up 75 yards on the ground in the first half, most of which came from sophomore running back Ismail Brooks. They also converted on five of eight third-down situations and the defense had allowed just three yards per carry and notched two interceptions.

In the second half, it was a different story. The Bengals managed only ten more yards rushing while the team was able to move the chains on just one of nine third-down chances.

"It was a tale of two halves," Boyes said. "We did well in the first half, but the second half was very disappointing.

"It takes all 11 men to succeed," he continued. "If one guy makes a mistake, we don't convert. We were our own worst enemy."

The offensive line was also a source of some of the team's problems. The Bengals not only struggled to run the ball effectively in the second half of the game, but the unit also allowed junior quarterback Ryan Lehotsky to get sacked four times.

"Again, it just comes down to execution," Boyes said. "Our offensive line has to make blocks. We were able to win the other two phases of the game (defense and special teams) but we didn't win the offensive phase."

Junior quarterback Ryan Lehotsky agreed.

"We knew we had to block up front, but we didn't get it done," he said. "We had a couple of drops, couple of bad throws. It was a bad job by all of us."

After the Cardinals scored a touchdown with a little more than two minutes left to play, the Bengals drove down the field looking to tie up the game.

Lehotsky's throw to sophomore wide receiver Mike Doherty on fourth down was intercepted in the end zone by junior defensive back Zach Dolan, sealing the win for St. John Fisher.

"The ball was a little underthrown and it went off of the receiver's hands," Boyes said. "Doherty will make a lot of great catches for us, but he just couldn't make the play at the end of the game."

Assistant coach Eugene Lewis believed that the Bengals needed to focus on the basics in order to win.

"Guys have to stay focused on their tasks and on their fundamentals," Lewis said. "We're improving, but the sign of a good team is when your second half is as good as your first half, and that's where we're at right now. We have to complete the game."

The Bengals head into their home opener against Western Connecticut State on Saturday seeking their first win of the season. But the team, who defeated the Colonials last season by a score of 71-3, shouldn't expect this game to be a cakewalk, Boyes said.

"They hurt themselves with some turnovers against us last year, which is rare," he said. "They're a good team that's looking for their first win, but so are we. We'll see who the better team is on Saturday."

Tony Fiorello can be reached at fiorello.record@live.com.