Football

Boltus and Rocco Lead `Wick to Victory Over Pride

ONEONTA, N.Y. - Jason Boltus (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker HS) passed for 508 yards and five touchdowns and Joe Rocco (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida HS) had a career receiving day in his final home appearance as Hartwick held on for a 37-34 victory over visiting Springfield in Empire 8 Conference football action, Saturday at Wright Stadium.

With the victory, the Hawks move to 7-2 overall, 4-1 in league action and remain alive for their first-ever Empire 8 title. The win over the Pride also extends Hartwick's home win streak to eight, which dates back to the 2006 campaign.

Boltus, who lead the NCAA Division III ranks in total offense (367.4 ypg heading into today), accounted for 547 yards in the victory. The junior completed 30 of 44 attempts for his second 500-yard effort of the year. Boltus also rushed for a team-best 39 yards. Rocco, a senior, caught a team-high 8 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.

Hartwick opened scoring at 2:41 of the first quarter as Boltus spotted a streaking Jack Phelan (Slingerlands, N.Y./Guilderland HS) for a 45-yard score. It was the duo's first of three connections for touchdowns on the afternoon.

At 11:22 of the second quarter, the junior signal-caller escaped a few Springfield defenders in the backfield and on the run threw a 50-yard pass to Noah Koreman (Albany, N.Y./Albany HS) to increase the lead to 14-0.

Hartwick returned to the scoreboard at 7:34 of the second as Boltus hit Phelan with a 24-yard pass in the end zone. The play capped off a seven-play, 70-yard drive. The Hawks missed the extra point and led 20-0.

Springfield got on the scoreboard shortly after at 7:13. After setting up shop at their own 32 yard line following the kick-off, sophomore Baldwin Cunningham broke free on a 68-yard run to shave the deficit to 20-7.

Hartwick and the Pride traded touchdowns in the final six minutes of the second quarter. The Hawks added a 21-yard touchdown pass from Boltus to Phelan at 5:53, while Springfield answered at 2:10 on a two-yard run by quarterback Chris Sharpe. The extra point attempt failed. Hartwick led 27-13 at intermission.

The Pride scored the lone points in the third quarter to bring the score to 27-20 on a one-yard run by Sharpe with 1:25 left.

The Hawks got on the board early in the fourth quarter on a 22-yard field goal by Ryan Boyea (Scotch Plains, N.J./Kimberly HS) to extend the lead to 30-20. The kick with 13:38 remaining in the game ended an eight-play, 54-yard drive.

After Sharpe scored his third touchdown of the game on a two-yard run with 7:34 left to get the Pride within 30-26, the Hawks quickly answered. Boltus hit Rocco for a 14-yard pass at 5:34 to cap off a five-play 67-yard drive and give Hartwick what appeared to be a comfortable 37-26 lead.

However, Springfield made things interesting down the stretch. Sharpe engineered a 12-play, 85-yard drive in 1:28 and finished it off with an eight-yard run at with 1:35 remaining to get the Pride within 37-34. Springfield's on-sides kick was scooped up by Rocco, who emerged from the pile and the Hawks ran out the clock for their first-ever victory over the Pride in four tries. The result avenged a 44-20 loss in Springfield in 2006.

Hartwick, which ranked ninth in the nation in total yards (476.0 ypg), amassed 602 yards on the afternoon. Outside of Boltus and Rocco, Phelan caught six more passes for 147 yards, while senior Lindy Crea (Binghamton, N.Y./Windsor HS) caught five passes for 65 yards and had an additional 21 on the ground. Fellow senior T.J. Rizzo (Highlands, N.Y./Highlands HS) had 77 yards of total offense - 32 yards rushing and 45 yards receiving.

Springfield, which brought in the fifth-best rushing offense in the country, tallied 391 yards on the ground. Sharpe finished with 184 yards on 28 carries, while Cunningham accounted for 116 yards on 18 attempts. Sharpe, the 2006 Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year, completed 8 of 17 attempts for 140 yards. The Pride finished with 511 yards of offense.

Defensively, Justin Oelgeschlager (Highland, N.Y.) led the Hawks with a career-high 14 tackles. The senior also picked off Sharpe once for his fourth interception of the year. Ben Tomaino (Oneonta, N.Y./Oneonta HS) posted nine tackles, while Mike Ashcraft (Westbrookville, N.Y./Port Jervis HS) had eight stops.

Brian Hess, Jeff Creeden, Tom Caporale, and John Ward each posted nine tackles to lead the Pride.

Hartwick returns to action next Saturday as it travels to face arch-rival Utica in the regular-season finale. The game is set for a 1:30 p.m. start.

In order for the Hawks to win their first-ever Empire 8 title, Hartwick must defeat Utica and then have St. John Fisher down Alfred to force a tie. In that scenario, Hartwick would win a tiebreaker with the Cardinals due to its 31-28 upset victory over Fisher on September 29. Should Hartwick and Alfred win, the Saxons would win the tiebreaker over the Hawks due to a 46-36 victory on October 6.