By: Lucas Vargas
BROCKPORT, NY—Brockport football returned home for the first time since Week 4 as they topped the Morrisville Mustangs 24-0.
Brockport recorded its fifth shutout of the season; no team has scored on them at home and no team in New York has reached the end zone against the Golden Eagles.
Senior defensive lineman Andre Marianetti finished the day with three and a half tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. He was one of the unsung heroes anchoring the Golden Eagles’ defensive line.
“It makes us feel confident, but even though we have those four straight, we’re still going to come in Monday and Tuesday like we have zero, because we are putting the work in every single day to keep that streak going," Marianetti said. "But we don’t let it get to our heads because we want to keep adding more and more, so we think of it as we have none."
Both offenses struggled, with the defenses going blow for blow against each other. Brockport Golden Eagles head coach Jason Mangone knew the challenge that the Mustangs’ defense presented.
“We saw this game coming down like this, two of the stronger defenses in the conference," Mangone said. "Coach Ed Raby Jr. and Morrisville do a great job with their scheme."
Brockport’s lone touchdown of the first half came from sophomore running back Isaiah Simmons on a 13 yard scamper in the second quarter. With the defense playing lights out, the score at intermission was 7-0.
The second half started great for Brockport as junior wide reciever Daniel Manneh took the kickoff 62 yards. Simmons capped off the Golden Eagles' drive with a 24-yard run to the house for his second touchdown of the day.
Simmons had another dominant performance for the Golden Eagles, carrying the ball 26 times for 164 yards. He is close 1,000 yards this season, now with 802 yards and 12 touchdowns.
After that explosive start to the second half, the Golden Eagles cooled off. Though the defense continued to cause turnovers, the offense struggled to find its rhythm. Sophomore quarterback Ben Gocella threw for 104 yards and had one interception.
A week ago, Gocella achieved career highs in passing yards and touchdowns and was named Empire 8 Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Last year, he threw for 809 yards and 12 touchdowns. Mangone still has full faith in his signal-caller going forward.
“You know, we didn’t play our best game today in the passing game, we had good defense and a good running game, but our passing game must get better," Mangone said. "We were making great strides, and I think today we just kind of were a little off. I have full confidence in him. He knows that, and the key is that he’s got confidence in himself. We will come back, and we’ll bounce back on this."
Early on, Brockport lost its star cornerback Malik Kelly and Elijah Grooms was the next man up for the Golden Eagles. With Brockport holding the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter, Grooms slammed the door shut with a 35-yard pick-six.
Grooms finished the day with two interceptions, stamping his name on the field.
“I’m just reading the quarterback, and once I saw it was quick game, the first time with the pick-six, I broke on it and made a play on the ball, and from there, it was a touchdown,” Grooms said.
The Golden Eagles improve to 5-1 on the season with the win. Their next game will be on the road against Utica, with kickoff scheduled for next Saturday at 12 p.m.
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