CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.— Taking the easy way? To know Colgate Football is to know easy has not been a part of this football program. And as long as Stan Dakosty is running this program, that word will continue to not exist in Hamilton, New York and wherever the maroon and white travel. With Dakosty being named the 30th Head Coach in program history in early August, Colgate matched up with their toughest opening foe in recent memory.
Colgate football embraced this opportunity and is relishing the opportunity to grow from this. Taking on the best through the years has been a recipe for ten Patriot League titles. Boston College, picked to finish third in the ACC Atlantic Division, blanked Colgate 51-0. The Raiders held their own early after giving up a touchdown to BC on their first drive. Colgate held the ball for almost ten minutes in the first quarter and picked up 5 first downs compared to one for the Eagles after the TD.
It turned out for Colgate it was good to be odd in front of 28,991 fans. After only allowing seven points in the first the Raiders gave up a field goal in the third. However, the Eagles flew in the even quarters scoring 20 in the second quarter and 21 in the fourth.
Welcome to the Maroon and White Highlights
Grant Breneman is now seventh career passing yards (5,283) passing Tom McCune (1999-2002)
The senior from Mechanicsburg, Pa. is also seventh in total offense (6,318) at Colgate, surpassing Chris Brown (2001-2004)
The tailback led the Raiders in rushing and receiving. Max Hurleman had 10 carries for 27 yards and 3 catches for 29 yards.
Tyler Flick, a junior LB from Manheim, Pa. had a career high 11 tackles for the Raiders.
Welcome back to the Bay State for 5 Raiders
Myles Bradley (Springfield, Mass.) had 2 catches for 17 yards and one run for 11. Brendan Cassamajor, a Boston College HS product saw his first collegiate action with 16 yards rushing on 7 touches. Senior Ben Bohnenberge r(Mashpee, Mass.) started at Right Tackle. On the other side, Owen Rosenberger (North Andover, Mass.) and Keshaun Dancy (Springfield,Mass.) both recorded one tackle.
Colgate Connections
The shutout was orchestrated by Defensive Coordinator Tem Lukabu. A former teammate of Dakosty at Colgate, Lukabu was Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and was the defensive star of the team that appeared in the 2003 National Championship game. Lukabu has made quite a mark in the coaching world making stops in the NFL before landing in Chestnut Hill in 2020 as the Defensive Coordinator.
Linebacker Joseph Sparacio made 2 tackles for the Eagles. His dad, Bill Sparacio played football for Colgate in the early 90's. But the Sparacio-Colgate connection runs deeper than that as Sparacio went on to become a successful high school coach in the state of Florida. Many players thru the years that have been coached by Sparacio have went on to play for Colgate, the latest being Blane Briggs. The Senior Linebacker from Naples, Florida registered 6 stops today.
From the Source
Head Coach Stan Dakosty
"At halftime I felt like we were doing a good job of stopping the run and we were moving the ball. I think we had one three and out in the first half. From an overall efficiency standpoint I thought there were some things that we came in, we felt good about but then obviously we needed to make some adjustments. We know their quarterback is good and they have explosive wide receivers. They got us on a couple explosive plays. Some of the decisions we made coverage wise coming into the game, we knew the situation could arise if we didn't get pressure on them or were in a specific coverage, some things could slip open but we made some adjustments at halftime with some of that stuff.
Coming off that first drive they got that big first play. It was kind of that Hey we are back in College Football mode. Lets wake up, settle down and play. A couple of the guys, that are playing is their first time playing college football, that was a little bit of that here's the speed of the game, let's hunker down and play. I'm happy that they did that through the next couple of quarters and that was a positive."
Next Up:
Colgate entertains Stony Brook. The Raiders last did battle with the Seawolves in 2013 and are 1-3 all-time against the Long Island Based University. First of two against a CAA opponent and first of three to be held at Andy Kerr Stadium.
