Cortland (2-2) scored two touchdowns in a 10-second span late in the opening half, as the Red Dragons defeated Buffalo State (1-3) 36-14 today at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex before a crowd of 3,100.

Cortland opened the scoring on a two yard pass with 5:48 to play in the opening quarter. The Bengals responded to tie the score early in the second stanza, as Curtis Hathcock (Buffalo/Bennett) scored a two-yard touchdown after the Bengals took over on the Cortland 19-yardline when Justin Draper (Cheektowaga/Cleveland Hill) fell on a fumble forced by Bo Sireika (Lackawanna/Lackawanna).

Cortland broke the deadlock with a touchdown on a 14-yard run with 1:16 remaining in the first half, but missed the extra point. On the ensuing kickoff, the Red Dragons recovered the ball on the Bengals 26-yardline, and score on the next play. After a failed conversion, Cortland took a 19-7 lead into the intermission.

Cortland scored the only points of the third quarter on a 32-yard field goal to extend its lead to 22-7. Buffalo State assembled an eight play, 80-yard drive to open the fourth quarter, capped by a Will Bryant (Washington, DC/Bishop Ireton) one-yard plunge, to cut the deficit to eight points.

Buffalo State would not come any closer however, as the Red Dragons would add scores on 51 and 14-yard runs to seal the victory.

Quarterback Mike Mikolaichik (Hilton/Hilton) was 12-for-27 for 163 yards and one interception against his former team. Hathcock carried the ball 25 times for 68 yards and Marc Hoppy (Depew/Depew) had four catches for 47 yards. Hank Pirowski (Lackawanna/Lackawanna) led the defense with 14 tackles, including six solo stops. Sireika made 10 tackles for the Bengals.

Buffalo State will host Brockport for homecoming next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.