Cortland Gridiron Report: What lies ahead for the Red Dragons in 2010?

A conclusion of the 2009 football season as well as a look ahead to next year.

(Photo's courtesy of Dan Padavona/St.John Fisher Athletics)

The Cortland Red Dragons concluded the 2009 season with a lose to the St.John Fisher Cardinals, 20-13 in the ECAC Northwest Bowl game played on November 21st, 2009. The Cardinals rallied from a 20-13 deficit in the second half to score the game’s final 21 points.

Graduate student Alex Smith was intercepted twice in the second half as he finished off his last game as a Red Dragon with 198 yards passing and three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Eric Hajnos compiled 11 receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns in his final game in a Cortland uniform. Senior defensive end Bryan Wiley also had a touchdown catch of his own in the third quarter of this contest.

The Red Dragons finished the season with a 7-4 overall record as well as being 7-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). St.John Fisher capped off their season with a 7-3 overall record as well as an ECAC Northwest Bowl victory.

With the 2009 season in the books the Red Dragons look to replenish as well as reload for the 2010 season. Cortland will be returning seven of eleven starters on offense as well as nine of eleven starters on defense.  Players who have completed their football careers include Chris Van De Weert (Captain), , Eric Hajnos, Alex Smith, Kyle Peterson, Bryan Wiley (Captain), Lou Crispo (Captain) and Evan Wyler.

It has been rumored that senior defense captains Lou Crispo, Evan Wyler and Bryan Wiley may attempt to retain eligibility for next season due to injuries in their playing careers.  Bryan Wiley was named the 2009 New Jersey Athletic Conference football defensive player of the year as well as one of ten Red Dragons to be named to the all-conference team.  Other NJAC first team selections included Evan Wyler, Eric Hajnos and Chris Van De Weert.

Wiley-recorded 69 tackles, including 10 sacks and 17 total tackles for lost yardage, in 10 regular season games. Wiley also recorded two forced fumbles, recovered two fumbles, a pass breakup and nine quarterback hurries.  In week two verses Rowan University, Bran Wiley had one of his most jaw dropping performances finishing with 15 tackles in a 24-14 victory over the Profs. Coach MacNeill characterized Bryan Wiley as “A real impact player on the defense who really anchored our three-man defensive front.”

The Red Dragons offense will hope to keep quarterback Dan Pitcher (Captain) healthy next season after he suffered an Achilles tendon tear in week two. It seemed as though the loss of Dan Pitcher really derailed Cortland after starting off this with a 2-0 record. Pitcher was 33/54 with 425 passing yards, 4 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions in two games this season.

The loss of senior wide receiver Eric Hanjos will be one of the toughest challenges for the Red Dragons coaching staff this offseason. Hajnos was a deep threat as well as big time playmaker that had 62 catches for 838 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns in ten games this season. In week seven verses Western Connecticut State, Eric Hajnos became the 14^th Red Dragon to have 100 career catches. Anthony Guiliano will now be the number one wide receiver in the Cortland offense going into his senior season. Guiliano had 34 catches with 362 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns this season. 

The Red Dragons will return running back Dom Sair and fullback Bill Smith next season. Sair rushed for 803 yards on 154 carries with 13 touchdowns in 11 games. Look for freshmen running back/special teams returner Justin Autera to become a bigger part of the Red Dragons offense for next season. Autera showed flashes of potential in week six verses Western Connecticut State when he had a 79-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as well as 59-yard punt return.

Punter Kyle Peterson was truly an unsung hero in his career at Cortland.  Peterson was named the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week on November 11^th. Peterson averaged 38.5 yards per punt this season, with 22 of 52 landing inside the opposing teams’ 20-yard line.  He also had six punts of 50 yards or more. Coach MacNeill was adamant this season in explaining how instrumental Peterson was to the kicking game. The battle of field position was an aspect of the game that Peterson helped the Red Dragons easily win in each game of his playing career. The Red Dragons defense truly benefited from the play of the punt team.

Defensively Cortland loses both defensive ends Bryan Wiley and Evan Wyler. Wiley had 10 sacks with 74 total tackles in 11 games while Wyler had 10 sacks 68 total tackles in 11 games.  There is quite a bit of production that will be missed on the Red Dragons defensive line going into 2010. Cortland will return a linebacker core of Bobby Somerville, Will Schroeder, Cody Allen and James Lenhart. The secondary will return cornerbacks Joe Lopez and D.J. Romano as well as safeties Chris Hanlon and Phil Bossman.

 The Red Dragons play a 3-4 style of defense that stresses highly on the involvement of linebackers as well as a strong defensive front that has to be able to rush the passer with only three down lineman on some occasions. Cortland will look to see if defensive ends Matt Kaufmann and Connor Tompkins can help fill the void lost by Bryan Wiley and Evan Wyler. The Red Dragons defense held opponents to under twenty points or less in seven of eleven games this season. 

The 2010 recruiting class could also play a role in next season as freshman Justin Autera and Phil Bossman got quite a bit of playing time this season.

Cortland will look back on the 2009 season as year of adversity. The Red Dragons lost two starting quarterbacks on the depth chart on their way to a 3^rd place finish in the NJAC. Make no mistake about it the Red Dragons were humbled by how they found a way to win football games this season, but they were not satisfied with losing. One thing is for certain; the Red Dragons will be a hungry football team going into 2010.

The Cortland Gridiron Report can also be seen on cortlandfootball.com