SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland Red Dragons (0-0) vs. Heidelberg University Student Princes (0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016; Noon; Hoernemann Stadium; Tiffin, Ohio

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THE MATCHUP: Cortland, ranked 17th nationally by D3football.com, opens its 2016 season with a non-league game at Heidelberg University of the Ohio Athletic Conference. The game is the first of two non-league tilts for the Red Dragons before ending the year with eight straight Empire 8 games. Heidelberg will be playing its only non-league game of the season.
 

THE SERIES: Cortland and Heidelberg are meeting for the second time. Last year in Cortland, the Red Dragons defeated the Student Princes, 26-24, on Steven Ferreira's 29-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to Jon Mannix on the game's final play. Heidelberg had taken a 24-20 lead when they converted a turnover into a 19-yard scoring drive, capped by Bryan Lacey's 1-yard TD run with 1:02 left. Ferreira led Cortland from its own 30-yard line to the Heidelberg 29 over eight plays before throwing the winning pass to Mannix.
 
Ferreira finished 21-of-35 passing for 218 yards and four touchdowns in his Red Dragon debut. Mannix, Jake Smith, Chris Osterman and Nick Wagner each caught TD passes and Donny Davis ran for 56 yards on 10 carries, all in the second half. Carson Lassiter led the Red Dragon defense with 13 tackles, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.
 
Lacey ran for 96 yards and a score on 15 carries and Cameron Vocke rushed for 79 yards on 20 attempts for Heidelberg. Jon Sandwisch connected on 15-of-33 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, and Dre Valliant ended with five receptions. Clay Staib led the Student Princes with eight tackles.
 

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland returns 12 starters (seven offense, five defense) from its 2015 team that won the Empire 8 title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Red Dragons ended the regular season 8-2, and tied for first with St. John Fisher in the league at 6-2. A head-to-head win over the Cardinals gave Cortland the league's NCAA berth. The Red Dragons defeated Salisbury in the NCAA first round, 45-21, before traveling to Oregon in a 38-22 second-round loss at second-ranked Linfield to finish the year 9-3.
 
Cortland set school single-season records last fall with 3,509 passing yards and 4,998 yards of total offense. Steven Ferreira established school marks for total offense (3,327), completions (225), passing yards (3,127), passing efficiency rating (169.1) and most 300-yard passing games (5). He ranked in the top 20 in Division III in nine different categories.
 
Jon Mannix led the team with 55 receptions for 985 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jake Smith also returns at receiver after making 44 catches for 785 yards and nine scores, while tight end Josh Riley recorded 27 receptions for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Donny Davis, the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, ran for 563 yards (4.1 per carry) and five touchdowns, while Ferreira rushed for seven touchdowns. Chijioke Ezenyilimba and Dan Bach return as starting offensive linemen.
 
Carson Lassiter, a preseason All-America safety by both D3football.com and The Sporting News, led Cortland with 100 tackles last season. He also notched three interceptions and 10 pass breakups. Also back in the secondary are cornerbacks Mark DelPrete and Matt Caputo and free safety Isaac Hicks. DelPrete intercepted a team-high five passes and added four breakups, while Caputo had seven breakups and one pick. Tom Hagan is the lone returning starter on the defensive line, and the Red Dragons lost all four starting linebackers to graduation.
 
Shane Cronin returns as the team's placekicker, and is also slated to handle punting duties as he did two seasons ago. Last year he made 7-of-12 field goals, with a long of 38 yards, and 41-of-45 PAT kicks. In 2014 he was 13-of-18 on field goals (13-of-15 inside 40 yards), 20-of-22 on PATs, and averaged 34.1 yards per punt with 24 inside the 20-yard line versus only one touchback.
 
Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 20th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 128-69 (.650) ranks him first at Cortland in career victories and winning percentage. He was the 2015 HERO Sports National Coach of the Year and the D3football.com East Region Coach of the Year, and he and his assistants were chosen as the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, he's been the New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2012, and also was a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Div. III Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Red Dragons to the league title and the NCAA quarterfinals.
 
MacNeill has guided Cortland to six NCAA playoff appearances (1997, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015) and seven ECAC bowl games. His 2008 squad was honored with the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy and the ECAC Div. III Team of the Year awards. MacNeill is a 1979 Cortland alumnus and played linebacker and defensive tackle from 1975-78. Previously an assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University for 13 years, MacNeill is Cortland's 11th head coach since the school's modern era of football began in 1924. He joined the Villanova staff in 1984, and he served as linebackers coach and was the team's defensive coordinator from 1988-96.
 

A LOOK AT...HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY: Heidelberg finished 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) last season. The Student Princes bounced back from a 0-3 start to win five of their next six games, with the lone loss in that stretch to eventual national champion Mount Union.
 
All-OAC running back Bryan Lacey returns to lead Heidelberg's offense. He ran for 1,273 yards (6.1 yards per carry) in 10 games with 13 touchdowns. Tyler Stoyle took over as the team's starting quarterback during the fourth week of the season and completed 160-of-247 passes (64.8 pct.) for 2,011 yards and 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions. The team's top returning receivers are Nick DeLisa (42 catches, 451 yards, six TDs) and Demetrius Magee (39 catches, 684 yards, seven TDs).
 
Pacing the defense are All-OAC lineman Austin Crow (55 tackles, three sacks) along with defensive backs Jarett Wasson (37 tackles, three interceptions) and Dom Scott (34 tackles, two interceptions). A.J. Morrison moves from backup kicker to starter this fall after making 1-of-2 field goals (a 49-yarder) last season.
 
Scott Donaldson begins his first season as Heidelberg's head coach after being promoted from defensive coordinator. He's served as an assistant coach for the Student Princes since 2004. Donaldson was named the OAC Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012. Donaldson is a Buffalo native and a 2004 Brockport graduate. He played linebacker for the Golden Eagles and helped the program make three NCAA appearances.
 

NOTEBOOK:
 
* Cortland returns six players who earned honors from the Empire 8 last fall. Quarterback Steven Ferreira, wide receiver Jon Mannix and safety Carson Lassiter were first team all-league. Cornerback Mark DelPrete and tight end Josh Riley earned second team honors, and tailback Donny Davis was the league's Rookie of the Year. In addition, Lassiter and Ferreira earned second and third team All-East honors, respectively, from D3football.com, and were also both second team All-ECAC North.
 
* As a team, Cortland ranked fourth nationally in Division III last fall with 17 fumbles recovered and 12th in turnover margin (plus-1.33 per game). Offensively, the Red Dragons ranked sixth in team passing efficiency (173.5 rating) and ninth in completion percentage (66.8 pct.).
 
* Cortland had a propensity to win tight games last season. Six of Cortland's nine wins were not decided until the final minute of play or in overtime. After the opening-day win over Heidelberg on the Hail Mary pass, the Red Dragons won 61-49 win at eventual Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference champion Framingham the next week in a game that wasn't decided until a 40-yard Matt Goodman fumble return for a TD on a punt return with two seconds remaining. Cortland won home overtime games against Utica and Hartwick, and the Red Dragons' 20-14 victory over Alfred was sealed when the Saxons turned the ball over on downs at the Cortland 27-yard line with 18 seconds left. Cortland wrapped the regular season with an 11-8 win at Ithaca in which it stopped a final Ithaca drive on downs with 52 seconds left.
 
* Cortland enters its second season in the Empire 8 this fall. The Red Dragons joined the league in 2015 after 15 seasons in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Cortland finished in at least a tie for first in the NJAC six times (2005-08, 2010, 2012) and shared the Empire 8 crown last season. Four current Empire 8 members - Cortland, Brockport, Buffalo State and Morrisville State - at one point played in the NJAC and are affiliate members of the E8 in football only. The other league teams - Alfred, Hartwick, Ithaca, St. John Fisher and Utica - are full conference members, although Ithaca is leaving to join the Liberty League (no later than the 2018-19 academic year).
 
* Senior wide receiver Jon Mannix enters the season with 130 career receptions. He is tied for sixth in school history with Matt Shell (130 from 1988-91). Mannix is 40 behind the school record of 170 held by both John Babin and Steve Ellis with one year of eligibility remaining. Mannix did not make any catches in one game as a freshman in 2012. In 2013, he was injured after three games and received a medical hardship to retain that year of eligibility. He caught 19 passes prior to the injury, and those receptions still count toward his career totals. Mannix caught 56 passes in 2014 and had 55 receptions last season.
 
* Last season, Cortland has gained 50 or more yards on 16 plays (10 passes, four kick returns, two interceptions) and 30 or more yards on 48 plays (33 passes, four rushes, eight kick returns, two interceptions, one fumble).  Since 2000, the Red Dragons had 10 plays of 50 or more yards in an entire season only twice prior to last year (exactly 10 plays meeting that requirement in both 2009 and 2010).
 
Cortland's Returning Weekly Award Winners from 2015 (game date/opponent in parentheses)
 
Steven Ferreira, Quarterback
Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 26 vs. Utica)
 
Carson Lassiter, Safety
Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 5 vs. Heidelberg)
Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 14 at Ithaca)
 
Kyle Schneider, Quarterback
Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12 at Framingham St.)
 
Miscellaneous:
D3football.com National Play of the Week (Steven Ferreira to Jon Mannix) (Sept. 5 vs. Heidelberg)
 

SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (0-0)
 
Sept. 3            at Heidelberg (OH)................................ 12:00
Sept. 10          FRAMINGHAM ST. (MA)...................... 12:00
Sept. 17          * ST. JOHN FISHER............................. 12:00
Sept. 24         * at Utica................................................ 1:00
Oct. 1             * at Hartwick........................................... 2:00
Oct. 8            * BUFFALO ST........................................ 1:00
Oct. 15           * at Alfred............................................... 1:00
Oct. 22          * at Brockport.......................................... 3:00
Oct. 29          * MORRISVILLE ST................................ 1:00
Nov. 12          * ITHACA................................................ 12:00
 
* Empire 8 game       HOME GAMES IN CAPS
 
HEIDELBERG (0-0)
 
Sept. 3            CORTLAND......................................... 12:00
Sept. 17          * OHIO NORTHERN............................. 7:00
Sept 24          * at John Carroll (OH)............................ 1:30
Oct. 1             * MUSKINGUM (OH)............................. 1:30
Oct. 8            * at Mount Union (OH)............................ 1:30
Oct. 15           * at Otterbein (OH)................................. 7:00
Oct. 22          * MARIETTA (OH)................................... 1:30
Oct. 29          * at Wilmington (OH)............................... 1:30
Nov. 5            * BALDWIN WALLACE (OH)................. 1:30
Nov. 12          * at Capital (OH)..................................... 1:30
 
* Ohio Athletic Conference game       HOME GAMES IN CAPS
 
 
 
CORTLAND vs. HEIDELBERG – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 1-0)
 
Year       Winner......................... Score                  Site
2015      Cortland........................ 26-24                  Cortland