Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
The 65-0 victory is ranked second in program history for the most points scored in a road shutout. The current record is a 96-0 win at Hamilton on November 10, 1894.
The shutout is the first since the Garnet Chargers blanked Buffalo State 45-0 last season and the most points in a game since a 76-7 rout of Worcester State on September 10, 2022.
Union's 436 rushing yards marks the first game with over 400 rushing yards since the team compiled 409 rushing yards against the United States Merchant Marine Academy on November 5, 2016.
The win also marks the first for Union head coach Jon Poppe.
The Garnet Chargers racked up 549 yards of total offense while the defense stifled Hilbert, holding the Hawks to 85 yards total, including -10 yards on the ground. Six different players found the endzone in the victory. First-year Stephen Petruzziello paced all Union players with 164 yards of offense on 24 carries for two touchdowns. Fiore rushed for 95 yards on eight carries and three trips to the endzone. Juniors Jonathan Anderson and Jon Rust and senior Donovan Pacatte all scored from the ground. Junior Tommy Leonard caught the lone receiving touchdown, a 32-yard pass for his first collegiate score. Junior Max Gluck was a perfect 9-for-9 in PATs.
Union scored on each of their first four drives. Fiore found paydirt on an 11-yard carry on third down for the first score of the game. Union only needed 21 seconds on their second drive after a short punt by Hilbert gave Union possession of the ball at the 30-yard line. Pacatte found sophomore Landers Green for an 18-yard reception and on the next play, Anderson took it to the house with a 12-yard carry.
A blocked punt by Emmanuel Green and recovery by Ryan Grenier gave Union possession again deep in Hilbert territory. Rust made short work of the opportunity with carries of three and nine yards, respectively. After a 16-yard punt return by senior Kevin Rabacs to start Union's fourth drive of the game at the Hilbert 49-yard line, Fiore once again found the endzone on a 49-yard rush to put Union up 28-0 after the first.
Pacatte started Union's first drive in the second with a 21-yard rush to make it 35-0. A fumble on the second play of the ensuing drive was recovered by sophomore David Seiche and Union took over again. Three straight rushes by Fiore for 36 yards saw the visitors score again. Sophomore Patch Flanagan entered the game and found Leonard wide open on fourth down for a 32-yard touchdown reception. A fumble late in the half gave Hilbert the ball on their own two-yard line, but first-year Jordan Black was there for the safety to give Union a 51-0 advantage going into halftime.
Petruzziello scored his first collegiate touchdown late in the third quarter. On fourth-and-two, the first-year running back rushed up the middle for the score. Petruzziello scored again in the final stanza. The Hawks turned the ball over on downs at the Union 32-yard line and Petruzziello went 68-yards on the first play of the drive to make it 65-0.
Union travels to Worcester State University on Saturday, September 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at John Coughlin Memorial Field.