Box Score 

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Wet weather and wind gusts in excess of 40 miles-per-hour helped ground both offensive attacks, but big plays on defense and special teams catapulted William Paterson (4-4, 3-4 NJAC) to a 33-7 win against host Buffalo State (1-7, 1-6 NJAC) Oct. 31 at Coyer Field.

The Pioneers pulled away, scoring 26 points in the final 17:33 of the game and limiting Buffalo State to just 52 yards of total offense.

Senior quarterback Matt Marshall (Burlington, N.J./Burlington City) managed the Pioneers' offense, going 11-for-22 for 136 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Those two TD passes gave Marshall sole ownership of the William Paterson career record with 30. Sophomore Marcus McKinney (Paterson, N.J./JFK) led the ground attack with 22 carries for 74 yards and two scores, and freshman Dawys German (North Arlington, N.J./North Arlington) had 13 carries for 64 yards and a score.

Senior defensive lineman Keith Sayball (Milford, Conn./Foran) anchored the Paterson defense with nine tackles (five solo, 3.0 TFL) and 2.0 sacks, forcing a fumble. Junior linebacker Jim Hamill (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) also had nine stops (two solo), senior linebacker Jared Burke (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J./Egg Harbor Twp.) had seven tackles and two forced fumbles (one recovered), and senior linebacker Alex Gibson (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) added seven stops.

Buffalo State was unable to complete a single pass on the day as Ryan Lehotsky was 0-for-10 with an interception. Matt Pacana led the Bengal defense with 16 tackles. Joseph Perez added 10 stops, and Eddie Weiser had eight tackles and his fourth interception of the season.

Buffalo State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of a short field after a Pioneer punt gave the Bengals the ball in WP territory at the 44-yard line. Lehotsky finished the five-play drive with a five-yard quarterback keeper with 10:37 on the clock.

William Paterson got the ball back late in the first quarter after Burke forced and recovered a fumble. Marshall eventually completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Bruce Katkowski (Saddle Brook, N.J./Paramus Catholic) to make it a 7-7 game 3:45 into the second quarter. The Pioneers kept the drive alive, converting on fourth-and-17 with a 19-yard screen pass to McKinney.

Buffalo State had an excellent drive start late in the third quarter, beginning on the William Paterson-20, but the Pioneers reversed their fortunes with an 89-yard interception return by German Decena (Union City, N.J./Emerson) to the Bengals' one-yard line. McKinney punched it in on the next play and freshman Ryan Brzycki (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Catholic) added the extra point to give William Paterson its first lead at 14-7 with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter.

Junior Hadxian Matthews (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) blocked a punt on the Bengals' next possession and William Paterson was in business again with a drive start at the Buffalo State 13-yard line. McKinney registered his second one-yard touchdown run of the day just five plays later, pushing the lead to 20-7 early in the fourth quarter.

The Pioneers added another touchdown with an 18-yard strike from Marshall to Joel Rivera (Hoboken, N.J./Hoboken) midway through the fourth quarter, and William Paterson completed the scoring with a four-yard touchdown run by German with 1:54 on the clock.

William Paterson owned a 284-52 advantage in total offense (148-52 rushing, 136-0 passing). The Pioneers enjoyed a 34:46 to 25:14 edge in time of possession, and were 5-for-5 in the red zone.

William Paterson will celebrate Senior Day Saturday, Nov. 7, when the Pioneers host Kean at 1:00 p.m.