ALFRED, NY – A 28-point second quarter lifted host Alfred University to a 42-18 victory over Hartwick in Empire 8 football on Saturday at Yunevich Stadium. Hartwick took a 7-0 lead but the Saxons would out-score the Hawks 42-3 until the fourth quarter.
           
Tito Pichardo (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) gave the Hawks the early advantage after they drove 70 yards on seven plays following the opening kickoff. Pichardo made it into the end zone on a seven-yard run and Korey Jubie (Kingston, NY/Kingston) tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 Hawk lead.
             
Following turnovers on each team's next possessions, a 72-yard touchdown pass from the Saxons evened the game with 5:39 left in the first quarter.
           
Alfred would take the lead for good with 2:32 gone in the second quarter. After a three and out, the Saxons added another score for a 21-7 advantage.
           
A Jubie 22-yard field goal cut the deficit to 11 points with 6:38 left in the half, but it would be as close as the Hawks would get as Alfred scored two more touchdowns in the final 1:46 of the half. Maleke Fuentes scored on a 2-yard run and then again on a 14-yard pass with 20 seconds left to put the hosts in front 35-10.
           
Fuentes scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 3:09 elapsed in the third quarter on a 12-yard to extend the AU advantage to 42-10.
           
A Ron Richards' (White Plains, NY/Woodlands) 16-yard touchdown catch from John Garcia (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) early in the fourth made it 42-16. The two would connect on the two-point conversion to close out the day's scoring.
           
The Saxons would accumulate 440 total yards of offense on the day. The Hawks gained 370 yards, with 283 coming through the air.
           
Pichardo ran for 69 yards and a touchdown on nine carries for 'Wick.  John Garcia passed for 283 yards and a score in 19 completions. Carl Holmes (Cuba, NY/Cuba-Rushford) had a game-high five catches for 55 yards. Richards had four catches for 44 yards and Brad Garcia (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) made three catches for 76 yards.
           
Ricky Giraldo (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) and Michael Servider (Carmel, NY/Carmel) paced the Hawks in tackles with seven apiece. Giraldo had two tackles for loss. Mark Hackett (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls) and Matthew Ali (Sayville, NY/Sayville) each had six hits each and both had one tackle for loss.
           
Hartwick (2-5, 0-5 E8) returns home to Wright Stadium for a meeting with Buffalo State next Saturday. The Hawks and Bengals kickoff at 2 p.m.