JOHNSTOWN - After playing, two of their first three games on the road, the Glove Cities Colonials are ready for some home cooking.
The Northeastern Football Alliance East Division-leading and undefeated Colonials (3-0) opened a three-game home stand at Knox Field today at 7:30 p.m. against the Cortland Bulldogs (0-2).
"The team is really coming together, but we are taking it one game at a time," Colonials general manager Matt Capano said. "We are concentrating on Cortland this week and then worrying about next week's game later. We are going to come in and play our game and let Cortland worry about what we are doing."
After posting wins of 19-0 over the Utica Yard Dawgs and 14-7 over the Oneonta City Stallions, the Colonials made the long trip to Watertown last Saturday and brought home a hard-fought 33-20 victory over the Watertown Revolution.
"Last week was a tough game going up to Watertown," Capano said. "We left about 12:30 p.m. and had 24 guys, so a lot of players had to go both ways. We played a very good game, scored some points and held them on defense."
Glove Cities also had to play without Justin Kastner who will miss a few games with bruised ribs.
Nick Carr stepped up with a solid game, throwing for 205 yards and rushing for 110 yards in the backup role
"Justin is a pocket-passer where Nick has a tendency of running with the ball but can pass the ball very well, too," Capano said.
Jason Quinn had 120 yards receiving and a touchdown and returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown for the Colonials. Hassan Welch had two touchdowns and 40 yards receiving, while Frank Cintron had 43 yards receiving.
Defensively, Kyle Bowen's six tackles led the Colonials. James Meher had five tackles for the Colonials, while Brandon Insognia added four tackles.
Capano said the team did not practice this week due to the high heat, but he is confident they will be ready come game time.
"We probably will get off to a slow start but once we get going we will start clicking again," he said. "That just seems the way our guys are this year. They don't forget the game, and once they get into the game, it may take a quarter, but they really get rolling."
Cortland (0-2) comes into tonight's game off a 35-0 loss to Utica after dropping a 24-13 decision to Oneonta City in its season-opener.
The home stand continues June 30 at 6:30 p.m. against defending league champion Troy Fighting Irish. After a week break, the Colonials host Utica at 7:30 p.m. on July 14.
"We are hoping it will be a very successful three-game home stand," Capano said. "We would like to get all the fans out to watch the Colonials. I think we have a pretty good team this year."