The time has almost come, Utica Football has a game this weekend. On Saturday, Sept. 6, the Pioneers will travel to Washington, Pennsylvania and face Washington and Jefferson College in their season opener.
Right off the bat, it is going to be a tough matchup for the Pioneers. Washington and Jefferson College finished the regular season last year with a 9-1 record. Their record earned them a spot in the NCAA Tournament a season ago, where they would go on to lose to Randolph-Macon in the Second Round of the tournament.
Looking past this weekend, this is an interesting season for the Pioneers. Under coach Blaise Faggiano, Utica has had a ton of success in recent years. In 2022, Utica had their most successful season where they went 9-1 in the regular season and beat Susquehanna in the NCAA Tournament to round out a 10-2 record. In 2023, Utica had their second most successful season where they went 9-2 overall.
The Pioneers could not find that same success last season, finishing with a 5-5 record. Utica just did not seem to look right even though they still had talent on the roster. An example of this was that three of their losses were one-score games where they had multiple opportunities to come out with a victory. Many who followed the team, including myself, felt like last year was not a good representation of the program, instead 2022 and 2023 are better examples of how the team will perform this year.
A big question for the Pioneers this season that may determine how they perform comes down to the quarterback play. After the current Recruiting Coordinator, Strength & Conditioning Coordinator and Quarterback Coach Braeden Zenelovic had a fantastic season in 2022, the team turned to current senior Brett Fuller in his sophomore campaign. Fuller led the team to a 9-2 record in his first season as a starter, but he only managed to throw 10 touchdown passes to eight interceptions. Last season, Fuller took strides. While the Pioneers only managed a 5-5 record, Fuller doubled his touchdown passes from the previous season while throwing for more yards and two fewer interceptions. This improvement would not be enough for him to keep his starting job coming into this season.
The Pioneers announced that their week one starting quarterback is Tyler Szalkowski. Szalkowski is a fifth-year senior who previously played for Division 1 programs UAlbany and Robert Morris. In addition to being named the starting quarterback, Szalkowski has been named as one of the four captains for the Pioneers this season.
While there are a lot of questions the Pioneers will face this upcoming season, including how Szalkowski will perform, I expect them to bounce back. While they lost key players on defense, such as Norman Booth, Dougie Simmons and James Lanier, Utica retained a lot of players on that side of the ball including Eli Douglas, which makes the group scary coming into this season.
The Pioneers’ first game will take place on the road at noon on Saturday, Sept. 6 against Washington and Jefferson College at Cameron Stadium.
