CORTLAND, N.Y.—Looking for its first victory in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, the Southern Virginia University football team fell by a 35-0 score to SUNY Cortland Saturday afternoon in Cortland, New York.

The Red Dragons took advantage of multiple Southern Virginia turnovers throughout the game to set up short field possessions for eventual scores en route to the win. Cortland picked off three Knight passes and recovered one of three Southern Virginia fumbles as the Knights struggled to move the ball, accounting for 107 total yards of offense for the day.

Southern Virginia also struggled to convert on third downs, going 2-for-20 during the game and registering five first downs throughout. The Red Dragons earned 460 yards of total offense, including 266 yards through the air and 194 on the ground for the victory.

Cortland quarterback John Grassi finished 20-27 passing for the day for 247 yards, a touchdown and interception while Dylan Peebles rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries for two touchdowns.

Knight quarterback Mitch Stevenson went 7-19 passing for 32 yards through the  air and two interceptions with backup Bryan Phillips seeing significant time. Phillips went 2-15 for 17 yards and an interception while Jerry Washington ran for 51 yards on 21 carries.

"It's the same story every week in that we need to take better care of the ball," said Southern Virginia head coach Jason Walker. "The turnovers are killing us and taking us out of contention in every game. We also need to continue to develop the run game and create more manageable third-down situations. We're making too many mistakes to give ourselves a chance to win."

Defensively, Robert Robbins led the Knights with 15 tackles (9 solo, 6 assisted) with Matthew Gregory close behind with 13 takedowns. Corner Richie Sparrow logged five tackles and an interception in the second quarter.

The Red Dragons struck first with six minutes remaining in the opening quarter on a seven-yard Peebles rush up the middle for a touchdown for an early Cortland lead.

On the ensuing Cortland drive, Sparrow picked off Grassi's throw in the end zone to give the Knights the ball back on their on 20-yard line. Southern Virginia got to midfield before being forced to punt, pinning the Red Dragons deep in their own territory.

Cortland State then caught the Knight secondary off guard with a long pass up the middle as Grassi connected with Jack Delahunty for a 90-yard score with 9:50 remaining before the half to put the Red Dragons up, 14-0.

The Knights took over with a nice kickoff return, but fumbled the ball and gave Cortland State the ball back on the Knight 47-yard line. Undeterred, the Southern Virginia defense forced Cortland State to a three-and-out but was pinned within its own 10-yard line after the Red Dragon punt.

Under heavy duress in the end zone, Phillips threw the ball out of reach to Jerry Washington and was picked off by Cortland's Mark DelPrete, who returned it 20 yards for a score to give the Red Dragons a 21-0 advantage with seven minutes left in the second quarter.

With the Knights driving early in the third quarter, Stevenson threw an interception to Cortland's Joe DeLuca, which was returned to midfield to setup another short field for the Red Dragons. Peebles would later score on a nine-yard run to put Cortland State up, 28-0, midway through the third.

On the ensuing Knight drive, Stevenson was again picked off at the Southern Virginia 40-yard line by Cortland's Carson Lassiter. Brother Layton Lassiter would eventually punch it in from the one-yard line to put the Red Dragons up by the final score of 35-0.

Southern Virginia returns home for a noon kickoff with NJAC opponent Morrisville State next Saturday, Oct. 25, at The Fields.