On November 16th the biggest event of the Red Dragon calendar returns, Cortaca. The Cortaca Jug Game is an annual football game against the rival Ithaca Bombers. This meeting is far from your local next town over rivalry. Deemed the “Biggest Little Game in the Nation” by Sports Illustrated, this rivalry is the only Division III football game to host over forty thousand fans. This mark has been eclipsed twice once at MetLife Stadium in 2019 with 45,161 fans and the other in 2023 at Yankee Stadium with 40, 232 fans.
The first game of this tradition took place on October 17, 1959, when Cortland won 13-7. In the record of the Jug game, Ithaca leads with thirty-seven wins out of the sixty-two total matchups. Cortland is slightly behind with only twenty-four victories. However, Cortland is on a recent streak in this matchup winning six of the last ten games including two out of the last three since the pause in the tradition in 2020 due to Covid-19. After a historic season last year, where Cortland captured the Cortaca Jug and their first national championship in school history, the Red Dragons are looking to use that momentum to have another great season.
Cortland enters the 2024 season as the number two-ranked team in the country, according to D3football’s preseason poll. Yet after losing more than twenty seniors last year, including a ton of production from players like JJ Laap, Cole Burgess, and Jack McGrath, the leader of Cortland’s dominant offensive line in the 2023 season, the Red Dragons have some big shoes to fill. I was fortunate enough to speak with Jacob Delgado, a transfer junior wide receiver from Chester, New York, and Nico Andrews, a freshman wide receiver from New Rochelle, New York. These tremendous athletes are looking to do their fair share and more in a stacked wide receiver room to help this elite offense and national powerhouse quarterback Zac Boyes.
During my time with Andrews and Delgado, I asked them what the tradition of Cortaca means to them. These two guys, although new to Cortland, showed true Red Dragon pride when it came to the meaning of this historic rivalry. Delgado said, “The Cortaca rivalry is new to me, but I know that we have been going at it with the Bombers for ages. It brings out the best in some players and the worst in others. I just tried to soak it all in and bring that competitive energy no matter who’s in front of me. To get a glimpse of that rivalry in the preseason makes me even more excited for the big game and I was happy to be on the winning side.” Andrews followed that response: “It’s honestly why people choose either Ithaca or Cortland. It influenced my decision. As a football team, we take games week by week, but of course, we always want to secure the Jug. The rivalry is rich, it produces great games and crowds each year. It’s also our last impression before playoffs so we want to come out and put on a great performance”.
On September 1st Cortland faced off in a preseason scrimmage against Ithaca where the Red Dragons came out on top 23-9. The offense moved the ball efficiently down the field while the defense complemented them with a ton of big 3rd down stops. This year, Cortaca will be hosted at our home stadium Grady Field. Be sure to purchase your tickets, wear red, and come loud and proud to support your Red Dragons as they secure the 2024 Jug.