Senior quarterback Rob Zappia (Greece Athena/Rochester) threw for a pair of touchdowns and the Bomber defense contributed a pair of scores against a Utica offense that ranked in the top- 25 nationally in four categories. The win was Ithaca's 10th in as many all-time meetings with the Pioneers.
Ithaca's defense recorded the game's first points, recording a safety on the first play of Utica's second possession. The Pioneers were pinned at their own one-yard line on a 39-yard punt by Bomber junior Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst). Senior defensive end Sean Gil (Sachem North/Holbrook) and senior tackle Andrew Haim (Douglas MacArthur/Levittown) led a surge that dumped running back Jake Scott (Irondequoit/Rochester) in his own end zone.
Rogowski, who converted all four of his extra points, punted a career-high eight times. He averaged 39.2 yards per kick (including a career-long 58-yard effort) and stranded Utica inside its 20-yard line five times.
The Bombers took Utica's free kick and drove 85 yards for the game's first touchdown. Senior Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl, Pa.) ran six yards for the score.
Zappia threw a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, completing a 15-yard scoring pass to senior tight end Dan Higgins (Greece Athena/Rochester) and a 23-yard touchdown to senior wideout Dan Ruffrage (Utica Notre Dame/Whitesboro). Zappia raised his career total to 1,963 yards, good for eighth all-time at Ithaca, and finished with 215 yards, completing 16 of 33 passes. His top target was senior wide receiver Thomas Vossler (Loon Lake/Saranac Lake), who caught seven passes for 78 yards. Vossler raised his career total to 129 receptions, second on Ithaca's all-time list and two short of tying the school record held by Abe Ceesay (131 catches from 1996 to 1999).
The Bombers closed out the scoring 40 seconds into the final quarter. After a Rogowski punt forced Utica to start on its own eight-yard line, the Pioneers turned the ball over on their first play. Scott fumbled when he was hit by strong safety David Ahonen (Victor/Farmington) and junior cornerback Mike Conti (Daniel Hand/Bradford, Conn.) recovered the ball and ran it 12 yards for a touchdown.
Sophomore quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck/Mamaroneck), who entered the game as Division III's 16th-ranked passer, completed just 24 of 42 passes for 200 yards. He threw a 16-yard pass to Joshua Mason (Schenectady/Schenectady) for the Pioneers' only touchdown.
Sophomore linebacker Will Carter (Westlake/Thornwood) led Ithaca's defense with 11 tackles, including a career-best three for loss. Junior linebacker Eric Toporoff (Montville Township/Montville, N.J.) was in on seven stops, including two for loss, and broke up a pair of passes. Junior linebacker Ryan Clarke (Archbishop Spaulding/West Friendship, Md.) added two tackles for loss and a pair of pass break-ups. Haim knocked down three passes at the line of scrimmage and recorded two tackles for loss.
For Utica, sophomore defensive end James Brain (Minisink Valley/Westtown) had two tackles for loss among his team-best nine stops. Senior linebacker Kevin Hennion (Dumont/Dumont) and junior cornerback Jonathan White (Union Endicott/Endicott) both broke up a pair of passes.
Ithaca plays at Alfred Saturday and can clinch a share of the Empire 8 title with a win. The Pioneers play at Hartwick.
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Box Score
Utica vs. Ithaca (10/30/10 at Ithaca, N.Y.)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Utica............... 0 6 0 0 - 6 Record: (5-3,0-3)
Ithaca.............. 9 14 7 0 - 30 Record: (6-2,3-1)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:35 IC - TEAM safety, , UC 0 - IC 2
07:16 IC - Dan RUGGIERO 6 yd run (Andrew ROGOWSKI kick), 9-85 4:15, UC 0 - IC 9
2nd 11:33 UC - Joshua Mason 16 yd pass from Andrew Benkwitt (TJ Losowski kick failed), 6-36 2:19, UC 6 - IC 9
03:37 IC - Dan HIGGINS 15 yd pass from Rob ZAPPIA (Andrew ROGOWSKI kick), 8-64 3:38, UC 6 - IC 16
00:59 IC - Dan RUFFRAGE 23 yd pass from Rob ZAPPIA (Andrew ROGOWSKI kick), 6-52 1:03, UC 6 - IC 23
3rd 14:20 IC - Mike CONTI 12 yd fumble recovery (Andrew ROGOWSKI kick), , UC 6 - IC 30
UC IC
FIRST DOWNS................... 10 16
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 25-21 36-114
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 200 215
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 43-24-0 33-16-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 68-221 69-329
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-3 2-17
Punt Returns-Yards............ 3-9 4-67
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-107 3-32
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-10 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-32.0 8-39.2
Fumbles-Lost.................. 5-4 2-2
Penalties-Yards............... 5-49 4-51
Possession Time............... 28:37 31:23
Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 15 4 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 4 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-2 2-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-6 3-12
RUSHING: Utica-Jake Scott 14-32; Anthony Acevedo 2-11; Jeff Zellner 1-3; Andrew Benkwitt 3-2; Justin Becker 1-2; Matt Dunn 1-minus 3; Jared Keyte 1-minus 7; TEAM 2-minus 19.
Ithaca-Rob ZAPPIA 6-34; Jared PRUGAR 7-27; Clay ARDOIN 7-26; Dan RUGGIERO 11-20; Jason HENDEL 2-8; Jarett NAIDEN 1-1; TEAM 2-minus 2.
PASSING: Utica-Andrew Benkwitt 24-42-0-200; Jared Keyte 0-1-0-0.
Ithaca-Rob ZAPPIA 16-33-1-215.
RECEIVING: Utica-Jeremy Meier 6-45; Anthony Acevedo 5-76; Joshua Mason 4-42; Jake Scott 3-7; Matt Dunn 2-13; Tyler Malagisi 1-6; Tim Millerick 1-4; Jonathan White 1-4; Justin Becker 1-3.
Ithaca-Thomas VOSSLER 7-78; Dan RUFFRAGE 5-55; Dan HIGGINS 3-75; Dan RUGGIERO 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS: Utica-Andy Moth 1-10. Ithaca-None.
FUMBLES: Utica-TEAM 2-1; R. Alexander 1-1; Jake Scott 1-1; Jeremy Meier 1-1.
Ithaca-Dan HIGGINS 1-1; Dan RUGGIERO 1-1.
Ithaca-Matt DIBBLE 1-0; Chris COLLIER 0-1; S. SCHLENKER 0-1; Pat SCOTT 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Utica-James Brain 2-7; Genaro Scampone 3-4; Kevin Hennion 0-6; R. Alexander 4-1; Adam Luczak 1-4; T. Cunningham 3-1; Omari Byfield 2-2; Tracy Branch 1-3; Travis Ladd 1-3; Cody Adams 1-3; Jonathan White 3-0; Luke Manolescu 2-1; Kody Parkhurst 2-0; Marquez Mosely 1-1; Michael Clark 1-1; Jon Heisler 0-2; Josh Visalli 0-1; Jerrod Clowes 0-1; Kyle Taft 0-1; Andrew Fisher 0-1; M. Herberger 0-1.
Ithaca-Will CARTER 5-6; Eric TOPOROFF 6-1; David AHONEN 2-4; Ryan CLARKE 1-5; Mike CONTI 3-2; Matt DIBBLE 2-3; Joe GILFEDDER 2-2; Andrew HAIM 2-2; Spence WHITE 2-1; Josh LIEMER 2-1; Chris O'BRIEN 1-2; Pat SCOTT 1-2; Chris COLLIER 1-1; Dan HIGGINS 1-1; Sean GIL 0-2; Mike VULCANO 1-0; Myron AVANT 1-0; Matt CRANDALL 1-0; Allen FESSETTE 1-0; S. SCHLENKER 0-1.
On 10/30/2010 4:30 PM, Michael Warwick wrote:
ITHACA 30, Utica 6