ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team picked up its third consecutive victory and moved to 3-0 in the Liberty League with a 46-6 win over the University of Rochester on Saturday at Fauver Stadium. The 40-point win for Ithaca is the largest margin of victory since IC topped St. Lawrence, 45-0, in 2009.
Ithaca received the opening kickoff and marched 33 yards on seven plays before the drive stalled. IC pinned Rochester back at its own 1-yard line on a 41-yard pooch punt by freshman Wahid Nabi.
UR proceeded to go 3-and-out and the Bombers took over at their own 35 after a penalty on the punt. On the ensuing drive, Nabi completed six passes, which culminated in an 18-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Will Gladney with 5:46 left in the first quarter. The point after was partially blocked and the kick sailed wide for keep the score at 6-0.
Rochester responded with a 4:04 drive, but turned the ball over on downs at the Ithaca 36-yard line. After the sudden change, Nabi connected with freshman Andrew Vito for a 50-yard completion down the sideline to spot the Bombers with a first-and-goal. Three plays later, freshman Nick Cervone plunged in from 1-yard out to extend Ithaca's lead to 13-0 in the waning seconds on the first quarter.
Nearly four minutes into the second period, Rochester was forced to punt again. On the punt, sophomore Nick Garone broke through the line, blocked and recovered the kick to give Ithaca the ball at the Rochester 44-yard line.
On 3rd-and-7, Nabi found senior Jared Bauer for a 24-yard gain down to the UR 17. IC moved inside the 10 on a 9-yard run by Nabi on the next play, and then sophomore Anthony Capozzi took the end-around handoff and scampered into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown with 9:13 on the clock to push Ithaca's advantage to 20-0.
The Yellowjackets began the next drive at their own 7-yard line after a penalty. Ithaca's defense held tough once again and forced another UR punt at the 18. Once again, Ithaca broke through the line and blocked its second punt of the half, this time by Vito. Junior Ryan Bronson pounced on the loose ball in the end zone for another Bombers touchdown with 4:46 to go in the half, for the eventual halftime score of 27-0.
The Bombers outgained Rochester, 242-121, over the first 30 minutes of action. Nabi completed 15-of-18 pass attempts for 173 yards and a touchdown. Six different Bombers caught a pass in the half, led by Vito's 50-yard gain. Gladney had four catches for 46 yards.
Out of intermission, Rochester reached IC territory after a person foul call on Ithaca during a punt. On the next play, junior Marc Barbieri forced a fumble at the IC 45 and classmate Pat Minogue came up with the recovery with 11:17 on the clock.
Ithaca opened up its possession with a 21-yard pass-and-catch from Nabi to Gladney. After two no gains, senior JR Zazzara moved the chains on a 12-yard reception. Senior Tristan Brown then gave Ithaca a 33-0 lead on a hard-fought 22-yard touchdown jaunt with 9:02 left in the third quarter.
With just over a minute left in the period, sophomore Isaiah D'Haiti scored from three yards out to give Ithaca a 40-0 advantage. On the first play of the drive, senior Adam Fron completed his first pass of the game to Vito for 22 yards. The Bombers then used their ground game to account for 25 of the final 35 yards on the drive. Fron completed another pass for 10 yards to D'Haiti.
In the final minute of the quarter, Bronson intercepted Rochester's first play from scrimmage to stake Ithaca inside UR territory. Ithaca would turn the ball over on downs four plays later.
Rochester got on the board with a 15-yard run from quarterback Josh Brown with 9:47 to go in the game. On the point after, the Yellowjackets were bobbled the try and had to abort for a two-point try. Freshman Mekai Gandy came up with an interception to make the score 40-6.
The Bombers got that score back on the second play from scrimmage after the kickoff on an 80-yard rush by D'Haiti to put IC back up by 40 points at 46-6 with 8:46 remaining for the final touchdown of the game.
Ithaca totaled 455 yards in a balanced attacked of 221 rushing and 234 passing. The Bombers defense allowed a season-low 228 yards to Rochester.
Nabi finished the game 17-of-21 for 206 yards and a score, while Fron was a perfect 3-for-3 for 28 yards. Freshman Matthew Gross and junior Peter Palczewski also saw action for IC at quarterback.
D'Haiti led Ithaca in rushing with 102 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns. Gladney hauled in five catches for 69 yards and a score, while Vito notched 68 yards on three grabs.
Defensively, senior Taylor Katz registered a team-high seven tackles. In all, 27 Bombers recorded at least one tackle in the win. Senior Kenny Bradley and junior Brian Gill notched sacks.
Ithaca travels to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute next Saturday for another crucial Liberty League matchup at 1 p.m. RPI is 0-1 in conference action after dropping a 30-0 decision to Hobart this afternoon.
Ithaca Wins First-Ever Meeting Against Rochester, 46-6
/seasons/2017/boxscores/20171007_xf9q.xml
2017
Ithaca
46
Rochester
6
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca (3-2) | 13 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 46 |
| Rochester (2-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Oct 07, 2017