Box Score
DOVER, Del. -- The Ithaca College football team saw its 2013 season come to an end with a 23-15 loss to 14th-ranked Wesley on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Scott D. Miller Stadium in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Football Championship. The Bombers finished the year with a 9-3 record, and Wesley improved to 10-2. Wesley advances to the quarterfinal round and will play Mount Union next weekend. Ithaca's nine-win season marked its best season since the 2008 season.
Ithaca started the game with a big play as
Josh Oliver returned the opening kickoff 64 yards deep into Wesley territory but the drive stalled after moving backward 10 yards and Ithaca punted.
Wesley took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 1-yard quarterback sneak play by Joe Callahan, but the extra point kick attempt missed wide. That drive began when Wesley intercepted an Ithaca pass near midfield. It was the only turnover of the game in a matchup that featured two defenses that rank in the top-15 in NCAA Division III football in takeaways.
On the ensuing kickoff, Ithaca's
Sam Carney broke the return right up the middle and beat the final defender down the right sideline and scored on a 91-yard touchdown return. It was the longest kickoff return in NCAA playoff history for the Bombers and Ithaca led 7-6.
Wesley regained the lead on a 35-yard field goal by Jon Storck with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter, and extended their lead to 16-7 in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run from Jamar Baynard.
That was the score at halftime, and Wesley outgained Ithaca 247-62 from scrimmage in the first half.
Wesley opened the second half with possession and took more than eight minutes off the clock and capped off an 82-yard drive with a touchdown. The scoring play was a 2-yard touchdown run from Baynard with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter to establish a 23-7 lead.
Ithaca's offense showed improvement in the second half. The Bombers put together their longest offensive drive of the game and drove inside the Wesley 5-yard line in the fourth quarter on a 17-play drive that covered eight and a half minutes. The drive stalled and ended on a fourth-down sack of
Tom Dempsey, the seventh sack of the game for the opponents.
On Ithaca's next possession, the Bombers went 51 yards in 13 plays and scored a late touchdown on a 10-yard touchdown reception by
Vito Boffoli with 2:44 remaining. Dempsey then found Boffoli again in the endzone to gain the two-point conversion to make the score 23-15.
Ithaca lined up for an onside kick attempt, and had a chance at recovering the high bounce but the ball went to the turf where Wesley recovered it.
Vito Boffoli had career-best totals of nine receptions and 103 yards. Dempsey was 26-for-42 for 232 yards and the touchdown pass to Boffoli. Ithaca totaled a net loss of 50 rushing yards, with the majority of those coming via seven Wesley sacks of Dempsey.
Evan Skea carried five times for 11 yards to lead the Ithaca running backs.
Graduate student linebacker
Will Carter made 13 total tackles in the game to lead the Bombers. Linebacker
Josh Duggan added nine tackles and safety
Tom Scanlon had seven. Ithaca had five tackles for loss in the game, with Carter accounting for 1.5 of those.
BOMBER NOTES
* In all 12 of Ithaca's games in the 2013 season, the Bombers held the opposing team below its per-game scoring average.
* Ithaca totaled 158 kickoff return yards in the first half, including the 91-yard return from Carney and the game-opening 64-yard return from Oliver.
* Ithaca's all-time record in the NCAA Tournament now stands at 28-15, while Wesley is 22-9.
* It was the first meeting between Wesley and Ithaca. Wesley advances to the NCAA quarterfinals for the eighth time in 10 NCAA appearances, all in the last nine years.
Box Score and Play-by-Play
