Box Score

SALISBURY, Md. -- The 24th-ranked Ithaca College football team rallied from a 10-point first half deficit and defeated Salisbury 24-23 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium. The victory clinched the Empire 8 championship for Ithaca and automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Football Championships. Ithaca is 8-1 overall and finished conference play with a 6-1 record in Empire 8 games. The Bombers wrap up the regular season Saturday with a noon home game against Cortland.

The game was tied 17-17 in the final minute when Salisbury drove deep into Ithaca territory and missed a 28-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. In overtime, Ithaca possessed the ball first and scored on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Tom Dempsey to Jared Prugar. Garrett Nicholson added the extra-point for the Bombers. Salisbury converted a fourth-down play in their possession and eventually scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, but the extra-point kick attempt was missed wide to the left.

It was Ithaca's sixth overall Empire 8 football championship in the 12 years that the conference has sponsored football. This is the 10th year that the conference's champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.

Linebackers Will Carter, Josh Duggan and Brian Hardenberg, along with safeties Tom Scanlon and Skylar Griffenberg all led an Ithaca defensive effort that contained Salisbury's strong running attack. Carter had 18 tackles, while Scanlon and Duggan added 10 each. Hardenberg had nine tackles and Griffenberg made eight stops. Salisbury ran 57 times for 240 yards, which was 32 yards below its season average. Defensive end Mike Sheldon made a career-high nine tackles for Ithaca.

Ithaca once again used a significant advantage in special teams in its latest victory. In addition to the missed kicks late in the game by Salisbury, the Bombers also blocked a Salisbury punt in the second quarter that led to Ithaca's first touchdown of the game. Ithaca linebacker Brian Hardenberg blocked a Salisbury punt with 2:58 remaining in the second quarter and it was recovered by Noah Poskanzer at the Salisbury 15-yard line. After two runs by Evan Skea, quarterback Tom Dempsey ran it in from 10 yards out to score for Ithaca and tie the game 10-10 just before halftime.

Dempsey added to his touchdown run with a pair of touchdown passes. He completed 15-of-25 passes for 149 yards. He connected with seven different receivers and also caught one of his own deflected passes.

The Bombers took a lead in the third quarter, after taking the opening drive of the second half all the way down the field for a touchdown. The drive started with a 38-yard kickoff return by Sam Carney, and Ithaca marched nine plays for 62 yards for the touchdown, which was an 11-yard pass from Dempsey to Joel Lynch.

Ithaca started its comeback from a 10-point first-half deficit with a 29-yard field goal by Garrett Nicholson with 4:54 remaining in the second quarter. The next drive led to the punt block and subsequent touchdown run by Dempsey.

Evan Skea led Ithaca's rushing attack with 102 yards on 28 carries. It is his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Vito Boffoli had five receptions for 51 yards and Prugar had four catches for 48 yards, including the winning touchdown.

BOMBER NOTES

* It was the ninth consecutive game in which Ithaca held its opponent below their season scoring average. Salisbury totaled 23 points, and entered the game scoring 26.6 points per game.

* The Sea Gulls use a run-oriented offense and completed just three passes in seven attempts for a total of 56 passing yards in the game. This was the first game this season that Ithaca did not intercept a pass.

* The Bombers held Salisbury to just four third-down conversions in 14 attempts in the game. Salisbury entered the game converting 41 percent of its third downs.

* Hardenberg led Ithaca with two tackles for loss, and the Bombers totaled six tackles in the Salisbury backfield in the game.

* Ithaca won the inaugural Empire 8 title in 2002 and repeated as conference champion in 2003, posting a 4-0 league record each season. In 2004 the Bombers and St. John Fisher tied for the conference title with 5-1 records. In 2005 the Bombers posted the Empire 8's first 6-0 record en route to their fourth league championship then won the title outright in 2008 with a 5-1 mark.

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