Box Score ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team returned to the win column with a 32-7 victory over Salisbury on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers limited Salisbury to just 74 rushing yards in the game. The Sea Gulls entered the game ranked fourth in the nation with 345.8 rushing yards per game. Ithaca is 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the Empire 8. Salisbury is 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference.
 
Ithaca outgained Salisbury 410-141 in total yards and the Bombers held an 18-minute advantage in time of possession. It is the first time that Salisbury has been held under 100 yards rushing since Oct. 31, 2009 against Wesley, when Salisbury ran for 84 total yards.
 
Ithaca's defense had six tackles for loss for 41 yards, two were recorded by Rob Barbieri and two by Logan Murphy.
 
The Bomber defense played their assignments responsibly throughout the game against Salisbury's triple-option offense, which led to six players sharing the team lead in tackles with five stops each. Malik Morris, Trevon Perez-Tucker, Logan Murphy and Andrew Homkey each had a fumble recovery. Anthony Domenick had an interception.
 
The Bombers converted four field goals on five attempts and scored on three passing touchdowns in the victory. Long-distance place-kicker Max Rottenecker made field goals of 41, 45 and 31 yards and missed just short on a 46-yard attempt into the wind. Garrett Nicholson kicked a 19-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and converted two of three extra-point attempts.
 
Ithaca quarterback Tom Dempsey moved up to sixth in the school's record book in career passing yards. He passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Dempsey completed 26 of 37 passes in the game with no interceptions. He connected with seven different receivers in the game, and six of them had multiple receptions.
 
Ben Cary had a career-high nine catches and totaled 85 yards including a 15-yard touchdown. Andrew Tabbert had a career-high 121 yards on five catches and caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dempsey late in the first quarter to extend Ithaca's lead to 10-0.
 
Ithaca built a 19-0 lead in the first half before yielding Salisbury's only score of the game, a touchdown in the final minute of the first half. Rottenecker made a field goal on Ithaca's opening drive and Dempsey hit Tabbert for a 30-yard strike on the first play from scrimmage after the Sea Gulls fumbled an Ithaca punt. It was the first of four fumbles for the Sea Gulls, and Salisbury also threw an interception.
 
The Bombers scored twice in the second quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Dempsey to Chris Bauer and a 45-yard field goal from Rottenecker. In the second half, Dempsey hit Cary from 15 yards out, and Nicholson and Rottenecker each made a field goal in the fourth quarter.
 
Ithaca returns to action next week at Brockport at 1 p.m.
 
BOMBER NOTES
 
* Senior receiver Vito Boffoli caught five passes for 42 yards. With those five receptions, Boffoli has 100 career catches. He is the 10th player in Ithaca program history to record 100 catches in a career.

* In Salisbury's time as an affiliate member of the Empire 8, Ithaca has posted three wins in four games against the Sea Gulls. Over three and a half years in the conference, Salisbury's Empire 8 record in that time is 21-5, but just 1-3 against Ithaca.
 
* In the rushing game, Tommy Padula had 17 carries for 53 yards for Ithaca and John Iannone carried 12 times for 27 yards.
 
* Ithaca forced a season-best five opponent turnovers, the first time that the Bombers have had five takeaways since doing so in back-to-back games against Utica and St. John Fisher in the middle of the 2013 season.
 
* Rottenecker made three field goals, the first Ithaca kicker to make three field goals in a game since Andrew Rogowski converted from 41, 21 and 31 yards on Sept. 17, 2011 at Union.
 
* Elsewhere in the Empire 8, Utica defeated Buffalo State and Ithaca moved into second place with a 4-2 conference record. St. John Fisher leads the league with a 4-1 Empire 8 record. Ithaca faces St. John Fisher on Nov. 8.
 
 
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