Box Score ITHACA, N.Y. -- The 13th-ranked Ithaca College football team remained undefeated with a 27-10 victory over Utica on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers scored a touchdown in each quarter and used a blocked-punt return touchdown to take a commanding lead in the victory. Ithaca is 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Empire 8. It was Utica's first loss of the year, as the Pioneers are 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
 
Utica took a first-quarter lead with a 39-yard field goal, but Ithaca responded with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Tom Dempsey to Chris Bauer with 2:11 remaining in the quarter to take a 7-3 lead. It was the longest play from scrimmage for either team in the game, and Ithaca never trailed in the remainder of the contest.
 
A seven-minute touchdown drive in the second quarter extended Ithaca's lead to 14-3. The drive covered 91 yards in 14 plays and was capped by a 6-yard pass from Dempsey to Vito Boffoli with 1:39 left in the half. It was Boffoli's third receiving touchdown in the last two weeks.
 
The biggest play of the game came midway through the third quarter. Utica started a drive at its own 28 and went three-and-out. Ithaca broke through the line of scrimmage and Trevon Perez-Tucker blocked the punt attempt by Utica's Dakota Peel, the ball bounced up into the arms of Ithaca's Ryan Michaels, who returned the ball 19 yards for a touchdown to give Ithaca a 21-3 lead.
 
Utica came back with a 91-yard touchdown drive on its next possession. J'Von Evans scored on a 6-yard run to make it 21-10.
 
Ithaca put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by Tristan Brown with 6:54 left. That drive started with a deceptive play as Boffoli took a handoff from Dempsey and then completed a pass to Joel Lynch for 34 yards.
 
Brown ran for 103 yards in the game on 22 carries. It was the second-career 100-yard rushing game for the freshman, who ran for 129 in a Sept. 20 win against Hartwick. Dempsey completed 15-of-23 pass attempts for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Boffoli finished with five catches for 28 yards and Bauer had four catches for a team-leading and career-best 61 yards.
 
Ithaca's defense had 13 pass break-ups in the game. That is the fourth-highest single-game team total in NCAA Division III football this season. It also tied a school single-game record for pass break-ups previously achieved Sept. 13, 2002 at Alfred. Utica quarterback Connor Butkiewicz completed just 20 of 44 pass attempts.
 
Defensive end Rob Barbieri had three pass break-ups for Ithaca, and Chris Williams, Sam Carney, Ryan Michaels and Andrew Homkey had two pass break-ups each. The Ithaca defense stopped Utica effectively on key downs, as the Pioneers were 5-for-18 on third-down conversions and 1-for-3 on fourth down.
 
BOMBER NOTES
 
* The blocked punt return for a touchdown was the first time that an Ithaca team scored on such a play since the 2006 season, when Brian Hogan returned the ball eight yards for a score after Ray Lake blocked the punt in a 24-7 win over 14th-ranked Springfield on Oct. 28, 2006 game at Butterfield Stadium.
 
* Malik Morris and Marc Recio were Ithaca's leading tacklers with nine stops apiece.
 
* Ithaca didn't commit a turnover for the second week in a row.
 
* Garrett Nicholson converted his first three extra-point attempts of the game before missing in the fourth quarter. The miss snapped a streak of 23 consecutive made extra points for Nicholson.
 
* Elsewhere in the Empire 8, Salisbury defeated No. 7 St. John Fisher in overtime, which leaves Ithaca as the only Empire 8 team with an undefeated record. The Bombers hold sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
 
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Game Highlights from ICTV: