Box Score ITHACA, N.Y. - The 19th-ranked Ithaca College football team began conference play with a 42-7 win over Hartwick on Saturday at Butterfield Stadium. Ithaca scored four touchdowns in the second half to pull away in a convincing win. Hartwick's only score came on its last drive of the game. Ithaca is 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Empire 8. Hartwick fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
 
Ithaca led 14-0 at halftime on a pair of touchdowns by Ben Cary. The fullback / tight end caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tom Dempsey with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. He added a 23-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second quarter with 11:47 left. Cary ran in for a score in the third quarter from 2 yards out. He became the first Ithaca player to score three touchdowns in the same game since Tom Bergerstock scored three times at Utica in the 2009 season.
 
With the 14-0 halftime lead, Ithaca received the second-half kickoff and went up by three scores. After an 8-yard pass from Tom Dempsey to Chris Bauer, freshman running back Tristan Brown broke through the right side and went down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown. Brown finished the game with 129 yards on 14 carries.
 
Ithaca's fourth-quarter scores came on a 10-yard run by Shawal Abdur-Rahman and a 48-yard pass from Ryan Condon to Mike Lopez. It was the first touchdown pass in the career of Condon, and the first touchdown reception of Lopez's career. Abdur-Rahman had a career-high 71 yards on just 11 carries.
 
On defense, Ithaca held Hartwick to eight rushing yards in the first half and forced punts on four possessions and a turnover on downs in another Hartwick drive. The Hawks entered the game averaging 41.5 points per game. Hartwick running back Greg Bell had just 13 yards on eight carries. In Hartwick's previous game, Bell ran for 331 yards against Morrisville.
 
The Bombers out-gained Hartwick by nearly 200 yards, as Ithaca totaled 509 yards and allowed the Hawks just 312 yards. Ithaca recorded five sacks on defense, with two of those coming from Schnayder Termidor. Chris Williams, Andrew Homkey and Rob Barbieri had the other sacks.
 
Freshman linebacker Kenneth Bradley and senior safety Tom Schlett led Ithaca with six total tackles each. Linebacker Marc Recio had five tackles and two pass break-ups. Freshman cornerback Jordan Schemm also broke up two passes. Schlett, Williams, Homkey and Barbieri had forced fumbles. Anthony Cugini and Joe Ricotta had fumble recoveries. Ryan Michaels had his first career interception.
 
Dempsey finished the game 19-for-23 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Condon was 2-for-3 for 59 yards. Vito Boffoli caught five passes, and tight end Kyle Hastings led Ithaca with 62 receiving yards. Eight different players caught at least one pass.
 
Hartwick scored on a 10-play drive in the fourth quarter that covered 83 yards. Backup quarterback Billy Pine ran in from 1-yard out to get the Hawks on the board with 2:54 left in the game.
 
Ithaca continues Empire 8 play next week at Alfred, the first road game of the season for the Bombers.
 
BOMBER NOTES
 
* The Bombers finished with 509 yards of total offense, the first time that Ithaca has surpassed 500 yards in a game since 2008 -- a game that was also played on Sept. 20, and also against Hartwick (a 69-42 Ithaca win). Ithaca's offense was balanced, with 247 rushing yards and 262 passing yards.
 
* Ithaca's 35-point margin of victory was the most lopsided Ithaca victory since a 45-0 win over St. Lawrence to open the 2009 season.
 
* Ithaca didn't punt in the game. Six drives ended with touchdowns, three first-half drives ended on turnovers, one second-half drive saw a turnover on downs, and Ithaca held the ball at the end of both halves.
 
* Garrett Nicholson was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra-point attempts. He has made 18 straight point-after tries dating back to last season.
 
* Ithaca received just two kickoffs. One was a touchback, and the other was a 54-yard return for freshman Trevon Perez-Tucker. Ithaca is averaging 31.0 yards per kickoff return this season.
 
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