Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team began its season with a 21-16 win over Union on Saturday afternoon at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers withstood a Union comeback attempt in the game's final minutes and Ithaca safety Noah Poskanzer deflected a Union pass in the endzone on fourth down to preserve the victory.
 
Ithaca continued its incredible run of success in season-opening games. This win gave Ithaca its 34th season-opening victory in the last 38 years.
 
Quarterback Tom Dempsey threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers for the Ithaca scoring plays and the running-back tandem of Tristan Brown and Shawal Abdur-Rahman combined for 109 yards on 27 carries.
 
Ithaca drove deep into Union territory on the opening drive and missed a short field-goal attempt. Union answered with a 13-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a 34-yard field goal by Jonathan Schaible.
 
The Bombers got on the board on their next possession. Ithaca covered 85 yards in just seven plays. The drive was capped by Dempsey's 26-yard strike to Brendan Wojtowicz in the back of the end zone, one play after a 42-yard completion from Dempsey to Chris Bauer.
 
Union went back ahead on a 1-yard touchdown run from Darnel Thomas with 6:31 remaining in the second quarter. Their 10-7 advantage was their last lead of the game.
 
Ithaca answered again with a 10-play, 71-yard drive. Dempsey threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Whiteley with 1:32 left in the quarter and Ithaca led 14-10.
 
In the third quarter, Ithaca stretched the advantage to 21-10 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Dempsey to Andrew Tabbert.
 
Union scored in the fourth quarter on an 82-yard touchdown run by Thomas, who finished the game with 169 rushing yards. A two-point conversion attempt was deflected and intercepted by Ithaca's Joe Ricotta, and the Bombers held a 21-16 lead.
 
Another long Ithaca drive stalled deep in Union territory, and it set up the Dutchmen at their own 29 with 2:38 remaining. Union converted four first downs in their two-minute offense and had first-and-goal from the 10. After spiking the ball to stop the clock, three incomplete passes followed, with the fourth-down play being broken up by Poskanzer in the back corner of the endzone with 12 seconds left in the game.
 
An entirely new Ithaca secondary led the way defensively. Cornerback Ryan Michaels had a career-high 12 tackles in the game, while safeties Anthony Domenick and Noah Poskanzer had eight tackles each. Chris Friedlander had Ithaca's only sack of the game. Ithaca deflected six pass attempts by the Dutchmen.
 
Dempsey was 16-for-24 for 222 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Seven different players caught passes, and five had multiple receptions. It was the second time in Dempsey's career that he has thrown three TD passes, with the last game coming at Utica in the 2013 season.
 
Tabbert had four catches for 41 yards. Chris Bauer and Vito Boffoli had three catches each. Tight end Kyle Hastings made his first career start and led Ithaca with 61 receiving yards.
 
BOMBER NOTES
 
* Whiteley and Tabbert caught their first-ever collegiate touchdown passes.
 
* Ithaca forced one turnover, a fumble recovery by Schnayder Termidor on Union's opening possession of the second half. The Dutchmen had marched inside Ithaca's 20-yard line before coughing up the ball.
 
* Punter Mike Lopez was called on to punt three times and all three backed Union up inside of its own 20. Two were downed and just one was returned.
 
* The Bombers saw a scoring opportunity slip away at the end of the second quarter. A 66-yard punt return by Josh Oliver set up Ithaca at the Union 8 yard line with 16 seconds left in the half, but a pass into the endzone was intercepted by the Dutchmen. Ithaca also missed two field goals.
 
* Ithaca welcomed special guests from the Bath Veterans Association Medical Center for their annual trip to Butterfield Stadium, accompanied by their friends at the Ithaca Elks Lodge.

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