Senior Pete Celebre (Strath Haven/Wallingford, Pa.) rushed for 118 yards -- including 96 in the second half -- and a pair of touchdowns to rally 12th-ranked Ithaca past visiting St. John Fisher 20-19 in front of 1,769 fans. The win was Ithaca's sixth in as many games with the Cardinals and allowed the Bombers, who trailed 13-0 at the half and 19-7 after three quarters, to clinch a share of the Empire 8 title. Celebre, who gained 53 yards on 15 fourth-quarter carries, scored on runs of one and three yards to pull the Bombers to within a touchdown of the Cardinals, who had opened the season 3-0 for the second straight year. Ithaca's winning drive ended with a 19-yard pass from sophomore Josh Felicetti (Central Bucks East/Doylestown, Pa.) to junior Jeff Welch (Ithaca/Ithaca) with 8:30 left. Freshman Brett Kitenplon (Admiral Farragut Academy/Seminole, Fla.) kicked the extra point to break a 19-19 tie and put the Bombers ahead for good. The Bombers held St. John Fisher to 51 yards on 19 plays on the Cardinals' final three drives, stopping them twice on fourth down. Ithaca stopped the nation's leading rusher on a fourth-and-one play, with junior defensive tackle Alex Shafiro (New Rochelle/New Rochelle) and junior defensive end Bryan Steele (Hudson Falls/Hudson Falls) combining for a one-yard loss to give the Bombers the ball back with 3:13 left. After the Bombers drove to the Cardinal seven-yard line, St. John Fisher's defense held and the Cardinals moved the ball 24 yards on 11 plays before St. John Fisher's quarterback was sacked by junior defensive end Nick Thayer (Ithaca/Ithaca) and senior defensive end David Prutting (New Canaan/New Canaan, Conn.) on fourth down as the clock ran out. Thayer set up Ithaca's winning touchdown drive by recovering a St. John Fisher fumble on the Cardinal 47 with 12:11 left in the fourth quarter. Celebre gained 20 yards on five carries to help set up Felicetti's winning touchdown pass to Welch. Felicetti finished with 169 passing yards, completing 14 of 21 passes without an interception. He raised his career total to 1,860 yards, good for fifth on Ithaca's all-time list after just 11 games. Celebre's first touchdown run came with 4:18 left in the third quarter. Following their final touchdown, the Cardinals' two-point conversion attempt was thwarted when freshman defensive tackle Dave Celeste (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda) pressured the quarterback into an incompletion. Welch led Ithaca's receivers with three catches for 64 yards. Celebre's 100-yard rushing effort was the sixth of his career and his third in a row, making him the first Bomber with three consecutive 100-yard rushing games in three years. Ithaca's defense was paced by sophomore linebacker Dustin Ross (Salamanca/Salamanca), who finished with a career-best 15 tackles. Senior strong safety Jon Edgcomb (Honeoye Falls-Lima/Honeoye Falls) and junior cornerback Matt Tosh (Abington Heights/Clarks Summit, Pa.) each made a career-high 14 stops. Senior middle linebacker Robert Truman (Allegany-Limestone/Allegany) recorded 13 tackles.