SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: St. John Fisher has opened 3-0 for the third straight year, beating three teams that have combined for a 3-6 record. Last week the Cardinals routed Mount Ida 65-20 behind five touchdowns from sophomore running back Mark Robinson, who has rushed for 516 yards this fall. Senior Curt Fitzpatrick has thrown for 630 yards and five scores, completing 42 of 69 passes. Junior wide receiver Noah Fehrenbach has caught a team-best 10 passes. Robinson and senior wideout Eric Praetorius have two touchdown catches apiece. Senior linebacker Mike Fox leads St. John Fisher with 33 tackles; he and senior lineman Justin Webb (the team's sack leader with three) each have 4.5 tackles for loss. Senior Will Bean averages 38.9 yards per punt and has made all seven of his field goal attempts and 12 of 13 extra-point tries.<>
LAST WEEK: Junior wide receiver Justin Esposito (Fayetteville-Manlius/Manlius) caught a career-best three touchdown passes as the 12th-ranked Bombers routed visiting Hartwick 47-8 in front of 1,492 at Butterfield Stadium. The game was the Empire 8 opener for both teams.

OFFENSIVE RECAP: Esposito caught a pair of touchdown passes in a 25-second span of the second quarter - a 35-yard reception from junior quarterback Josh Felicetti (Central Bucks East/Doylestown, Pa.) and a 32-yard pass from senior wide receiver Jeff Welch (Ithaca/Ithaca) on a reverse. Esposito also caught a nine-yard touchdown from Felicetti on Ithaca's first drive of the third quarter. Felicetti, who completed a career-best 24 of 37 passes, matched a personal high with four touchdown passes. He threw his first touchdown pass of the game to senior tight end Vince Dargush (Amsterdam/Amsterdam) to cap Ithaca's first possession - a 32-yard completion 3:19 into the game. Felicetti's final touchdown pass was a 26-yard completion to junior wide receiver PJ Canestrari (Randolph/Ironia, N.J.), who scored his first career touchdown. Welch led Ithaca's receivers with 10 catches (a career-high) for 95 yards. Esposito caught four passes for a career-best 90 yards. Dargush caught four passes for 41 yards. Junior wide receiver Kyle Rutherford (New Milford/Katy, Texas) and sophomore running back Jamie Donovan (Sidwell Friends/Washington, D.C.) each made their first career reception. Sophomore Alex Baez (Patchogue-Medford/Medford) ran for a team-leading 55 yards on 10 carries. Ithaca's offensive line - the starting unit of sophomore left tackle Brett Monnat (Ogdensburg/Ogdensburg), junior left guard Joe Scalice (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda), senior center Mike D'Amico (Geneva/Geneva), right guard Mark Hedglin (Abington Heights/Clarks Summit, Pa.) and senior right tackle Chris Swiss (Haddam Killingworth/Higganum, Conn.) and the second unit of sophomore left tackle Jason Willis (Sachem/Lake Ronkonkoma), freshman left guard Sean McLaughlin (Fairport/Fairport), sophomore center Justin Brunell (Bishop Feehan/Rehoboth, Mass.), sophomore right guard Aaron Rossi (Roxbury/Flanders, N.J.) and sophomore right tackle Garrett Couture (Ithaca/Ithaca) - allowed just two sacks as the Bombers attempted 42 passes.

DEFENSIVE NOTES: The Bombers forced four turnovers, and scored their first defensive touchdown of the season. Junior linebacker Dustin Ross (Salamanca/Salamanca) returned a fourth-quarter interception 64 yards for his first career touchdown. Ross and sophomore strong safety Charlie Stephens (Staples/Westport, Conn.), who collected his first career interception, each recorded a team-best eight tackles, including one for loss apiece. Junior middle linebacker Jose Colon (Thomas R. Proctor/Utica) added seven tackles. Junior cornerback Bob Higgins (Aquinas Institute/Rochester) made his first career start and finished with six tackles and an interception. Senior cornerback Fred Soliman (Perry/Silver Springs) recorded his first career interception. Senior defensive tackle Alex Shafiro (New Rochelle/New Rochelle) finished with a pair of tackles for loss including a 10-yard sack on the game's first play. Two plays later the Bombers picked up two points when a high Hartwick snap went out of the end zone for a safety. Sophomore Joe Napoleone (Greece Arcadia/Rochester) broke up three passes.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT: Sophomore Brett Kitenplon (Admiral Farragut Academy/Seminole, Fla.) converted extra points after Ithaca's first five touchdowns - stretching his streak to 15, dating back to last season - and added a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter. The field goal was his fifth straight in another streak that dates back to last fall. Sophomore Chris O'Neill (Riverdale Country School/Bronxville) kicked the extra point after Ithaca's last touchdown. Freshman Dave Fischer (Quakertown/Quakertown, Pa.) made his varsity debut returning kickoffs and averaged 34.0 yards per return, including a 40-yard effort on his first career return. Higgins led the Bombers with three special teams tackles. Junior Dan Varney (Bellport/East Patchogue) collected two and Stephens had a tackle for loss on a Hartwick punt return.

EMPIRE 8 UPDATE: This season marks the third year of Empire 8-sponsored football, but the first time that the conference's champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The addition of Norwich and Springfield as affiliate members brings the league's total to seven football playing members.
______Ithaca and Springfield tied for first in the inaugural Empire 8 preseason coach's poll. The Bombers received three first-place votes, the most of any school.
______The Bombers won the inaugural Empire 8 title and repeated as conference champion last year, posting a 4-0 league record each season. Ithaca also won conference titles in the Independent College Athletic Conference (forerunner to the Empire 8) in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. Ithaca owns a 70-24-2 (.740) advantage against the conference's current members.
______Ithaca has won nine straight Empire 8 games and has not lost a league game of any kind since a 1983 loss to Hobart (when the two teams were members of the Empire 8's forerunner, the Independent College Athletic Conference), winning 20 straight since then.

NATIONAL RANKING: In the initial national statistics released by the NCAA (through games of Sept. 11), senior defensive end Alex Shafiro was tied for first in forced fumbles (2.0 per game), sophomore cornerback Joe Napoleone ranked third in interceptions (2.0 per game) and tied for seventh in forced fumbles (1.0 per game), senior linebacker Andy Ackerman (Mamaroneck/Mamaroneck), junior defensive tackle Chris Morgan (Aquinas Institute/Spencerport) and senior linebacker Anthony Mucurio (Thomas R. Proctor/Utica) were tied for seventh in forced fumbles (1.0 per game), sophomore defensive end Mark Licwinko (North Penn/Lansdale, Pa.) was ninth in sacks (2.0 per game), junior Nick Aiello (Allegany-Limestone/Allegany) was 23rd in punting (39.8 yards per punt), junior linebacker Jose Colon was 23rd in interceptions per game (1.0 per game), sophomore placekicker Brett Kitenplon was 23rd in field goals (1.0 per game), junior wide receiver Justin Esposito and senior fullback Jamie Free (The Gunnery School/Brookfield, Conn.) were tied for 24th in scoring (12.0 ppg) and senior defensive end Sean Skinner (Mynderse Academy/Seneca Falls) was 29th in tackles for loss (2.5 per game).
______As a team Ithaca was tied for first in scoring defense (0.0 ppg), second in turnover margin (+7.0), 10th in total defense (155.0 ypg), 12th in rushing defense (38.0 ypg), 17th in pass efficiency defense (65.1), 19th in scoring offense (45.0 ppg), 26th in rushing offense (253.0 ypg) and 35th in total offense (443.0 ypg).

POLL POSITION: The Bombers are ranked 11th in D3football.com's third regular-season poll. They were ranked 10th in the AFCA's first regular-season poll and sixth in Football Gazette's second regular-season poll.
______Ithaca was ranked seventh in Sports Illustrated's preseason poll, 10th in Football Gazette's preseason poll and 13th in D3football.com's preseason poll.

UPSTATE UPDATE Ithaca is ranked first in the second regular-season Upstate New York poll, as voted on by the region's sports information directors.

RECORD WATCH: Senior defensive tackle Alex Shafiro collected his 12th career sack, tying him with senior defensive end Bryan Steele (Hudson Falls/Hudson Falls) for 13th on Ithaca's career list.
______Junior quarterback Josh Felicetti raised his career total of 3,712 passing yards, moving to within 288 yards of becoming the fourth Bomber to reach 4,000 and to within 418 yards from eclipsing Neal Weidman (4,129 yards from 1994 to 1996) for third place. Felicetti's four touchdown passes raised his career total to 33, moving him past all-American Todd Wilkowski (30 from 1988 to 1991) for fourth on that list. Felicetti also ranks second in career completion percentage (.584) and fourth in career completions (277).
______Senior wide receiver Jeff Welch raised his career total to 70 catches, good for 14th on Ithaca's career list. He is 10 receptions away from moving into the program's top 10. He already holds a spot in the program's top 10 for career touchdown catches (eighth with 11) and ranks 13th with 1,105 career receiving yards.
______Junior wide receiver Justin Esposito raised his career total to 55 career receptions, moving into 19th on Ithaca's all-time list.
______Senior fullback Jamie Free raised his career total to 42 catches, moving into 25th on Ithaca's all-time list. His total is fifth among Ithaca backs (and first among fullbacks).
______Senior tight end Vince Dargush has 26 career catches, the seventh-highest career total by a Bomber tight end.
______Sophomore placekicker Brett Kitenplo has scored 67 points, eighth among Ithaca placekickers. He is five points away from moving into the program's top five. With nine career field goals, Kitenplon is one away from becoming the 10th Bomber with 10.
______Junior punter Nick Aiello raised his career total to 2,033 punting yards, leaving him 160 yards short of 10th on Ithaca's career list. His career average of 37.6 yards per punt is Ithaca's second-highest figure.

ITHACA ITEMS: Ithaca has posted a winning record in each of the last 33 seasons. The Bombers own the nation's eighth-longest active streak of winning seasons (sixth-best among Division III schools).
______Since 1985, Ithaca is 51-8 (.864) during September, including a 28-5 (.848) record under Mike Welch. The Bombers have won 25 of their last 27 September games.
______The Bombers have won 20 of their last 21 games at Butterfield Stadium.
______The Bombers now own a 9-3 series lead over Hartwick, thanks to wins in the last four meetings.
______The Bombers have surrendered an average of just 10.1 points per game to their last 11 opponents. Only once in their last 25 games have the Bombers given up more than 21 points.
______Since resuming their varsity football program in 1992, the Hawks have scored eight touchdowns in four games against Ithaca and have not converted an extra point after any of them.
______Through two games of the 2004 season three Bombers (Josh Felicetti, Jeff O'Hara and Jeff Welch) have thrown touchdown passes; the last time three Ithaca players threw touchdown passes in an entire season was 2000 (Brian Young, Greg Sheeler and Tommy Giorgio).
______Jeff Welch's touchdown pass made him Ithaca's first non-quarterback to throw for a score since running back Tommy Giorgio threw a touchdown pass at Cortland in a 19-14 win on Nov. 11, 2000. The last Ithaca receiver to throw a touchdown pass was Tim Nunn, who completed a 47-yard touchdown throw in a 49-14 win at St. Lawrence on Sept. 14, 1974.
______Jeff Welch's 10 receptions were the most by a Bomber receiver since Abe Ceesay caught 11 passes in a 30-17 win at Hobart on Oct. 31, 1998.
______Justin Esposito is the first Bomber to catch more than one touchdown pass in back-to-back games since Matt Buddenhagen did so against St. Lawrence and American International in 1998.
______Brett Kitenplon has made his last five field-goal attempts, dating back to last season. That matches Brian Bicher, who converted five straight during the 2002 season, for the third-longest streak by a Bomber kicker. All-American Ed Mahoney holds the school record with a streak of 11.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS: Award winners for the Hartwick game, as chosen by the coaching staff, were: Outstanding Back: Welch; Outstanding Lineman: Dustin Ross; Specialist of the Week: Kitenplon; Hustler of the Week: Willis; Offensive Scout Team Player of the Week: senior wide receiver Ryan Dona (Jamesville-DeWitt/DeWitt); Defensive Scout Team Player of the Week: sophomore free safety Tim Stezzi (Council Rock/Langhorne, Pa.); Honorary Offensive Captain: senior fullback Jamie Free; and Honorary Defensive Captain: Alex Shafiro. Play of the Game awards were given to sophomore running back Jamie Donovan for offense; Joe Napoleone for defense; and sophomore Dan Ross (Tonawanda/Tonawanda) for special teams.

BROADCAST NEWS: The St. John Fisher game will be broadcast by WICB-FM (91.7) in Ithaca. Senior Nels McLaughlin and junior Brendan Burke will call the game, beginning at 12:30 p.m. with the Countdown to Kickoff pregame show. WICB's coverage can also be heard through TEAMLINE, a pay-per-listen service, by calling 800/846-7000. Ithaca's access code is 3945.

NEXT WEEK: The Bombers return home to celebrate Homecoming, hosting the Lycoming Warriors on Saturday, Oct 2. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Ithaca's Butterfield Stadium. This week the Warriors (1-1) play at Albright (2-0).

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Ithaca sports information director Mike Warwick in the sports information office at (607/274-1401) or mwarwick@ithaca.edu, or at home (607/257-9720) or St. John Fisher SID Norm Kieffer (585/385-8421).