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Football

Ithaca College Football

Ithaca College Football

  ITHACA BOMBERS (5-2, 2-1 Empire 8)  vs. Springfield Pride (6-1, 2-1 Empire 8)

1 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Stagg Field at Benedum Stadium (c. 2,500); Springfield, Mass.

 

THE GAME: Ithaca makes its sixth – and final – road trip of the regular season, traveling to Massachusetts to face the Springfield Pride in an Empire 8 game Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Springfield's Benedum Field.

 

THE COACHES: In his 16th season as Ithaca's head coach, Mike Welch (Ithaca '73) has posted a 126-45 (.737) record, including a regular-season mark of 116-38 (.753). He entered the season 19th all-time among Division III coaches in winning percentage. A running back who earned two letters while playing for coach Jim Butterfield, Welch succeeded his former coach after spending 10 years as an assistant at his alma mater. He is 10-5 against Springfield.

        Pride coach Mike DeLong (Springfield '74) is in his 26th season at his alma mater, posting a 148-112-2 (.571) record. His overall record is 160-115-2 (.581) in 28 seasons. He is 7-18 against Ithaca.

 

THE SERIES: Ithaca owns a 27-8 series lead over the Pride, winning seven of the last eight including last year's 37-8  victory. The Bombers have won 12 of the 17 games in Springfield, winning five of the last six including a 48-21 win in their last trip to Massachusetts (Oct. 27, 2007). Ithaca is 10-4 against the Pride since the school moved from Division II to Division III.

 

LAST TIME THEY MET: Running back Thomas Bergerstock (Webster-Thomas/Webster) ran for 175 yards and four touchdowns as the #21 Bombers closed out an undefeated regular season at home, beating the visiting Pride 37-8 last Nov. 1.  Bergerstock raised his season totals to 20 touchdowns and 120 points, breaking 16-year-old school records in both categories. The Bomber defense held Springfield to 166 rushing yards and eight points. The Pride came in averaging 28 points and 249 rushing yards per game and converted just four-of-17 attempts on third and fourth down. Linebacker Matt Scalice (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda) led Ithaca with a game-best 11 tackles and was in on two of Ithaca's season-high 15 tackles for loss. Defensive end Matt Dibble (Columbia/East Schodack) was in on a career-high three tackles for loss. Strong safety David Ahonen (Victor/Farmington) recorded five tackles, including a career-best two for loss. Defensive end Adam Drescher  (Christian Brothers Academy/Fayetteville) recovered a fumble and collected a sack. Quarterback Brian Grastorf (Niskayuna/Rexford) completed all six of his throws for a career-best 110 yards in the third and fourth quarters. Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl, Pa.) ran for 64 yards on just five carries. Wideout Thomas Vossler (Saranac Lake/Loon Lake) caught three passes. Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst) kicked a 22-yard field goal and added extra points after four of Ithaca's five touchdowns.

 

 

 

 

SCOUTING THE PRIDE: Springfield has won eight of its last nine since last year's 29-point loss to the Bombers. The Pride's triple option is again one of the nation's top offense as Springfield ranks second nationally in rushing (386 ypg) and fifth in scoring (44 ppg). Sophomore quarterback Josh Carter leads the way, running for 806 yards and 14 touchdowns. Baldwin Cunningham (629 yards) has rushed for five scores with Joe Myhren and Brian Staub adding four apiece. Carter has thrown just 62 passes, but seven of his 28 completions have been for touchdowns. Tim Brady (17 catches, 270 yards, five TD's) is the only Springfield receiver to catch more than three passes. Ken Goodwin has made 41.5 tackles, including six for loss. Cody Flanagan (26 stops) leads the team with 11 tackles for loss. He, Chris Kulscar and Hendrick Jean each have at least three sacks. Free safety Jarred Burrell is tied for the team lead with five pass break-ups and is Division III's fourth-leading punt returner (17.57 yards per return). Springfield has converted 46 percent of its third-down attempts (43 of 93) and 56 percent of its fourth-down tries (nine of 16).

 

MAKING THE GRADE: Four Bombers have been named to the ballot for the District I College Division All-Academic Team: Scalice, a first-year student in the MBA program; senior center Mike Boch (East Rochester/East Rochester), an accounting major; senior free safety Chad Herring (Unatego/Unadilla), an exercise science major; and senior defensive tackle Kyle Scharles (Canandaigua Academy/Canandaigua), a clinical science/physical therapy major. The District I All-Academic Team honors student-athletes with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.30 from NCAA Division II and III and NAIA Division II schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. First-team selections to the nation's eight all-district teams are eligible for academic all-America honors.

 

EMPIRE 8 UPDATE: This season marks the eighth year of Empire 8-sponsored football and the fifth year that the conference's champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The 2004 addition of Norwich and Springfield as affiliate members brought the league's total to seven football playing members. Norwich dropped out of the conference following last season, but the NCAA allows conferences a two-year grace period to replace members in order to maintain their automatic bids. Frostburg State and Salisbury will join the Empire 8 as affiliate members for the 2011 season.

    The Bombers own an all-time record of 34-7 (.829) in league competition. They were picked atop the conference's preseason poll for the fifth time in the six years that the preseason balloting has been conducted.

    The Bombers won the inaugural Empire 8 title in 2002 and repeated as conference champion in 2003, posting a 4-0 league record each season. In 2004 Ithaca and St. John Fisher tied for the league crown with 5-1 records. In 2005 the Bombers posted the Empire 8's first 6-0 record en route to their fourth league championship then won the title outright last year with a 5-1 mark. The Bombers 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 92-31-2 (.728) advantage against the conference's current members.

 

WELL-RESTED: Ithaca was idle this week, marking the program's fourth year in a row having a week without a game during the regular season. Before 2005 Ithaca hadn't had a week off during the season since 1991. That year the Bombers took a week off between beating Buffalo State 41-23 and topping Cortland 23-14 on their way to winning their record third Stagg Bowl. Since 1958 the Bombers have had 10 seasons that featured a week off (1975, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991; in each case they won the game before the break and the game after the break. Seven of those 10 teams (1975, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 2007 and 2008) reached the NCAA playoffs.

 

BOUNCING BACK: Ithaca went into the Frostburg State game coming off a loss to St. John Fisher; the Bombers have lost a total of 72 games in the past 33 years and have now bounced back with a win their next time out 60 times.

 

ITHACA ITEMS: Ithaca's win over Utica last fall clinched the program's 37th straight winning season. The Bombers own the nation's second-longest active streak of winning seasons at any level of college football (Linfield has clinched its 53rd straight winning season).

    With four interceptions this fall, Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) is one short of the school record for most interceptions by a linebacker; he is tied with Chris Colloca (1990), Rich Pasquale (1997), Mark McDonough (2000) and Dustin Ross (2005). John Laper holds the record with five in 1979.

        Matt Scalice's start Saturday was the 36th of his career; with three regular-season games remaining, he's three short of matching the career record held by his brother Joe, an all-American offensive tackle at Ithaca from 2002 to 2005.

        Adam Drescher's blocked extra point try against St. John Fisher marked the eighth block of his career and extended his school record of six blocked PAT attempts. Only Dave Stone (nine blocks: four field goals and five punts) has more blocks.

    Through seven games, four Bomber wide receivers have caught a touchdown pass (Eric Breton, Matt Hannon, Dan Ruffrage and Thomas Vossler); that's one short of the school-record five wideouts who caught scoring passes in 2005 and again last season.

    Ithaca's comeback at Utica marked the fifth time since 2001 that the Bombers have rallied from a third-quarter deficit of at least 10 points. In 2005 Ithaca trailed St. John Fisher by 14 points with nine minutes left before winning 41-35 in overtime; in 2003 the Bombers trailed St. John Fisher 19-7 in the fourth quarter before winning 20-19, in 2002 Ithaca trailed Hartwick 18-7 in the fourth quarter before scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final 6:41 to win 19-18 and in 2001 Ithaca scored twice in the last 5:29 to beat Springfield 17-16 after trailing 16-3.

    The Bombers have won four of their last five games on artificial turf; under Mike Welch Ithaca is 28-15.

 

RECORD WATCH: (note Ithaca career and season records include post-season games since 2002; statistics compiled in post-season games before that do not count toward Ithaca career and season records)

    Senior running back Thomas Bergerstock raised his career total to 1,690 yards, good into 11th on the program's all-time list. The 29th Bomber to gain 1,000 career yards (and the 10th Ithaca running back to reach that total since 1998); he became the program's 17th 1,500-yard rusher. His 24 career rushing scores are fifth on Ithaca's all-time list. The 27th Bomber with 100 career points, Bergerstock ranks ninth on the all-time scoring list. He is five points away from seventh.

    Junior running back Dan Ruggiero has raised his career total to 872 rushing yards; he's 128 yards away from becoming the program's 30th 1,000-yard rusher.

    Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf raised his career total to 2,699 yards Saturday. His 26 touchdown passes and 219 completions are both seventh all-time and his .602 completion percentage and 139.4 rating rank third and sixth, respectively.

    With 1,744 yards this fall, Grastorf ranks 12th on the program's single-season list. His 17 touchdown passes and 155 completions are eighth and ninth, respectively. His .625 completion percentage and 137.7 rating would rank second and eighth on Ithaca's single-season lists.

    Junior wide receiver Thomas Vossler is now tied for 16th on Ithaca's career list with 76 receptions. He's 16 catches away from a spot in the top 10. Vossler raised his career total to 1,024 receiving yards, becoming the 18th Bomber to gain 1,000.

    Linebacker Matt Scalice, a graduate student, raised his total to 291 tackles, good for sixth all-time at Ithaca. The 26th Bomber to reach 200, he's eight away from fifth all-time at Ithaca and needs nine to become the fifth Bomber with 300.

    Sophomore Andrew Rogowski raised his total to 106 points, good for fourth all-time among Ithaca kickers. With 73 extra points he's fifth all-time and his 11 field goals are tied for fifth. Rogowski's 73.3 accuracy rate on field goals is the best ever by an Ithaca kicker with at least 10 attempts and only two Bomber kickers have higher PAT percentages than his 94.8 success rate. Rogowski became the 28th Bomber (and sixth kicker) to reach 100 career points and ranks 22nd all-time on the program's scoring list.

    Junior tight end Dan Higgins (Gates-Chili/Rochester) has caught 27 passes, good for 10th among tight ends on Ithaca's career list. His 23 catches this fall rank 10th on the single-season tight end list as well.

    Senior defensive tackle Joe Goetz (New Hyde Park Memorial/New Hyde Park) has recorded 11 career sacks, good for 17th all-time at Ithaca. He needs two more to match the Bombers' 10th-highest all-time total.


HOMECOMING AGAIN? Last week's win at Frostburg State marked the Bombers' third straight Homecoming game – Ithaca spoiled Hartwick's Homecoming two weeks ago with a 24-20 win before hosting St. John Fisher the next week in their own Homecoming. Since 1997 the Bombers have won 22 of 23 Homecoming games – posting wins at Alfred (2002), American International (1998), Brockport (1998 and 2006), Frostburg State (2009) Hartwick (2009, 2005 and 2003), St. Lawrence (1997) and Springfield (2005) in addition to winning all 10 of their own 11 Homecoming games.

 

NATIONAL LEADERS: Ithaca ranks among the NCAA leaders in two individual and two team categories through games of Oct. 17.

        Junior Dan Ruffrage ranks 18th in punt returns (13.31 yards per return) and sophomore linebacker Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) ranks 40th in interceptions (0.57 per game).

        As a team Ithaca ranks 21st in punt returns (13.00) and 27th in turnover margin (+ 1.14).

 

INTERCEPTION INFORMATION: Joe Gilfedder's team-best four interceptions is Division III's second-highest total by a linebacker this year. As a team, Ithaca has picked off 14 passes; only Curry (15), Monmouth (15) and Westfield State (15) have more. The Bombers are on pace for 20 interceptions this fall; Ithaca hasn't had as many as 20 in a year since 1996.

 

BROADCAST NEWS: The Springfield game will be broadcast by WICB-FM (91.7) in Ithaca. Senior Andrew Champagne and junior Josh Getzoff will call the game, beginning at 1:30 p.m. with the Countdown to Kickoff pregame show. WICB's coverage – which also includes a live post-game call-in show – can also be heard online 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 close out conference play, hosting the #24 Alfred Saxons (6-0, 3-0 Empire 8). The Saxons host Rochester (3-4) this weekend.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Ithaca sports information director Mike Warwick in the sports information office (607/274-1401 or mwarwick@ithaca.edu) or at home (607/662-4446) or Springfield SID Steve Raczynski (413/748-3342).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2009 SCHEDULE

 

  Ithaca College (5-2, 2-1 Empire 8 Time   Springfield (6-1, 1-1 Empire 8) Time
9/5 at St. Lawrence (2-5) W, 45-0 9/5 Fitchburg State (4-4) W, 55-7
9/12 at Union (5-2) L, 21-24 91/2 at King's (2-5) W, 57-30
9/19 Widener (3-4) W, 41-17 9/19 Idle  
9/26 at Utica (3-4) * W, 27-24 9/26 at Alfred (6-0) * L, 28-49
10/3 at Hartwick (4-3) * W, 24-20 10/3 at Utica (3-4) * W, 43-16
10/10 St. John Fisher (4-3) * L, 17-40 10/10 Husson (3-4) W, 39-14
10/17 at Frostburg State (0-6) W,20-10 10/17 at Mount Ida (3-5) W, 42-15
10/24 Idle   10/24 at Hartwick (4-3) *  W, 35-7
10/31 at Springfield (6-1) * 2 p.m. 10/31 Ithaca (5-2) * 2 p.m.
11/7 Alfred (6-0) * 1 p.m. 11/7 St. John Fisher (4-3) * TBA
11/14 Cortland (5-2) noon 11/14 Idle  
           
  * Empire 8 game