Oneonta, N.Y. -- The #20 football team (4-1, 2-0 Empire 8) beat host Hartwick (4-1, 0-1 Empire 8) 24-20 Saturday to remain atop the Empire 8 standings. Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf (Niskayuna/Rexford) threw for a career-best 345 yards and the Bombers picked off four passes.
Grastorf completed a school-record 30 passes and threw for three touchdowns and Ithaca intercepted a pair of passes in the final 107 seconds to spoil the Hawks' Homecoming.
Grastorf capped Ithaca's first two drives with touchdown passes of 20 and 17 yards to junior wideout Thomas Vossler (Saranac Lake/Loon Lake) and threw a five-yard scoring pass to junior tight end #Dan Higgins# (Greece Athena/Rochester) in the third quarter. His 40 attempts and 345 yards were both career-high totals and his 30 completions tied a school record shared by Brian Young (against Buffalo State in 1999) and Josh Felicetti (against Cortland in 2005). In his seventh career start, he passed the 2,000-yard career mark.
Vossler caught nine passes for 108 yards to post career-bests in both categories. Junior wide receiver Dan Ruffrage (Notre Dame/Whitesboro) caught six passes for 83 yards; both were career-highs. Higgins gained 70 yards on six receptions.
Ithaca's offensive line – junior left tackle #Leland King# (Burlington/Burlington, Vt.), senior left guard Mark Rodovick (Drury [Mass.]/Bridgton Academy/Stamford, Vt.), junior left guard Rich Mallon (Locust Valley/Bayville),senior center #Mike Boch# (East Rochester/East Rochester), graduate student right guard #Kevin Heinzelman# (Hudson Falls/Queensbury) and senior right tackle Jake Queener (Geneva/Geneva) – allowed just one sack in 41 pass attempts to a Hawk defense that entered the game with an Empire 8 best 14 sacks.
Sophomore linebacker Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) intercepted two passes – a second-quarter pick in his own end zone and an interception on the Hartwick 30 with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter. His four interceptions are one short of John Laper's single-season linebacker record.
After the Hawks forced a Bomber punt, their final drive ended on an interception by sophomore cornerback Spence White (Sleepy Hollow/Yonkers). Sophomore linebacker Ryan Clarke (Archbishop Spaulding/West Friendship, Md.) ended Hartwick's opening drive with an interception (the first of his career). Sophomore linebacker Eric Toporoff (Montville Township/Towaco, N.J.) and senior free safety Chad Herring (Unatego/Unadilla) led Ithaca with nine tackles apiece. Herring's total was a career-high.
Gilfedder added seven tackles and another pass break-up. Sophomore cornerback Mike Conti (Hand/Branford, Conn.) broke up a pair of passes and recorded six tackles. Sophomore linebacker Pat Scott (West Genesee/Syracuse) finished with a career-best six stops.
Sophomore #Andrew Rogowski# (Canisius/East Amherst) converted extra points after all three Bomber touchdowns – giving him 28 in a row dating back to last season – and kicked a 43-yard field goal to match his career-long. He eclipsed the 100-point total for his career and now ranks fourth among Bomber kickers in scoring.
Rogowski also punted four times, averaging 35.0 yards per kick and putting three inside the Hawk 20-yard line. Senior Adam Drescher (Christian Brothers Academy/Fayetteville) blocked the extra point attempt after Hartwick's first touchdown, giving him seven career blocked kicks in his career (Ithaca's record is nine) and a school-record six blocked PAT's.
Ithaca returns home next weekend, hosting St. John Fisher at 1 p.m. as part of Homecoming Weekend.
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