ITHACA, N.Y. – Ithaca (7-3) wrapped up its season by maintaining possession of the Cortaca Jug traveling trophy, holding off the visiting Cortland Red Dragons (7-3) for a 23-20 win in front of a sell-out crowd of 9,700 at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers have won three straight games in the series, marking the longest winning streak by either team in 14 years.
Photo gallery
Box score
Junior Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl, Pa.) ran for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns, sophomore #Kevin Cline# (Waldwick/Waldwick, N.J.) recorded two of Ithaca's four takeaways and sophomore Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst) kicked three field goals to lead the Bombers.
Cline, who forced and recovered a fumble on a Red Dragon punt return in the second quarter, sealed the win with his first career interception, picking off a pass with 55 seconds remaining.
The Red Dragons, who never led in the game, scored two touchdowns in the final 6:37 and cut an 11-point Bomber lead to three with a touchdown and two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.
Cortland tried an onside kick, but Ithaca junior Dan Higgins (Gates-Chili/Rochester) recovered the attempt. The Red Dragons held Ithaca without a first down, but were forced to use their two final timeouts during the Bomber possession. Rogowski's 32-yard punt was downed at the Cortland six – sophomore #Mike Conti# (Hand/Branford, Conn.) kept the ball out of the end zone and sophomore Adam Lajara (Cambridge Central/Cambridge) downed it – and Cline intercepted a pass on Cortland's second play.
Rogowski's three field goals raised his season total to a school-record 12. He kicked a 23-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, added a 32-yard kick with 26 seconds left in the half and gave the Bombers a 10-point lead with a 39-yarder late in the third quarter. Rogowski, who added extra points after both Bomber touchdowns, also averaged 43.2 yards per kick on six punts. He became the first Bomber to collect two 50-yard punts in a game and pinned the Red Dragons at their six-yard line twice.
Ruggiero capped Ithaca's opening drive with a one-yard touchdown run and scored on a five-yard carry with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter. He carried the ball a career-high 35 times and became just the second runner all year to eclipse 100 yards against the Red Dragons, who entered the game ranked 30th in rushing defense.
Sophomore linebacker Ryan Clarke (Archbishop Spaulding/West Friendship, Md.) led Ithaca with 16 tackles, matching his career-high for the second week in a row. He broke up a pass and collected two tackles for loss. Junior linebacker #Eric Toporoff# (Montville Township/Montville, N.J.) made nine tackles and senior free safety #Chad Herring# (Unatego/Otego) finished with seven along with a pair of pass break-ups. Sophomore linebacker Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) added five, including two for loss.
Ithaca's leading receiver was junior Thomas Vossler (Loon Lake/Saranac Lake), who caught six passes for 79 yards. He raised his career total to 92 receptions – good for 10th all-time at Ithaca – and recovered a fumble in the second quarter; Cortland intercepted a pass on the Bomber 26-yard line, but lost the ball on a hit by Ithaca receiver Dan Ruffrage (Notre Dame/Whitesboro) and Vossler recovered the fumble.
Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf (Niskayuna/Rexford) threw for 158 yards and finished the season with 203 completions (the program's second-highest total).
The Red Dragons converted just one extra-point try; their only kick attempt was blocked by senior Adam Drescher (Christian Brothers Academy/Syracuse) – his ninth career blocked kick to tie a school record – and recovered by the holder who threw a pass to the end zone that Toporoff batted down. A conventional two-point try in the fourth quarter failed when Gilfedder kept the receiver out of the end zone.
