Williamsport, Pa. -- The football team (2-1), ranked 31st by D3football.com and 13th by the AFCA, dropped its first game of the season, losing on a field goal with seven seconds left at Lycoming (2-1).
The host Warriors drove 45 yards in six plays to kick the game-winning 23-yard field goal. The Bombers had rallied from a pair of six-point deficits to take their final lead early in the fourth quarter. Sophomore running back
Clay Ardoin (Dolgeville/Dolgeville) caught his first career touchdown pass -- an 11-yard completion from senior quarterback
Rob Zappia (Greece Athena/Rochester).
Zappia threw for a career-best 281 yards, completing 20 of 33 passes. His 55-yard touchdown pass to senior wideout
Dan Ruffrage (Utica Notre Dame/Whitesboro) in the first quarter followed Lycoming's first touchdown.
Ardoin scored on an 11-yard run on Ithaca's next possession.
Ruffrage and senior tight end
Matt Crandall (Cattaraugus-Little Valley/Cattaraugus) both gained 100 receiving yards, marking the first time since 2008 that two Bombers reached that mark.
Crandall's career-best total marked just the sixth time an Ithaca tight end has caught passes for 100 yards in a game.
Sophomore linebacker
Will Carter (Westlake/Thornwood) recorded a career-best 14 tackles and intercepted a pass. Junior linebacker
Ryan Clarke (Archbishop Spaulding/West Friendship, Md.), making his first start of the season, added 12 stops including two for loss and broke up two passes.
Senior defensive tackle
Andrew Haim (Douglas MacArthur/Levittown) posted career-high totals of 10 tackles and three tackles for loss. Sophomore free safety
Josh Liemer (Horace Greeley/Chappaqua) added a career-high 10 stops. Senior
Matt Dibble (Columbia/East Schodack) recorded sacks on consecutive fourth-quarter plays, forcing a Lycoming punt.
Junior
Andrew Rogowski (East Amherst/Canisius) kicked extra points after all three Bomber touchdowns (extending his streak to 13) and added a 40-yard field goal -- the third 40-yard kick of his career.
The Bombers host Hartwick (2-1) Saturday to open Empire 8 play.
Box score
