ITHACA, N.Y. – The visiting Alfred Saxons (5-3, 3-3 Empire 8) withstood a late rally by the Ithaca College Bombers (4-5, 2-5 Empire 8) to post a 21-19 win Saturday. Ithaca scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns but the Saxons converted a third down with under a minute to go to seal the win.

The Saxons took a 14-6 lead late in the third quarter but on their next possession the Saxons gained just four yards on three plays deep in their own territory and were forced to punt to senior Dan Ruffrage (Whitesboro/Utica Notre Dame), the nation's second-leading punt returner. Ruffrage ran the punt back 43 yards for his third kick return touchdown of the year (tying Ithaca's school record).

Sophomore quarterback Phil Neumann (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake/Burnt Hills) threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to junior wideout Joseph Ingrao (St. Anthony's/Nesconset) with 3:16 left in regulation and senior Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst) kicked the extra point to close Ithaca's deficit to two points. The Bomber drive was helped by a roughing the kicker penalty called on Alfred on a Bomber punt and a spectacular catch by Ruffrage that featured him wrestling the ball out of the hands of a Saxon defensive back while both were in the air.

Rogowski kicked a pair of field goals, giving him 12 on the season to tie his own 2009 school record.

Junior running back Jarrett Naiden (Easton Area/Easton, Pa.) ran for a career-high 141 yards for the Bombers.

Ithaca's defense was led by junior linebacker Will Carter (Westlake/Thornwood), who made seven solo stops among his 12 tackles. Senior linebacker Eric Toporoff (Montville Township/Montville, N.J.) added 12 tackles. Senior linebacker Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) was in on three tackles for loss among his nine stops.

The Saxons close out their regular season next Saturday by hosting Utica. The Bombers host Cortland in the annual Cortaca Jug game. The game, one of Division III's signature rivalry games, is sold out.

Box score

Notes:

* Dan Ruffrage raised his career total to 1,866 receiving yards, passing the school record set by Justin Esposito (1,835 yards from 2002 to 2006). Ruffrage needs three catches Saturday to break Thomas Vossler's school record (144 between 2008 and 2010).

* Jarrett Naiden's 86-yard rush marked the fifth longest running play ever by a Bomber.

* Andrew Rogowski now has 38 career field goals, two behind Brett Kitenplon's school record. His 123 extra points and 237 points are also second alltime among Bomber kickers. Rogowski owns the program's highest percentage for both field goals (minimum: 10 attempts) and extra-points (minimum: 45 attempts) with respective success rates of 74.5 and 93.9 percent.

* Mike Conti's interception was the 11th of his career, good for fifth on Ithaca's all-time list.

* With three touchowns on kick returns this fall (one kickoff and two punts), Ruffrage has tied Ithaca's single-season record set by Matt Buddenhgan in 1998 and matched by Kelly Gordon in 2006.

* Jarrett Naiden's career-high 141 rushing yards was the highest single-game total by a Bomber running back since Dan Ruggiero ran for 192 in a 43-35 win at Alfred on Nov. 11, 2008.

* Defensive end Chris Collier and linebacker Joe Gilfedder both recorded career-high totals of three tackles for loss.