ITHACA, N.Y. — For the second straight week, a stout Ithaca College football defense stood tall, holding an opponent far below its scoring average.

But the Bombers suffered an 11-8 loss to rival Cortland Saturday afternoon in the 57^th annual Cortaca Jug game at Butterfield Stadium.

Ithaca (4-6, 2-6 Empire 8) held Cortland (8-2, 6-2) to a single touchdown, but it wasn't enough as the Red Dragons secured the Empire 8 championship in the school's first season in the conference.

Junior quarterback Wolfgang Shafer passed for a career-high 300 yards, completing 28 of 41 passes with one touchdown and one interception.

Senior Nick Vallo caught seven passes for 57 yards and a three-yard touchdown pass, sophomore Jared Bauer hauled in five passes for 86 yards, and junior Myles LaFrance made a career-high six catches for 64 yards in the loss.

The Bombers recorded 18 first downs while holding the Red Dragons to 15 first downs. Ithaca enjoyed a 300-179 edge in passing yards, while Cortland outrushed Ithaca 86-11 to claim its sixth straight Cortaca Jug.

Ithaca fell despite controlling time of possession, holding onto the ball for 35:27 compared to 24:33 for Cortland.

The Bombers trailed 11-0 before getting on the scoreboard late in the fourth. Shafer engineered an 11-play, 77-yard scoring drive, hooking up with Vallo on a three-yard touchdown pass across the middle of the end zone with 4:36 remaining.

Shafer then lobbed a pass to LaFrance in the back of the end zone to pull Ithaca within 11-8. The Bombers forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Cortland possession, Ithaca took over at its 27-yard line with 2:17 remaining.

Shafer completed back-to-back passes to seniors Michael Lopez and John Iannone for a first down, but Ithaca was faced with a third-and-18 following a sack.

On third down, Bauer broke free for a 15-yard gain, but Ithaca's fourth-down pass sailed wide of the intended target and Cortland ran out the clock.

The Cortaca Jug, founded in 1959, drew more than 10,000 cheering fans to Butterfield Stadium on a blustery day.

Sophomore Dan Loizos made nine tackles with four solo stops, classmate Kenny Bradley added eight tackles, and senior Schnayder Termidor added seven tackles for Ithaca.

Senior Ryan Michaels broke up three passes and made five tackles, while junior Rob Barbieri made six tackles and senior Logan Murphy added a sack in the Bombers' season-finale.

Senior Brandon Steff averaged 38.8 yards on four punts, including a 52-yarder that pinned the Red Dragons at their own six in the third quarter.

The Bombers marched downfield on their first drive of the game, setup by a 39-yard kickoff return by senior Malik Morris.

Sophomore Tristan Brown ran for 25 yards on the drive as Ithaca marched 48 yards in 15 plays. But the Bombers missed a 22-yard field goal wide left.

Cortland responded with a 12-play, 68-yard drive and Shane Cronin kicked a 29-yard field goal to put the Red Dragons up 3-0 with 1:52 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Bombers drove to the Cortland 26 on the ensuing possession but were forced to punt the ball away following a sack on third down.

The Red Dragons extended their lead to 9-0 on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Steven Ferreira to Jake Smith with one minute remaining in the second, but Ithaca managed its fifth block of an extra point to keep the score 9-0.

Before the half ended, Shafer drove Ithaca to the Cortland 26 before an interception ended the drive.

The score remained 9-0 until late in the third, when a fourth down snap on a punt sailed out of the end zone, giving Cortland an 11-0 lead heading to the fourth.

Ithaca had a 41-yard field goal blocked to start the fourth, but the Bombers forced a three-and-out, setting up the long touchdown drive.

Shafer completed passes to LaFrance (14 yards), and Vallo (16) to set Ithaca up at midfield. Bauer then hauled in a 32-yard strike giving Ithaca possession at the Cortland 18, and five plays later, Shafer found Vallo for the short touchdown pass.

But it wasn't enough to send Ithaca to its fifth-straight loss for the first time since the end of the 1952 season.