MORRISVILLE GAME NOTES

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team will look to go back above .500 on the season this Saturday, October 22 at 1 p.m. when it welcomes Morrisville State College to Butterfield Stadium for an Empire 8 Conference contest. Ithaca (3-3, 2-2) is coming off a 42-28 loss at Brockport, while Morrisville (0-6, 0-5) dropped a 43-41 decision to Hartwick last week.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats | Video | Radio

All-Time Series:

Ithaca and Morrisville have only met once, which was last season. The Mustangs came away with a 24-12 victory on October 24. After a scoreless first quarter, Morrisville scored 24 straight points from the 5:26 mark in the second quarter until 11:05 remaining in the fourth. Ithaca got on the board with 6:26 to go in the game, and added another touchdown in the final minute.

Shafer Continues Hot Streak:

Senior quarterback Wolfgang Shafer once again put together a stellar performance despite a 42-28 loss at Brockport last weekend. Shafer tossed a career-high four touchdowns on 12-of-18 passing (66.7%) for 253 yards. Over the past three games, the captain has completed 68.9% of his passes (42-for-61) for 726 yards and seven touchdowns, to just one interception.

Shafer became the first Bombers QB to pass for four touchdowns in a game in six years. The last to do so was Rob Zappia on Oct. 2, 2010 against Hartwick.

Career Day for Zazzara:

In the game against Brockport, junior wide receiver JR Zazzara nearly matched his season output. Heading into last Saturday's game, Zazzara had season totals of 12 catches for 196 yards and four touchdowns. In that contest, he hauled in five passes for 170 yards and a pair of scores. Three of his receptions went for over 40 yards.

Offense is Clicking:

The Bombers offense has turned things around as of late. Ithaca scored just 23 points over its first three games of the season (7.7 per), but has since accumulated 101 in the last three (33.7). Ithaca averaged 175 yards per game in the first three contests, and has since increased its per game average to 348.7.

Scouting the Mustangs:

Morrisville enters today's game with an overall record of 0-6. The Mustangs are scoring 23.5 points per game and allowing 39.5. Yardage wise, Morrisville racks up nearly 408 yards per game – 237.8 passing and 169.8 rushing.
 
The Mustangs have used a two-quarterback system through six games. Cory Benedetto has passed for 780 yards and three touchdowns, and has also rushed for 261 yards with two scores. Brandon Gwinner has thrown four touchdowns with 540 yards, and is also a 100-yard rusher.
 
Darrell West is the team's leading rusher with 439 yards on 77 carries and four touchdowns. Marcus Jackson-Conner has caught 38 passes for 523 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Defensively, four starters have accounted for more than 40 tackles each – Kendall Clarke (48), Richardson Derosena (48), Samuel Diaz (40) and Wallace Stephens (40).
 
Empire 8 Leaders:

Now that the conference is midway through the season, here are some of the statistical leaders.
 
Ithaca is second in rush defense (115.2 yards per game), kickoff return average (22.9) and punt return average (14.0). Morrisville averages the most first downs per game in the conference at 24.3 and is the least penalized team in the E8 at 39.5 yards per game.
 
Individually for the Bombers, junior Jordan Schemm leads the conference in kickoff return average (30.8) and punt return average (15.6). Junior Dan Loizos is tops in the E8 in tackles per game at 11.8, and sophomore Pat Minogue has notched the most tackles for loss with 12.5.

Empire 8 Schedule:

Utica at Buffalo State – 12 p.m.
Morrisville at Ithaca – 1 p.m.
No. 17 Alfred at Hartwick – 1 p.m.
Cortland at Brockport – 3 p.m.
Off: St. John Fisher

Statistics:

Ithaca | Morrisville | Empire 8
 
Up Next:

Ithaca heads up to Rochester next Saturday, October 29, for a 1 p.m. kickoff at St. John Fisher College. Fisher suffered its first loss of the season to Utica last week, and was ranked 13th nationally prior to the setback.