ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 13/14 Ithaca College football team will play its second straight home game this Saturday, September 28, against former Empire 8 Conference rival at Butterfield Stadium in a 1 p.m. kickoff. Ithaca is 2-0 on the season, while Fisher sports a 3-0 record. The last time IC and Fisher squared off with undefeated records was 2006 and the Cardinals came away with a 34-10 victory in that matchup.

GAME COVERAGE

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STATISTICS

ITHACA | FISHER

ALL-TIME SERIES: Ithaca and Fisher have played each other 21 times dating back to 1998. The Bombers hold a slim, 11-10, edge in those contests, including two straight victories (35-10 in 2017 and 21-14 in 2018).

IC dominated the series early on, as the Bombers won the first six meetings. Fisher then won 8-of-9 contests from 2004-12. The Bombers have then taken four of the last six matchups.

Ithaca secured a 21-14 win in Pittsford last year as Jovonte Long '19 sealed the victory with an interception in the end zone with 18 seconds left in the game.

LAST TIME OUT: The Bombers improved to 2-0 on the season with a 27-9 win over Alfred in their home opener. Ithaca trailed, 3-0, early on in the first quarter, but went on to score 27 unanswered points to pull away from the Saxons.

Freshman Nicholas Bahamonde tied the game at 3-3 with a 33-yard field goal midway through the first quarter and then IC tacked on a touchdown on a 4-yard run by senior Joe Germinerio in the second period.

IC put up 10 more points in the third quarter in less than two minutes as senior Isaiah D'Haiti scored from four yards out and Bahamonde drilled a career-best 43-yard field goal. The Bombers' then extended their lead to 27-3 early on in the fourth quarter before Alfred got back on the board with 9:20 left in the contest. Ithaca iced the game away with an impressive 13-play, 56-yard drive that chewed up the final 9:20.

HADAC NAMED TO D3FOOTBALL.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK: Senior John Hadac became the second Bomber this season to land on the D3football.com Team of the Week after his performance against Alfred. Hadac was a dominant force all day long, as he recorded 10 total tackles (five solo), to go along with three tackles for loss, two sacks and hit the quarterback three times. Hadac tied for the team lead in tackles on the day as the Bomber defense held Alfred to nearly 20 points below its season average (28.5).

BAHAMONDE SELECTED AS LIBERTY LEAGUE ROOKIE OF WEEK: Bahamonde's showing in the 27-9 win garnered him Liberty League Rookie of the Week honors as he went 2-for-2 in field goal attempts with distances of 33 and 43 yards, and made three extra points in Ithaca's 27-9 home victory over Alfred on September 21. The 43-yard make tied the fifth-longest field goal in program history. Bahamonde also booted four touchbacks and a successful onside kick.

BOMBERS VAULT UP IN DIVISION III POLLS: Ithaca entered last Saturday's game vs. Alfred as the No. 22 team in the country according to D3football.com. After the 27-9 victory, Ithaca jumped nine spots up to No. 13 in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll, which was released on Sunday evening. On Monday afternoon, the AFCA released its first poll of the season and the organization slotted Ithaca at No. 14.

This is the highest IC has been ranked by D3football.com since the team took the No. 11 spot in Week 2 of 2004 after starting the season 2-0. The Bombers finished that season 9-2 and won the ECAC Northwest Championship.

During that same season, the Bombers reached as high as No. 13 in the AFCA Top 25 Poll.

APPROACHING MILESTONES: D'Haiti, senior Will Gladney and junior Andrew Vito are on the verge of eclipsing career milestones.

D'Haiti is just two rushing touchdowns away from cracking the top 10 all-time. After touchdowns in each of the past two games, D'Haiti has found the end zone 18 times in his career, and with two more trips over the goal line, D'Haiti will be in a three-way tie with Steve Kass (1983-85) and John Nicolo (1976-79).

Gladney, who is already the school's all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns as a receiver, is 11 catches away from becoming to only player at Ithaca College with 200 career receptions. He entered the season with 173 to his credit and has hauled in eight catches each of the first two games.

Vito enters Saturday's contest just 13 receptions shy of 150. The junior slot receiver ranks fourth all-time in career catches, and with 14 more this season, will move up to No. 2 all-time behind Gladney.

SCOUTING FISHER: Fisher brings a 3-0 record into Butterfield Stadium after wins over Buffalo State (23-6), Bridgewater State (35-28) and The College of New Jersey (40-16). The Cardinals are averaging 32.7 points per games and 332.3 yards of total offense, while allowing 16.7 points and 292.3 yards.

Fisher's defense has performed exceptionally well through three games and has set the Cardinal offense with terrific field position with nine interceptions and 11 sacks. Opponents are also only converting 31.8% of their third down opportunities.

Offensively, Dahmir Pross is the go-to running back with 204 yards on 53 carriers and five touchdowns. Quarterback Hunter Walsh has thrown for 632 yards and four touchdowns on a 47.9 completion percentage. Will Blake is the top target on the outside with 21 receptions for 323 yards and two scores.

TySean Sizer is a return threat for the Cardinals as he took by a 76-yard punt return last week against TCNJ.

UP NEXT: The Bombers will hit the road next Saturday, October 5 for their Liberty League opener against St. Lawrence University at 1 p.m. in Canton, N.Y.