ITHACA, N.Y. – In one of the most memorable Cortaca Jugs in recent history, the Ithaca College football team took down No. 14/20 Cortland, 26-21, at Bertino Field at Butterfield Stadium in the 66th Cortaca Jug on November 15 in front of a jam-packed crowd of over 8,000 fans. Ithaca concludes its regular season with an 8-2 record.
Ithaca received the opening kickoff, aided by a return to the 40-yard line by
Tyrell Penalba, and put together a near-perfect drive that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown run by
Chris Scully to make it 6-0 with 10:08 remaining in the quarter. The ensuing PAT was blocked.
During the drive,
Tian Murray hauled in a 23-yard reception and Scully rushed for 25 yards.
Cortland went 3-and-out on its initial drive of the contest, but after a 3-and-out by the Bombers, the Red Dragons took a 7-6 lead on a 6-yard pass from Mike Rescigno to Joe Idaevaio with 2:07 remaining in the quarter. The Cortland drive utilized consecutive 15-yard penalties on IC to move up to the edge of the red zone.
IC moved up towards midfield to end the first quarter of play and outgained the Red Dragons, 100-54, behind 58 yards on the ground.
On the first snap of the second quarter,
Michael Reed connected with
Nicholas Lang for a 44-yard touchdown score to put the Bombers back ahead, 12-7, but the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Cortland then ate up the next eight-plus minutes of clock and used a 13-play, 84-yard drive to regain the advantage, 14-12, with 6:38 to go in the half on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Ethan Gallo. Cortland picked up three third down conversions during the drive and Rescigno rushed for 29 yards.
The Bombers gave the ball right back as a fumble flipped possession just 37 seconds later, but the IC defense held strong and
Chris Clax blocked a 29-yard field goal attempt to keep the game at 14-12.
A scramble for the blocked kick gave the Bombers possession at their own 40-yard line. IC marched down into the red zone for a chance to take the lead heading into intermission, but a botched field goal try ended the half at 14-12.
Cortland was unable to do much on its first drive of the second half and punted the ball back to IC with 13:11 left in the quarter.
The Bombers then chewed up the next 9:23 on a 15-play drive and cashed in on a 7-yard completion from Reed to Lang for his second touchdown of the contest to give the Bombers a five-point lead at 19-14. IC converted a pair of fourth down chances on a completion to
Nicholas Herskowitz and a sneak from Reed.
Momentum then fully swung to Ithaca as Cortland fumbled the ensuing kickoff as
Quinten Lewis forced the fumble and
Caleb Casey fell on the ball at the Cortland 37-yard line with 3:38 to go.
Less than two minutes later, Reed scampered into the end zone from 10 yards out to push IC's lead out to 26-14.
Cortland got right back into the game on the first snap of the fourth quarter as Rescigno hit Jacque LaPraire for a 63-yard touchdown, making the score 26-21.
Ithaca once again burned up most of the clock with a 14-play drive that took up nine minutes, but the Bombers were unable to score any points and had to punt the ball down to the Cortland 7-yard line with 5:47 remaining in the game.
The Red Dragons made things interesting by picking up a pair of third downs, along with a fourth down conversion, and had the ball at the Ithaca 9-yard line with under two minutes to go. After an illegal formation on the first and goal chance,
Cam Paquette intercepted a pass in the end zone with 1:11 on the clock, which appeared the be the game-clinching play.
However, Cortland had all three timeouts remaining and the Bombers had to punt. A pooch punt from Reed traveled just 13 yards to the IC 40-yard line and the Red Dragons took over with 51 seconds left.
A crucial holding penalty pushed Cortland back to midfield on a play that was good enough for a first down. Cortland was able to move up to the Ithaca 27 for a final play, but the pass went out of the end zone and Ithaca came away with a gritty victory.
Reed went 14-for-27 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns and he ran for 98 yards on 25 attempts. Scully finished the game with 49 yards on nine carries and a score, while Penalba added 31 yards on the ground.
Lang caught six passes for 88 yards on a pair of touchdowns and Murray had two grabs for 35 yards.
Defensively, Paquette led the way with 10 total tackles, while
Sam Tourangeau and
Ryan Burns each accounted for eight tackles.
Andrew Swierbut had six stops and
Joe Spirra finished the game with five tackles.
Ithaca will find out tomorrow if its win over Cortland is enough to move the Bombers up high enough in the NPI to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
