ALL-TIME SERIES: The Ithaca College football team travels to Buffalo this weekend to take on Hilbert College at 2 p.m. at Frontier High School. This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
LAST TIME OUT: IC righted the ship last week at Alfred with a convincing 45-14 victory. The Bombers are now 11-3 coming off a loss since 2017 and improve their record to 44-18-3 against the Saxons.
Ithaca racked up nearly 500 yards of offense behind 347 yards passing and 147 yards rushing. IC scored three touchdowns through the air and three on the ground as the Bombers were a perfect 6-for-6 inside the red zone.
The defense recorded one takeaway, an interception by
Joe Spirra, and broke up eight passes.
Landon Varley and
Henry Takacs paced the unit with eight tackles each.
WEEKLY HONORS: On Monday afternoon, the Liberty League released its weekly awards and tabbed
Matthew Parker as the Offensive Performer of the Week and
Caleb Wandell was named Special Teams Performer of the Week.
MORE ABOUT PARKER…: This is the second career weekly award for Parker, who threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-23 attempts last Saturday. Parker notched eight completions over 20 yards in the win, and he did not play the fourth quarter.
….AND WANDELL: This is his first career weekly honor as he was a member of the JV team in 2024. Wandell was perfect in PATs, going 6-for-6, to go along with a 28-yard field goal and he punted four times for an average of 44.0 yards per punt, with a long of 50 yards.
TWO-HEADED MONSTER: For the first time since 2019, two Ithaca receivers went for over 100 yards in a game.
Tian Murray caught seven passes for 150 yards and a touchdown, while
Nicholas Lang had eight receptions for 125 yards and a score. The last duo to accomplish that feat was
Will Gladney and Andrew Vito.
GET TO KNOW HILBERT: Hilbert is one of the newest football programs in the Division III landscape as the college added the sport to its varsity offerings in 2022. The Hawks were an independent team for its first three years of competition but joined the Liberty League this year as an affiliate member.
Hilbert is off to an 0-2 start this season with losses to St. Vincent, 28-7, and Alfred State, 49-13. The Hawks possess a solid ground attack, averaging nearly 190 yards per game this season.
Mike Hanlon leads the team with 157 yards on 37 carries, while Christian Hamilton Jr. averages nearly 7.5 yards per rush in eight attempts. Brody Hopkins has thrown for 99 yards on 7-of-17 passing with Bryce Robinson catching two of those completions for 49 yards.
Da'von Cockrell paces the defense with 16 total tackles and an interception, while Clifford Zeigler has 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
UP NEXT: Ithaca returns to South Hill next Saturday, September 27 to take on defending Liberty League champion Hobart at 1 p.m.
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