ITHACA COLLEGE BOMBERS Alfred University Saxons
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Sept. 26, 2015 ITHACA COLLEGE Hall of Fame/Alumni Alfred university BOMBERS weekend saxons GAME NOTES Today’s Game: In a battle of undefeated teams, the 20th ranked Ithaca Bombers (2-0) welcome the Alfred University Saxons (3-0) for Homecoming and Alumni Weekend in the Empire 8 opener for the Bombers. Last week, Ithaca knocked off the 16th ranked Hobart Statesmen 24-6 in the home opener at Butterfield Stadium. The win snapped Hobart’s 32-game, regular-season winning streak. Alfred opened up Empire 8 play last week against Buffalo State, defeating the Bengals 29-26. Ithaca looks to start the season 3-0 for the fourth season in a row. Last Meeting: The 17th ranked Ithaca Bombers defeated Alfred 17-6 last year at Yunevich Stadium. Ithaca rallied from a 6-0 halftime deficit by scoring two unanswered touchdowns and a field goal to complete the comeback. The Saxons struck first on their first drive of the game when quarterback Tyler Johnson found wide receiver Brendan Buisch for a six-yard score. The touchdown pass capped off a 13-play, 89-yard drive and ran off nearly seven minutes of clock, but Alfred failed to convert on their PAT and did not score again. Ithaca did not get on the scoreboard until the third quarter. The Bombers’ first touchdown was set up by special teams, as Trevon Perez-Tucker returned the second-half kickoff 39 yards to position Ithaca near midfield. Quarterback Tom Dempsey found wide receiver Vito Boffoli on a pair of passes on the drive, includ- ing an 18-yard touchdown pass just two minutes into the third quarter to give the Bombers their first lead of the game, 7-6. On the ensuing Alfred drive, Chris Williams’ interception gave Ithaca the ball back, setting up Garrett Nicholson for a 22- yard field goal and a 10-6 lead. The Bombers defense forced Alfred to turn the ball over on downs, and Ithaca took a 17-6 lead on Dempsey’s 11-yard touchdown strike to Boffoli with 11:14 remaining in the fourth. Ithaca held Alfred scoreless for the remainder of the game, with the Bombers defensive backs batting away four straight pass attempts in the endzone at one point in the game. Sam Carney’s late interception sealed the win for Ithaca, which earned its first win at Yunevich Sta- dium since 2008. It was the second straight time Ithaca beat Alfred by a 17-6 score. Dempsey finished the contest complet- ing 20 of 27 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Boffoli caught eight passes for 102 yards, the first 100-yard receiving game of the season by an Ithaca player. The Ithaca defense and special teams forced three Alfred turnovers, and the Bomb- ers didn’t turn the ball over. Ithaca had seven tackles for loss. Kenny Bradley led Ithaca with 10 total tackles, and Carney, Mark Recio and Noah Poskanzer had five tackles each. Schnayder Termidor had two sacks while Carney and Williams had interceptions for the Bombers. The Series: The 2015 matchup between the Bombers and Saxons marks the 56th meeting all-time between the Empire 8 foes. Ithaca holds a 37-16-2 advantage, and has won 13 of the last 17 games in the series. Ithaca head coach Mike Welch is 14-5 against Alfred during his tenure as head coach of the Bombers. At Butterfield Stadium, Ithaca is 19-5-2 against the Saxons. Ithaca has won or tied for the Empire 8 Championship four of the last 10 years, while Alfred tied for the Empire 8 Championship in 2009 with St. John Fisher and won the outright league title in 2010. Stout Defenses: Coming into today’s game, Ithaca’s defense ranks 14th in Division III in allowed yards per game, only letting their opponents to get an average of 222.5 yards per contest. In two games, the defense has caused seven turnovers, including six last week (three interceptions, three fumble recoveries) against the nationally-ranked Hobart Statesmen. The defense’s seven turnovers forced in two games is ranked 5th in Division III in average turnover margin (2.50). Sophomore linebacker Dan Loizos was named Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week after recording nine tackles (seven solo) while recovering two fumbles and forcing another against Hobart. Loizos leads the team with 19 total tackles (13 solo) in two games, including three tackles for a loss. The defense allowed a total of 159 yards of total offense against Hobart as the Statemen fell to 0-14 all-time in Butterfield Stadium. Saxons Strong on Takeaways: Alfred is tied for third in Division III with seven fumble recoveries in their first three games, as they recovered two in their first game against Husson, two against Rensselaer, and three against Buffalo State last week. Defensive Lineman Toby Hale leads the team with three fumble recoveries. Linebacker Holden Whitehead was named Em- pire 8 Defensive Player of the Week on September 14th for his 10-tackle (six solo) performance against Rensselaer during Alfred’s second game of the season. Defensive tackle Andrew Miller was named to D3football.com’s Team of the Week on September 8th for his performance against Husson the first week of the season. Miller had eight tackles (five solo), forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, and had a sack in Alfred’s 39-25 victory. Big Shoes to Fill for Coach Rankl: Coach Bob Rankl looks to win his fourth game in as many chances as the head coach of Alfred since being appointed in May 2014. Rankl spent the last 15 years as an assistant with the Saxons where he was in charge of the offensive line and the running game coordinator. Three of the top four career rushing leaders in Alfred his- tory came under Rankl’s watch. Rankl replaces Dave Murray who had been the head coach since 1998. Murray is ranked second all-time in victories at Alfred. GAMEDAY COVERAGE Winning the Field Position Battle: During the win over Hobart, Ithaca RADIO: WICB received strong contributions from its special teams. Senior Brandon Steff Play-by-play..........................Dan Budick kept the Hobart offense at bay with his accurate punting, averaging 40.4 yards on nine punts, with a 49-yarder mixed in. Senior Max Rottenecker Color commentary ..............Jake Asman added a 33-yard field goal and averaged 61 yards on five kickoffs, while Sideline reporter .................Sam Kuperman classmate Josh Oliver returned a punt 60 yards to set up an Ithaca score. Frequency..............91.7 FM in Ithaca Online: Http://www.iheart.com/live/92- Josh Oliver Can Do It All: Oliver has been on all over the field during WICB-Ithaca-College-5244/ his career as a Bomber. Oliver has caught a pass in eight straight games, and dating back to last year has hauled in at least one pass in 10 out of 13 WEBCAST: FREE VIEW ictv.org/live games. Oliver leads the team in catches with 11 and had a 16-yard touch- Play-by-play..........................Alex Barth down reception during last week’s win against Hobart. He is also the punt Color commentary ..............Griffin Haas returner and is averaging 18.33 yards per return, with a 60-yard return Sideline reporter .................Mike Schwartz against Hobart that led to a short field goal. Oliver also threw a 32-yard ONLINE: athletics.ithaca.edu offers fans the touchdown pass against Union on a trick-play in the first week of the season. Last season, he switched to running back halfway through the year most up-to-date news, schedules, results, and finished second on the team with 372 yards rushing and two touch- videos and feature stories on Ithaca College downs. athletics. Check out the site for previews, game recaps, video highlights, stats, photos, Hall of Fame Weekend: During Friday night’s 46th annual Ithaca College and more. Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony, two teams and eight individuals were enshrined into the Hall of Fame following decorated playing and coach- ing careers. In a ceremony before a packed audience inside the Athletics and Events Center, emceed by ESPN SportsCenter anchor Kevin Connors Bombers on Social Media (class of 1997), the crowd heard tales of achievements in athletics from each of the honorees. Connors led an interactive question-and-answer ses- @BomberSports sion on stage with each of the inductees. The following teams and student- athltes became the latest members to earn induction into Ithaca’s Athletics @Bomber_Sports Hall of Fame: the national championship-winning 1982 field hockey team, the undefeated 1965 football team, Kerri Brown (‘03, women’s basket- ball), Stephanie Cleary (‘05, women’s basketball), Megan Hughes (‘04, facebook.com/ICAthletics women’s swimming and diving), Dave Pitzer (‘77, men’s basketball and football), Michelle Schlegel (‘04, women’s lacrosse), Rick Suddaby (cur- rent Ithaca College gymnastics coach), Mike Welch (‘73, current Ithaca athletics.ithaca.edu head football coach) and Andrea Golden (women’s lacrosse coach/ath- letic administration). The events were part of Ithaca’s annual Alumni and #ICVictory Homecoming Weekend. Coach to Cure Muscular Dystrophy: During today’s game with Alfred, ITHACA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS Ithaca will participate in the annual Coach to Cure Muscular Dystrophy Hill Center program. The initiative, in its eighth year, aims to raise money and aware- 953 Danby Road ness for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common and fatal Ithaca, N.Y., 14850 genetic disorder associated with muscular dystrophy. The disease primarily affects boys of all ages, with victims developing progressive muscle weak- Associate Director (football con- ness that eventually causes a loss of mobility, a dependency on a wheelchair tact)......................................John Boccacino to get around, and a decline in both cardiac and respiratory function.