Ithaca Rallies To Stun Frostbug State, Winning On Game's Final Play

Senior Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst) kicked a 34-yard field goal on the game's final play as the Bombers snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory. Ithaca tied the game with 1:09 left in regulation on a four-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Phil Neumann (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake/Burnt Hills) to senior wide receiver Dan Ruffrage (Utica Notre Dame/Whitesboro) and Rogowski's extra point.

Following the tying score, the Bomber defense forced their second straight three-and-out possession from the Bobcats. Senior cornerback Spence White (Sleepy Hollow/Yonkers) and junior linebacker Dan Cimino (New Paltz/New Paltz) stopped senior quarterback Josh Volpe (Northwest/Germantown, Md.) four yards short of the marker on a third and five play. Ruffrage, who entered the game as Division III's second-leading punt returner, ran back the Bobcat punt – the only one kicked to him all day – to the Ithaca 47 and Ithaca moved 36 yards in six plays to set up Rogowski's game-winning kick. Neumann completed a 12-yard pass to junior wide receiver Joseph Ingrao (St. Anthony's/Nesconset) and a 23-yard throw to senior wideout Matthew Hannon (Minisink Valley/Middletown) before the game-winning play.

Ingrao and Hannon caught eight and six passes, respectively; both figures were career highs. Ruffrage added six receptions for 60 yards. His career totals of 140 catches and 1,811 receiving yards rank second and fourth, respectively, on the program's all-time list.

Volpe threw for 170 yards and freshman running back JD Hook (Allegany/LaVale, Md.) ran for a game-high 97 yards to lead the Bobcats, who gained 212 of their 270 yards of total offense in the second half.

Hook capped Frostburg State's opening drive of the half with an eight-yard touchdown run to give the Bobcats their first lead. Two possessions later, a 25-yard field goal by sophomore Jonathan Adams (Williamsport/Hagerstown, Md.) put them up 10-3 early in the fourth quarter.  His kick bounced off the right upright before passing over the crossbar.

Rogowski accounted for the only points of the first half, converting a 34-yard field goal late in the second quarter. His 36 career field goals are four behind Brett Kitenplon's school record.

White led Ithaca with nine tackles. He forced a third-quarter fumble inside Ithaca's 20-yard line that junior free safety Josh Liemer (Horace Greeley/Chappaqua) recovered to thwart a Bobcat drive. White is three tackles away from becoming the fourth Bomber defensive back to record 200 career stops. Senior linebacker Joe Gilfedder (Governor Livingston/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) added eight tackles.



Senior linebacker Drew Rudisill (Red Lion/York, Pa.) and junior defensive back Brendon Blanchette (Francis Scott Key/Westminster, Md.) both made a team-best eight tackles to pace the Bobcats.

Freshman linebacker Anthony Chase (McDonough/LaPlata, Md.) recorded six tackles and intercepted a Bomber pass on his own 10-yard line.

Senior lineman Ryan Simmons (C. Milton Wright/Bel Air, Md.) was in on two of Frostburg State's three sacks.

The Bobcats return to Maryland next week to host Empire 8 opponent Hartwick (2-6, 0-5 E8); Ithaca remains home to close out conference play against Alfred (5-3, 2-3 E8).


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                           Box Score (4th quarter)
             Frostburg State vs Ithaca (10/29/11 at Ithaca, N.Y.)

 Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
 -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
 Frostburg State.....  0  0  7  3  - 10       Record: (3-5,2-3)
 Ithaca..............  0  3  0 10  - 13       Record: (4-4,2-4)

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 Scoring Summary:
 2nd 04:53 IC - Andrew ROGOWSKI 34 yd field goal, 10-67 3:56, FSU 0 - IC 3
 3rd 09:26 FSU - JD Hook 8 yd run (Jonathan Adams kick), 12-76 5:38, FSU 7 - IC 3
 4th 10:09 FSU - Jonathan Adams 25 yd field goal, 12-48 6:18, FSU 10 - IC 3
     01:09 IC - Dan RUFFRAGE 4 yd pass from Phil NEUMANN (Andrew ROGOWSKI kick), 9-41 2:47, FSU 10 - IC 10
     00:00 IC - Andrew ROGOWSKI 34 yd field goal, 6-36 0:34, FSU 10 - IC 13

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                                     FSU       IC
 FIRST DOWNS...................       16       18
 RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   32-120    26-63
 PASSING YDS (NET).............      170      246
 Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  28-19-0  44-26-1
 TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   60-290   70-309
 Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
 Punt Returns-Yards............     1--1      1-7
 Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-43     3-34
 Interception Returns-Yards....     1-32      0-0
 Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-31.6   3-41.3
 Fumbles-Lost..................      1-1      0-0
 Penalties-Yards...............     6-30     3-26
 Possession Time...............    29:11    30:49
 Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 15  6 of 16
 Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   2 of 4
 Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-16      0-0

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 RUSHING: Frostburg State-JD Hook 25-97; Josh Volpe 5-17; G. Lampkin 1-7;
 Jonathan Adams 1-minus 1. Ithaca-Jarrett NAIDEN 13-52; Sal SULLA 5-32; Dan
 RUFFRAGE 1-7; TEAM 1-minus 13; Phil NEUMANN 6-minus 15.

 PASSING: Frostburg State-Josh Volpe 19-27-0-170; TEAM 0-1-0-0. Ithaca-Phil
 NEUMANN 26-42-1-246; TEAM 0-2-0-0.

 RECEIVING: Frostburg State-Anthony Young 6-43; JD Hook 4-33; Antonio Wood 3-25;
 Cory Shank 3-22; Nick Nowaczyk 1-25; Adam Tuzikow 1-13; Lucas Adolph 1-9.
 Ithaca-Joseph INGRAO 8-76; Matthew HANNON 6-61; Dan RUFFRAGE 6-60; Steve DelMORO
 4-30; Jarrett NAIDEN 1-12; Sal SULLA 1-7.

 INTERCEPTIONS: Frostburg State-Anthony Chase 1-32. Ithaca-None.

 FUMBLES: Frostburg State-Nick Nowaczyk 1-1. Ithaca-None.

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             Frostburg State vs Ithaca (10/29/11 at Ithaca, N.Y.)

 SACKS (UA-A): Frostburg State-Ryan Simmons 2-0; Mike Jones 1-0. Ithaca-None.

 TACKLES (UA-A): Frostburg State-Drew Rudisill 6-2; B. Blanchette 5-3; Joseph
 Ross 4-2; Anthony Chase 3-3; Paul Johnson 3-1; Marcus Wilson 2-2; Ryan Simmons
 3-0; Arnell Farmer 2-1; Keith Smith 2-0; Aaron Gruber 0-2; Mike Jones 1-0;
 Michael Taylor 1-0; Jonathan Adams 1-0; Russell Collins 1-0; A. Moskowitz 1-0;
 R. Palandati 1-0; Jason Jackson 1-0. Ithaca-Spence WHITE 3-6; Joe GILFEDDER 4-4;
 Dan CIMINO 3-4; Will CARTER 2-5; Mike CONTI 3-3; Eric TOPOROFF 1-5; Zach
 MATUSZAK 2-2; Chris COLLIER 2-2; Josh LIEMER 2-2; Brian GARVEY 2-1; Tom SCANLON
 1-2; S. SCHLENKER 2-0; Kevin CLINE 1-1; Mike SHELDON 1-1; N. HEMINGWAY 1-0; B.
 HARDENBERG 1-0; Joe RICOTTA 0-1; N. PASSARELLA 0-1.