By Pat Coleman
D3football.com
UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Ithaca survived the loss of two cornerbacks during the week and starting quarterback Brian Young to sprint out to a 35-17 lead and held on to upset the Red Hawks 35-23.
After Young went out on the second play from scrimmage after a hard hit by linebacker Omar Lucas, backup quarterback Greg Sheeler directed the remainder of a 14-play, 68-yard drive, aided by three Montclair State penalties and culminating in a 3-yard touchdown run by Dave Maddi.
"That's just us being disciplined," said Sheeler, who had played in only four of the 10 regular-season games before coming off the bench. "That's just us knowing the count and trying to get them to jump offsides."
Ithaca's defense started what would prove to be a trend on Montclair's opening possession as Elijah Freer was stopped for a 2-yard loss on the first play from scrimmage and Ed Collins was sacked 5 yards back on the second.
Young returned following a Red Hawks punt and showed no ill effects, going 3-for-4 on the drive for 30 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown to Maddi to give the Bombers (10-1) at 14-0 lead.
Maddi, who typically practices with the second team, was able to average 5.3 yards per carry. "We've been doing it all year," said Maddi, who had 221 all-purpose yards, a season high. "We just busted our hump and tried to run exactly what we do in practice."
Collins got Montclair State on the board before the end of the first quarter, leading the Red Hawks down to the 12-yard line before the Bomber defense stiffened, knocking Collins back to the 21 on a sack and forcing Montclair to settle for a 38-yard Brent Grablachoff field goal, cutting the lead to 14-3 with four seconds left in the quarter.
Young had an answer, however, finding Maddi for a 34-yard completion down to the 1-yard line before Ithaca finally punched it in on 4th-and-goal and a 21-3 lead. Young would depart, however, on the next possession, after another hard hit.
"You never want to see Brian go down," said Sheeler, who finished 13-for-23 for 129 yards and a touchdown, "but if something happens I have to be ready to step in."
The teams then traded touchdowns as Maddi scored on a 54-yard run with 3:43 to play in the half. MSU responded as Collins found Eric Magrini on a 10-yard pass with 2:08 to go. But Ithaca capped off the half with a seven-play, 67-yard drive just before the intermission, as Sheeler found tight end Conor Mulkeen on a screen play for 34 yards down to the 11. Two plays later Sheeler hit Cory Corrado on a 2-yard score for a 35-17 Ithaca halftime lead.
Montclair would get within 35-23 late in the third as Collins hit Jasper Hankins on a 20-yard TD toss. But that would be as close as the Red Hawks would get.
Maddi, Mulkeen and Mike Marks each had four catches. The Ithaca defense held Montclair State to minus-34 yards rushing and recorded five sacks.
Collins completed 26 of 57 passes for 399 yards in his final game. The senior finished with over 8,000 yards and threw 62 touchdown passes (second all-time). Jamel Dorsey led the Red Hawks with eight catches for 109 yards while Magrini set the MSU single-season mark for receptions with 71 and yards with 1,178. Magrini also tied the single-season mark with 12 touchdown catches. Lucas finished with 12 tackles to lead the Red Hawk defense.
Ithaca outgained MSU, 415-365