ITHACA, N.Y. – In less than ideal playing conditions – low 40s with rain and constant wind – at Butterfield Stadium on Saturday, the Ithaca College football team shutout Morrisville State College, 34-0, behind five turnovers by the defense. It is the first shutout by Ithaca since 2013 (Frostburg State, 23-0), and the largest margin of victory in a shutout since 2009 (St. Lawrence, 45-0). With the win, Ithaca is now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8 Conference.
Ithaca jumped on Morrisville early in the first quarter, as the Bombers drove 63 yards on eight plays during their first possession of the game that lasted 3:59. The drive was capped off by a 7-yard pass from Wolfgang Shafer to JR Zazzara. Shafer completed all three passes during the possession, two of which went to Will Gladney for a combined 18 yards. Tristan Brown ran the ball four times for 14 yards.
Morrisville would go three-and-out on its first drive, and after the punt, Shafer connected with Zazzara for a 53-yard touchdown on the first play to give Ithaca a 14-0 lead with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter. Zazzara caught the pass around the Morrisville 40-yard line, bounced outside the numbers and raced down the sideline. He then avoided a tackler around the 3-yard line to cap off the tremendous play.
Shafer was 5-for-6 passing for 94 yards in the first quarter as Ithaca racked up 136 yards in the period.
Morrisville controlled the action in the second quarter, but was unable to score as it turned the ball over on downs twice deep in Ithaca territory and missed a 33-yard field goal. On the Mustangs final drive of the quarter, Jovonte Long intercepted a pass at the Ithaca-32 yard line with 52 seconds left in the half.
The Bombers only managed 38 yards in the second quarter.
Morrisville started with the ball in the second half, but on the third play of the drive, Mike Miller picked off Cody Benedetto at the Ithaca 40-yard line.
Ithaca was unable to move the ball after the sudden change and was forced to punt. The Mustangs took over at their 26-yard line, and six plays later, Rob Babieri notched a sack-fumble and the ball was recovered by Kenny Bradley.
Now deep in Morrisville territory, Ithaca faced a 4th-and-13 from the 25-yard line. Adam Fron found Zazzara for a 23-yard connection to set up the Bombers at the 2-yard line. Dan Porter would plunge in from two yards out to give Ithaca a 20-0 lead, as the ensuing extra point was blocked.
After trading punts on the next two drives, Ithaca forced another turnover with 4:52 left in the quarter. Dan Loizos scooped up a botched hand off to give the Bombers another opportunity to add to their lead.
Ithaca once again had to punt, but got the ball right back as Jimmy Sullivan intercepted the third pass of the day by Benedetto with 2:28 left in the period and the ball on the Morrisville 33-yard line.
The Bombers got down to the 22-yard line by the end of the quarter. On the first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter, Fron connected with Gladney for a 24-yard strike down the left hash to increase Ithaca's lead to 27-0.
Ithaca's advantage grew to 34-0, and the eventual final score, on a 60-yard punt return by Jordan Scheem with 13:13 left in the contest. It was Ithaca's first punt return for a touchdown since 2013, when Sam Carney took one back 67 yards in the 23-0 shutout of Frostburg.
Shafer finished the game 7-for-9 passing for 110 yards and two touchdowns before exiting the game. Fron went 7-for-14 for 63 yards and a score.
Ithaca rushed for 98 yards as a team, behind a team-leading 38 from Tristan Brown. Porter added 18 yards and a touchdown, while Isaiah D'Haiti rushed for 15 yards. From and Evan Skea each had 10 yards rushing, and Shafer added seven.
Zazzara recorded his second straight 100-plus-yard receiving game with 101 on five catches and two touchdowns. Gladney hauled in four passes for 50 yards and a score, while Yule had a catch for 16 yards.
Defensively, Sullivan, Loizos, Bradley and Pat Minogue each had eight tackles. Miller and Aaron Francis both tallied six stops a piece, while Barbieri and Nick Garone recorded five tackles each.
The Ithaca defense held Morrisville to just 219 yards of offense, which were nearly 200 below its season average of 407.6.
Offensively, Ithaca gained 271 yards – 117 on the ground and 173 through the air.
The Bombers travel to St. John Fisher College next Saturday, October 29 for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Growney Stadium. St. John Fisher is coming off a bye and will bring a 6-1 record into next weekend's matchup.