Nov 10, 2018
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Ithaca jumped out to a 21-0 lead late in the first half and held off a second-half Cortland comeback bid as the Bombers retained the Cortaca Jug with a 24-21 win over the host Red Dragons.
Johnnie Akins (Roosevelt) led Cortland (7-3) with 137 rushing yards on 18 attempts, including a 65-yard TD run late in the third quarter. Brett Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder) competed 16-of-27 passes for 161 yards and a score and also ran for a TD, and Nick Anderson (Saratoga Springs) caught six passes for 83 yards and a score.
Kendall Anderson finished with 115 yards and a touchdown on 26 rushes and Wahid Nabi went 13-for-21 through the air for 209 yards and two touchdowns for Ithaca (8-2), which won the Jug for the second straight year. Andrew Vito caught five passes for 100 yards and Will Gladney grabbed four passes for 47 yards and a score.
Mark DeLuise (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) matched his career high with 16 tackles and also intercepted a pass to lead Cortland's defense. Kyle Richard (Lakeview/Malverne) ended with nine tackles, eight solo, and Ben Tietjen (Bethlehem) added eight tackles.
Ralf Silva paced Ithaca with eight tackles. Ryan Bronson had seven tackles along with an interception in the closing minute that sealed the Bombers' victory. Pat Minogue blocked two punts and added six tackles.
Ithaca finished with 358 yards of total offense compared to 282 for Cortland. The Red Dragons were the first team to score more than 14 points versus Ithaca this fall, but they hurt themselves by committing 15 penalties for 132 yards, 92 in the first half, while Ithaca was penalized eight times for 79 yards (69 in the second half).
Ithaca took a 7-0 lead on (Kendall) Anderson's 1-yard TD run on 4th-and-goal with 5:30 left in the first quarter. The Bombers started their next drive less than two minutes later and moved 68 yards on just six plays for a TD and a 14-0 lead. The final two plays of that series were a 23-yard pass from Nabi to Vito and a 24-yard TD strike from Nabi to Hayden Frey with 2:04 left in the first.
The Bombers' lead grew to 21-0 on Gladney's 17-yard TD catch with 1:44 left in the first half to cap a three-play, 51-yard drive. Anderson ran for 13 yards to start the possession, followed by Gladney catches of 21 and 17 yards. Cortland, however, mounted a 73-yard scoring drive in less than a minute. Segala hit (Nick) Anderson in stride on a 42-yard TD bomb with 44 seconds left and Cortland trailed 21-7 at halftime.
Brian Fallon made what proved to be a vital 29-yard field goal with 2:08 left in the third to give Ithaca a 24-7 advantage. On Cortland's first play from scrimmage on its ensuing drive, however, Akins broke tackles up the middle and outraced the defense for a 65-yard touchdown and the Red Dragons were within 24-14.
Cortland forced a three-and-out, and the Red Dragons pressured the Bombers into a 13-yard punt to take over at the Ithaca 34-yard line. Six plays later Segala dropped back to pass, scrambled right and ran in from nine yards out to cut Ithaca's lead to 24-21 with 11:48 left.
After the teams exchanged punts, Ithaca started a drive on its own 30-yard line with 7:03 remaining. The Bombers faced a 2nd-and-25 situation from their 29-yard line when a pass interference call on Cortland gave Ithaca an automatic first down at the 34-yard line.
Later in the drive, Nabi gained 15 yards on a draw play on 3rd-and-12 from the Cortland 42-yard line, and Nabi's QB sneak for a yard on 2nd-and-1 from the 18 appeared to clinch the Ithaca victory. Cortland, however, called its second timeout with 1:43 left, and on the next play Brandon Lewis (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) forced a fumble on a running play that Cortland recovered on its 12-yard line with 1:34 left.
Ithaca's defense made a final stand with a sack on first down, an incomplete pass (after an Ithaca substitution penalty) on second down, and Bronson's clinching interception at the Cortland 21-yard line on third down.