ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 14/16 Ithaca College football team posted an overwhelming victory against Buffalo State on Saturday at Butterfield Stadium, as the Bombers cruised to a 51-7 win. Ithaca is now 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in the Liberty League with three games left in the season – two in the Liberty League.
The Bombers jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead and tacked on 24 more points in the second stanza to take a 41-0 advantage into halftime. After a third quarter TD from the Bombers made the score 48-0, Buffalo State found the end zone early on in the fourth to end IC's shutout bid. Ithaca capped off the scoring with a 22-yard field goal with just under three minutes left in regulation.
IC racked up 437 yards of offense with 28 first downs, as the Bombers posted 333 yards passing and 104 rushing. Ithaca made eight trips into the red zone on Saturday and scored seven times. Buffalo State had 250 yards of offense and turned the ball over three times – two interceptions, one fumble – and was sacked five times by the IC defense. The IC special teams until also blocked a field goal in the win.
A.J. Wingfield got off to a perfect start on Saturday and he went 13-for-13 in the first quarter for 127 yards and then completed two more passes in the second quarter before throwing an incompletion. Wingfield finished the game with 275 yards on 23-for-29 passing with two touchdowns (all in the first half). He also ran for 24 yards on two carries and one score.
Nicholas Bahamonde went 6-for-6 in extra points and made three field goals from 28, 21 and 22 yards. Bahamonde also sent four of his 10 kickoffs for touchbacks.
Defensively, Derek Slywka returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and Akap Takor picked off a pass in the first quarter with a 22-yard return – that led to a 9-yard touchdown by Wingfield to make the score 14-0.
Owen O'Neill posted back-to-back sacks in the fourth quarter for a loss of 23 yards, while Jonathan Koumas and Ed Longest each had a sack and Ashton Herd and Drew Brenner combined for another sack.
The Bomber defense also broke up nine passes, including three from Jason Haber, while Stephen Soravilla led the charge with seven tackles and Matt DeSimpliciis tallied six stops. Anthony Robinson accounted for five tackles for IC.
It took IC just one minute to put a touchdown on the board as Wingfield connected with Andrew Vito for a 33-yard strike to give the Bombers a 7-0 lead. Vito finished the day with 97 yards on six receptions.
After the 9-yard run from Wingfield, Bahamonde made his first field goal of the day with under two minutes left in the first quarter.
The Bombers extended their lead to 24-0 less than a minute into the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Jalen Hines, and on the first play from scrimmage for Buffalo State on the next drive, Slywka notched the pick-six to make the score 31-0.
A three-and-out gave IC the ball right back near midfield, and six plays later, Wingfield found Jacob Cooney for an 11-yard touchdown grab with 10:44 left in the half.
Ithaca concluded the first half with a 21-yard field goal from Bahamonde with 2.5 seconds to go.
The lead grew to 48-0 with 6:42 to play in the third quarter on a 2-yard run by Jake Williams. On Buffalo State's next possession, the Bengals drove all the way down the field to set up a 29-yard field goal try, but Jason Green blocked the attempt.
In the fourth quarter, Buffalo State got on the board on a 2-yard touchdown run and then IC burned the next seven minutes off the clock and chipped in a 22-yard field goal with 2:59 left for the final score of the contest.
Max Perry saw action for the entire second half and went 4-for-5 for 58 yards and had 17 yards on the ground. Robbie Penhollow recorded eight carries for 23 yards as well.
The Bombers face a tough stretch to conclude the season as IC's opponents have a combined record of 20-1. Ithaca travels to 6-1 RPI next Saturday, October 30 for a 12 p.m. kickoff and then hosts No. 11/13 and 7-0 Union on November 6. The season concludes with 7-0 and No. 17 Cortland for the 62nd Cortaca Jug Game.
No. 14/16 Ithaca Rolls Past Buffalo State, 51-7, to Stay Unbeaten
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211023_mzi2.xml
2021
Buffalo State
7
Ithaca
51
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo State (0-7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 20 Ithaca (7-0) | 17 | 24 | 7 | 3 | 51 |
Oct 23, 2021