ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 15/17 Ithaca College football team secured its second straight Liberty League title and another bid to the NCAA Division III Championship with a dominant, 62-0, victory over Buffalo State at Bertino Field at Butterfield Stadium on Family and Alumni Weekend. Ithaca is now 7-1 on the season and 5-0 in the Liberty League.
The Bombers set a school record with 686 yards of total offense in the win as IC racked up 375 yards passing and 311 yards rushing. The mark surpasses a 39-year-old record set back in 1984 when IC produced 639 yards against Fitchburg State in an 82-0 victory. It's also IC's largest margin of victory in a shutout since the Bombers defeated Utica, 66-0, in 2001.
Ithaca wasted no time in putting the game out of reach with 31 first quarter points. IC's first points of the day came on a 34-yard field goal by Derek Baldin with 8:55 to go. On the next play, Derek Slywka intercepted a pass and IC scored on a 37-yard pass from Julien Deumaga to Sam Kline at the 8:03 mark to make it 10-0.
Less than two minutes later, Jalen Leonard-Osbourne scored from 17 yards out to extend the lead to 17-0 and then the advantage grew to 24-0 as Colin Schumm connected with Nicholas Lang for an 80-yard completion with 3:01 left in the quarter.
With just 34 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Bombers faked a punt and Dan Mason rumbled 68 yards to push the difference to 31-0.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Tommy Moran intercepted the second of six passes on the day for the Ithaca defense, which tied a school record for picks in a contest. Just over three minutes later, Mason scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard jaunt.
The lead would grow to 41-0 with 6:51 on the clock on a 20-yard field goal by Baldin and then the Bombers capped off the first half with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Schumm to Deumaga to make it 48-0.
IC outgained Buffalo State, 455-74, in the first half as Schumm threw for 263 yards on 15-of-21 passing and two scores.
IC eclipsed the 50-point threshold with 9:01 to go in the third quarter as Matthew Parker connected with JC Witchko for a 10-yard strike to push things out to 55-0.
From there, Cam Paquette intercepted two passes in the third and fourth quarters, while Jayvon Vilus picked off another to end the game. Drew Buckley also had a pick.
IC's final touchdown came on the opening snap of the fourth quarter as Ryan Brozovic scored from two yards out.
Parker was perfect in the second half, going 5-for-5 for 75 yards, while Hayden Richardson saw action in the fourth quarter and rushed for 31 yards.
Mason led the rushing attack with 71 yards and Anthony Foribussi ran for 68 yards on 10 attempts. Jalen Hines added 34 yards on the ground and Leonard-Osbourne finished with 24 yards. Brozovic racked up 28 yards and Parker added 20. Lang had an 18-yard carry in the win and Schumm rushed for 17 to account for the 311 total.
Through the air, 11 different players caught at least one pass. Lang led the way with 92 yards on two catches and Witchko added 45. Leonard-Osbourne caught four passes for 43 yards and Kline had the 37-yard touchdown catch. Deumaga recorded 36 yards and Dante Bonanni caught one pass for 32 yards. Ben Marinaccio hauled in two catches for 23 yards and Tyrell Penalba notched 22 yards. Jon Crowley also caught a pass for 21 yards, while Mason had two receptions for 19 yards and Brozovic hauled in one pass for five yards.
Buckley and Sam Tourangeau led the defense with five tackles each. Tourangeau also forced a fumble. Ben Stola added four tackles, while eight other players had three tackles on the day.
Ithaca heads to St. Lawrence next Saturday, November 4 at 1 p.m. for the Liberty League finale and then return home to host Cortland on November 11 for the 64th Cortaca Jug Game.
LIBERTY LEAGUE CHAMPS! No. 15/17 Ithaca Routs Buffalo State, 62-0
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231028_6grd.xml
2023
Buffalo State
0
Ithaca
62
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo State (2-6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 19 Ithaca (7-1) | 31 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 62 |
Oct 28, 2023