ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team leveled its record to 3-3 on the season with a dominant, 33-14, Liberty League victory against RPI at Butterfield Stadium on October 19. With the triumph, IC also evens the all-time series at 5-5 against the Engineers as the Bombers have now won three straight in the rivalry and surpassed 30 points for the first time (previous high was 27 in 2001).
Matthew Parker produced a career day as the signal caller on Saturday as he threw for 282 yards on 19-of-24 passing and three touchdowns. Jalen Leonard-Osbourne rushed for 75 yards on 15 carries and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass, while Nicholas Lang had his best game with 141 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.
RPI received the opening kickoff but were unable to do anything as the Engineers went three-and-out. IC then took a 7-0 lead two plays later as Parker connected with Jake Williams for a 50-yard touchdown score with 13:11 to go in the quarter.
The IC defense forced the Engineers into three more three-and-outs in the quarter as the score remained 7-0 after 15 minutes of play.
Ithaca began the second quarter at its own 25-yard line and quickly moved down the field behind 46 yards rushing from Leonard-Osbourne on the drive. Things would stall inside the 5-yard line and IC settled for an 18-yard field goal from Derek Baldin with 9:02 left in the half.
RPI answered with a 65-yard kick return and scored five plays later to make it 10-7 with less than seven minutes to go.
It was all Bombers from there as IC punched in another touchdown on the ensuing drive for a 17-7 difference. The drive began with an 11-yard completion to Leonard-Osbourne and then Nicholas Matos caught a 26-yard pass to move into RPI territory. Parker then found Lang for 13 yards, and two plays later, Leonard-Osbourne completed a 24-yard pass to Matos for the touchdown.
On the first play after the kickoff, Danny Portas intercepted a pass to force the sudden change and IC took over at the RPI 39-yard line. Following the two-minute timeout, Parker found Lang for a 31-yard touchdown grab with 1:54 to go.
Parker threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns in the half as he was 15-for-19 through the air. Leonard-Osbourne had 56 yards on nine carries and Lang hauled in five catches for 69 yards.
The Bombers went into the second half with a different offensive philosophy and ran out the clock as much as possible on almost every drive.
After trading possessions for most of the period, the Bombers tacked on another touchdown out of a timeout with 5:27 on the clock as Parker hit Lang for a 67-yard touchdown to make it 30-7. The Bombers attempted a two-point try, which was unsuccessful.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Joe Spirra intercepted the second pass of the day for the IC defense and returned it 27 yards down to the RPI 6-yard line. Just under two minutes later, Baldin drilled a 22-yard field goal for a 33-7 difference.
The Engineers punched in a late touchdown with 1:41 left to account for the 33-14 final.
Matos finished the game with 65 yards on five grabs, while Williams had 57 yards on two receptions and 34 yards rushing in seven attempts. He also served as the punter and averaged 35.2 yards on five punts, with three traveling inside the 20-yard line.
Darren Brunner, Andrew Swierbut and Ryan Burns led the defense with five tackles each, while Spirra finished with four stops. Ryan Reilly notched a sack, while Chris Clax and Burns combined on a sack.
Ithaca produced 22 first downs in the win and racked up a season-best 481 yards on 310 passing and 171 rushing. The Bombers also controlled the clock with over 40 minutes of possession time.
The defense held RPI to just 203 yards of offense and held the Liberty League's leading passer, Jake Kazanowsky, to only 77 yards on 10-of-29 and two interceptions. Kazanowsky entered the game averaing over 220 yards through the air.
IC heads to Buffalo State next Saturday, October 26 for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Bombers will also be on the road the following Saturday, November 2 at Union.
Ithaca Routs RPI at Home, 33-14
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20241019_keyx.xml
2024
RPI
14
Ithaca
33
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPI (3-4) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Ithaca (3-3) | 7 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 33 |
Oct 19, 2024