PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester football team and Ithaca College battled in a defensive slugfest on Saturday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium, with the visiting Bombers coming away with a 10-6 victory in the Liberty League matchup.
Neither team amassed more than 250 yards of total offense, with the 16 combined points by the two teams being the fewest in a game involving Rochester since the Yellowjackets lost to Johns Hopkins 9-7 in the season-opener back in September, 2005.
The win pushes Ithaca's Liberty League record to 3-0 through five weeks on the season, with the Bombers sitting at 4-1 overall. Rochester falls to 3-2, dropping its second straight conference game, sitting at 0-2 in the Liberty League.
On the final play of the contest, Rochester had a chance to win the game, but a fourth down pass by Shawn Bellenger intended for Andy Talone in the back left corner of the endzone was swatted away by defensive back Andrew Mellis.
The Yellowjackets got a chance on their final offensive possession following a big stop on a fake punt run. Braydon Felsinger and Kenny Valcin stuffed Brendan Stapleton one-yard short of the line to gain, giving Rochester the ball back with just 3:20 remaining on the clock.
Rochester's last drive started with a Cole Raux rush up the middle for five yards. After an incompletion, Raux rumbled ahead for 11 yards, rolling over an Ithaca defender before returning to his feet and picking up another ten yards, setting the Yellowjackets up with a 1st-and-10 from the 15-yard line.
A short gain on first down, following by a rush for no gain forced the Yellowjackets to call their final timeout with 47 seconds remaining. On third down, Ithaca's Jon Ramsey tackled Aidan Papantonis inbounds for no gain on a swing pass to the right, setting up the final fourth down play to decide a winner.
All of the game scoring came in the third quarter, with Ithaca getting on the board first on a 43-yard field goal from Caleb Wandell.
After Rochester went 3-and-out on its next offensive possession, the Bombers provided a turnover, giving the Yellowjackets the ball right back. Matthew Parker lost a handle following the snap from center and Claudio Pinto fell on the ball, setting up Rochester with a golden opportunity to take the lead, with the drive starting at the Bomber 29.
Ithaca ended up forcing a game-tying field goal attempt that was missed, but a running into the kicker penalty on the Bombers gave Rochester a new set of downs. On the ensuing play, Bellenger connected on a screen pass to Papantonis for a 17-yard catch-and-run into the endzone putting URochester up 6-3 after the PAT was missed.
The touchdown was Papantonis' 16th career receiving touchdown, moving the senior into a tie for third place all-time in team history. Rochester's all-time record for receiving touchdowns is 18, set by three players.
On its next drive, Ithaca was able to answer with a long scoring drive, traveling 67-yards on nine plays, chewing up four minutes of game time. The big play for the Bombers was a third down, 31-yard catch-and-run up the sideline by Tian Murray to reach the Yellowjacket 35-yard line.
A couple chunk plays later, Ithaca's Michael Reed rushed up the middle from the four into the endzone, but an illegal formation penalty negated the score and bright the ball back to the 9-yard line. Chris Scully followed with a 7-yard rush to the two, and Reed plowed in for real on the next play, putting Ithaca back in front, 10-6, following Wandell's extra point kick.
Rochester's next drive saw the Yellowjackets break into Ithaca territory following a big 20-yard gain by Andy Talone. A sack after a Bomber penalty brought the ball back to the 34-yard line and two incompletions stalled out the drive.
On fourth down, the Yellowjackets elected to go for it in plus-territory, but Bellenger's backhand flick pass to Jake Adelmann only went for four yards, turning the ball back over on downs.
Ithaca looked to be headed for a bigger lead on its next possession, but Reed's pass intended for Murray was intercepted in the endzone by Rochester defensive back Braydon Felsinger.
Felsinger's interception was one of four turnovers generated by the Yellowjacket defense on the day. In addition to Pinto's fumble recovery in the third quarter, Judah Thomas picked off Matthew Parker in the opening quarter and another bad snap led to a fumble recovery by Rhys Lewis midway through the first.
URochester nearly got on the board in the final moments of the second quarter, following a 14-play, 70-yard drive, but a missed field goal sent the game into halftime scoreless.
The 0-0 tie on the scoreboard was the first time Rochester had played to a scoreless opening half since 2021 when UR and Buffalo State did not score over the first 30 minutes of play.
Overall, Bellenger completed 26-for-43 passes on the day, throwing for 165 yards and one touchdown. Raux rushed 11 times for 29 yards while Papantonis was targeted heavily, finishing with nine receptions for 73 yards and a score. Raux added seven receptions for 20 yards while Talone chipped in 32 yards on three catches.
On defense, Felsinger finished with a team-high 11 tackles and had two tackles for loss and the interception. Jack Diggins added 11 tackles while Luke Herter finished with ten, including 1.5 TFL's and half a sack.
Both Parker and Reed finished with 54 yards passing for the Bombers, each throwing an interception. Scully led the Ithaca ground game with 84 net yards, while Nicholas Lang ended up as the top receiving threat, securing five catches for 52 yards. Joe Spirra finished with a game-high 13 tackles for the Bombers, adding two pass break-ups in the win.
Rochester remains home for its next contest, hosting new Liberty League affiliate member, Hilbert College, in a conference matchup next Saturday at noon. Ithaca, meanwhile, travels to St. Lawrence University next weekend, playing at 1 p.m., looking to remain unbeaten in conference play.