Ithaca, NY (Oct. 4, 2014) – The Utica College football team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of host and nationally-ranked No. 15 Ithaca College, 27-10, in Empire 8 Conference action at Butterfield Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Pioneers amassed more total yards than the Bombers (301-284), but the home team returned a blocked punt 19 yards for a score midway through the third quarter and held UC scoreless in the final 18:12 of action to earn the key conference win.
After St. John Fisher's overtime loss to Salisbury on Saturday, Ithaca (4-0, 3-0 Empire 8) now stands alone as the only undefeated team in the Empire 8. The Pioneers' record moved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference action. Utica remains on the road next Saturday when it travels to Salisbury to take on the Seagulls in conference play (12 p.m.).
Utica totaled 148 yards on the ground, but the Bombers held the Pioneers to a 5-of-18 effort on third downs and forced Utica to punt the ball nine times. Ithaca also won the time of possession battle, 33:07-26:53.
UC freshman J'Von Evans (Utica, NY/Proctor) carried the ball 16 times for 77 yards and he registered the Pioneers' lone touchdown of the day to make the score 21-10 with 3:13 left in the third quarter. Evans now has five rushing touchdowns this season.
The Pioneers took an early 3-0 advantage when junior kicker Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) connected on a 39-yard field goal attempt just 5:19 into the contest. The 39-yarder by Woodburn tied for the fifth longest field goal in program-history. Woodburn is now tied with Casey McNulty '09 for first all-time with 16 career field goals made.
The Bombers rattled off 21 straight points over the course of the next 32:08 to take a 21-3 lead after junior Ryan Michaels returned the blocked punt 19 yards for a score with 7:32 to go in the third quarter. Senior quarterback Tom Dempsey connected on a 38-yard touchdown pass to classmate Chris Bauer with 2:11 left in the first quarter to give the Bombers a 7-3 lead. Dempsey then found senior Vito Boffoli on a six-yard touchdown route with just 1:39 left in the first half of play as the Bombers took a 14-3 lead into the locker room at the half. Dempsey capped the afternoon completing 15-of-23 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
Utica quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) completed 20-of-44 passes for 153 yards on the afternoon. Sophomore Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) caught a game-high six passes for 25 yards, while Alex DeRusso (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) made four catches for 46 yards for the Pioneers.
Senior running back Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) carried the ball 12 times for 54 yards and he now has 1,402 career rushing yards in the blue and orange.
The UC defense totaled seven tackles for a loss on the afternoon, including one sack by junior defensive end Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor). Woodman leads the Empire 8 with five sacks this season and he now has 9.5 sacks for his career.
Senior linebacker Jon Treen (Ilion, NY/Ilion) led the Pioneers with ten tackles (eight solo), while sophomore Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) added four tackles and two pass break ups. Mike Sullivan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) finished the day with eight tackles for Utica.
Ithaca displayed excellent ball security all afternoon as the Bombers did not surrender a single turnover in 60 minutes of action.
Ithaca freshman running back Tristan Brown carried the ball 22 times for 103 yards and he also capped the scoring on the afternoon, giving the Bombers a 27-10 lead with 6:54 to go in regulation, after a one yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter.
Utica senior punter Dakota Pell booted the ball eight times for 323 yards (40.4 yard average) and he pinned the Bombers inside their own 20-yard line on two occasions.
QUICK HITTERS: Senior quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) became the third player in program-history to complete at least 300 passes in a career … He also became the third quarterback in school-history to throw for 3,000+ career passing yards … Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) became the third back in school-history to carry the ball at least 300 times in a career … Kicker Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) moved into fourth place all-time at UC with 112 career points … Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) needs 1.5 sacks to move into fourth place on the College's all-time sack list.
#15 Ithaca Tops Utica in Battle of E8 Unbeatens
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141004_udmz.xml
2014
Utica
10
Ithaca
27
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica (4-1) | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Ithaca (4-0) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
Oct 04, 2014