SCHENECTADY, N.Y. Junior running back Tom Arcidiacono (Castleton, NY/Columbia) rushed for a career-high 264 yards with five touchdowns and QB Anthony Marotti (River Edge, NJ/River Dell) passed for 416 yards to lead Union College to a 55-41 victory over Ithaca College in an NCAA Division III First Round football playoff game at Bailey Field Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Union will play Rowan, which defeated Wilkes, next Saturday at 12 p.m. at a site to be announced. The Dutchmen improved to 11-0 while the Bombers ended the season with an 8-3 record. The teams combined for 1134 yards, including 680 by Union and 474 by Ithaca. It was the Dutchmen's first victory in the NCAA playoffs since a triumph over Plymouth State in a 1995 regional game, 24-7.

Arcidiacono had touchdown runs of four, 64, 10, one and one yards, including two fourth quarter scoring runs. He entered the week ranked #4 in NCAA Division III rushing with an average of 161.6 per game. It was his fifth 200+ yard rushing game of the year and 10^th 100+ game in 12 outings. Marotti passed for 416 yards, two yards short of his single game Union record, and three touchdowns, completing 28 of 39 passes with one interception. Three receiver for the Dutchmen all eclipsed the 100 yard mark, as senior Ryan Perry (E. Greenbush, NY/Columbia) had 120 yards on eight catches, and Steve Angiletta (Plantsville, CT/Southington) had eight catches for 103 yards. Ryan Twitchell (Fayettevile, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) had 102 yards on five catches. Senior DL Dylan Walton-Yedlin (Seattle, WA/Lakeside) led the Union defense with 11 tackles, eight solo hits, and three sacks. Senior DB Chris Nappi (Scotia, NY/Niskayuna) also had 11 tackles with a pass deflection for the Dutchmen.

Marotti broke the single season passing yards record at Union, finishing the day with a season total of 2,820 yards. He broke the 1989 record of 2,670 yards set by Brett Russ.

Ithaca senior quarterback Josh Felicetti (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) was 29 for 37 for 271 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for the Bombers. Junior RB Alex Baez (Medford, NY/Patchogue-Medford) had a career-high 197 yards on 22 rushes and a 37-yard touchdown. Junior WR Kelly Gordon (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable) had 92 yards on six catches and a touchdown for the Bombers. Defensively, senior linebacker Jose Colon (Utica, NY/Proctor) had a game-high 15 tackles and 10 solos for Ithaca.

Ithaca led 41-34 when Arcidiacono ran in for the fourth time in the game, with a one-yard scoring rush 14 seconds into the fourth to wrap up a five-play, 65-yard drive in 52 seconds. At 8:46 of the fourth, the junior rusher notched his fifth score of the game, another one yard rush, for a 48-41 lead to complete a six-play, 80-yard drive in 2:33. The Dutchmen sealed the contest with 4:46 left in the fourth as Angiletta caught a five-yard pass from Marotti for the final 55-41 score, completing a nine-play, 57-yard drive.

On the opening kickoff of the game, Ithaca's Kyle Crandall (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) returned the kick 67 yards to the Union 24, and Felicetti found Tom Labenski (Nutley, NJ/Mahwah) with the 24-yard touchdown pass on the next play. The kick failed and it was 6-0 Ithaca at 14:40. Union took a 7-0 lead after the conversion after Arcidiacono's four-yard run to cap a 10-play, 86 yard drive in 5:12 with 9:21 left in the first. Brett Kitenplon (Seminole, FL/Admiral Farragut) gave the Bombers a 9-7 lead with a 33-yard field goal at 5:45, to complete a 10-play, 49 yard drive. Justin Esposito (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) completed the first quarter scoring with an 11-yard catch from Felicetti with 21 seconds remaining for a 16-7 Bomber lead. It was a nine-play, 75 yard drive.

Twitchell capped a seven play, 69-yard drive in 3:14 with a 29-yard scoring strike from Marotti at 11:59 of the second. Ithaca then bumped the lead up to 23-21 on an 11-yard pass from Felicetti to Gordon wrapping up a 10-play, 83 yard drive in 4:31. The score came at 7:29 of the second. Union's Perry made it 23-14 Ithaca at the half, as he caught a 10-yard pass from Maroitt with 3:56 left in the second stanza.

Kitenplon booted a 38-yard field goal at 10:22 of the third for a 26-21 Ithaca lead. It capped a 10-play, 59 yard drive in 3:28. But at 10:03 of the third, on the first play of a drive from the Union-36 yard line, Arcidiacono broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run to give Union its first lead of the day, (after the kick), 27-26 with 10:03 left in the third. The junior running back scored on a 10-yard run at 5:10 to complete a five-play, 77-yard drive in 1:39 and it was 34-26 Union. Ithaca tied it at 4:58 on the ensuing kickoff, returning the kick 80 yards for the touchdown, and the Bomber tied it at 34-34 when Felicetti hit Mike Oertel (Peru, NY/Peru) with the two-point conversion. Ithaca took the lead with just 33 seconds left in the third stanza on a five-yard rush by Baez, the second play of a 42-yard drive in 29 seconds, and it was 41-34 Ithaca entering the fourth.