Box Score
ITHACA, NY – Rob Zappia threw for 242 yards and wide receiver Thomas Vossler had 104 yards and two \touchdowns to lead Ithaca College to a 28-20 victory over Union at Butterfield Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Bombers improved to 2-0 after the non-conference victory, while the Dutchmen opened their season with this contest.
Union was led by receiver Justin Gallo, who had 110 yards on seven catches and a touchdown. Drew Connolly passed for three touchdowns and was 16 for 33 for 223 yards. Chris Coney rushed for 38 yards on 14 carries and Anthony Cassese and AJ Rocchio each recorded 14 tackles for the Dutchmen.
Zappia was 21 for 31 with a touchdown and Clay Ardoin ran for 54 yards and 18 carries with a score. Dan Higgins caught 77 yards for the Bombers, who were led defensively by Eric Toporoff (nine tackles).
Ithaca had 416 total yards in offense, including 283 through the air, while Union had 301 yards, with 223 coming in passing yards.
The Bombers looked to open the scoring with a 29 yard field goal attempt by Andrew Rogowski with 7:07 remaining in the first quarter. But the attempt was just wide to the right, and a seven play, 45 yard drive did not produce any Ithaca points.
Ithaca's Dan Ruffrage returned a Union punt 30 yards to the 25 but a fumble forced by Noah Joseph was recovered by Union's Jeff DeVico at the 15. The Ithaca defense forced Union to four straight four-and-outs to open the contest, and Union got the first first down with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
Rogowski's 39 yard field goal attempt with 1:05 left in the first period was blocked by Cam Johnson to keep the contest scoreless. The defenses combined allowed 144 total yards on 34 plays and the game remained scoreless as the first quarter completed.
Ithaca took a 7-0 lead with a one yard run by Zappia with 9:01 left in the second quarter. Union's Rocchio made a key stop at the one yard line on third and one, and the Bombers went for it on fourth down. Zappia faked the pass on fourth down and ran in on the right side. The drive was 10 plays, 74 yards in 5:44. This drive featured a 35 yard pass completion from Zappia to Dan Higgins that brought it to the Union one nine yard line.
The Bombers made it 14-0 when Thomas Vossler caught a 13 yard pass from Zappia with 1:01 remaining in the first half. The scoring drive took 39 yards on six plays in 3:19.
After the ensuing kickoff, Justin Gallo caught a 41 yard pass from Connolly to bring it to the Ithaca 23 yard line. On a third and nine with 18 seconds left, Justin Gallo hauled in a Connolly pass in the back left corner of the endzone to put Union on the board at 14-7. It was a six play, 64 yard drive in 38 seconds.
On the first drive of the second half, wide receiver Dan Ruffrage took the pitch and rolled right and found Thomas Vossler for a 41 yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead. It was a five play, 66 yard drive that came with 12:57 left in the third quarter, thus, a 2:03 drive.
After a defensive stop on the next Union drive, Ithaca marched 43 yards on six plays in 3:41, capped by a one yard leap for a score for Clay Ardoin. It was 28-7 Ithaca with 7:31 left in the third.
Union had a fourth and three at the Ithaca 27 as the third quarter ended. To start the fourth, Connolly hit Connor Gallo on the first play of the period for a 27 yard score. But the snap on the PAT was fumbled and it was 28-13 Ithaca after a seven play, 72 yard drive that took 2:42.
The Dutchmen pulled closer on an impressive five play, 77 yard drive when Chris Vazquez got open behind the Ithaca secondary and produced a 31 yard touchdown reception from Connolly with 10:30 left in the fourth, making it 28-20 Ithaca. That catch wrapped up a five play, 77 yard drive that took just 1:54 off the clock.
But the Bombers consumed a big chunk of that clock with the eight point lead. On the 10th play of the drive, with 4:16 left on a third and 15 from the Union 41, the Dutchmen stopped a run at the Union 37 and forced a punt, Union took over at the Dutchmen 10 with 3:59 left in the fourth. But Union also had to punt away and Ithaca started a drive with 3:03 left at the Bomber 34 yard line. Once again, a defense forced a punt and Union had one more shot with 1:13 left from the Union 20. But on the second play, Spence White intercepted a pass at the 26 and returned it to the four yard line to seal the victory.
Union has a bye next week, and will return to action on Sat., September 25. The Dutchmen will host the University of Rochester at Frank Bailey Field at 6 p.m.
