SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Despite a career-high 332 yards passing from junior
Luke Sheehan, the Union College football team was done in by turnovers and penalties as the Garnet Chargers dropped a 35-14 matchup to Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
The loss eliminates Union (3-4, 2-2 Liberty League) from league title contention with three games remaining, while Ithaca (6-1, 5-0 Liberty League) remains atop the conference standings with the win.
Sheehan had the best passing day of his career on Saturday, going 30-of-47 for 332 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for a team-best 40 yards. Sophomore
Evan Anderson was the primary beneficiary of the offensive attack plan, hauling in a career-best nine catches for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Senior
Dwayne Hinds led the defensive effort with a game-high 11 tackles, while classmate
Jordan Black continued his excellent season with two more sacks and eight tackles overall.
Despite those efforts, Union turned the ball over three times and also gave the ball away on downs three times, while also taking 11 penalties that conceded 122 yards and kept several Ithaca drives alive in the first half.
After the defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession, Sheehan went deep to senior
Gil Rivera for a 47-yard reception on the first offensive play from scrimmage. Set up inside the 30-yard line, however, Union was stopped on four downs to turn the ball over. The defense seemed to generate another three-and-out, but an offside penalty in punt formation kept Ithaca's offense on the field and the Bombers marched to the end zone, helped by 20 more Union penalty yards.
Union responded well on its next drive, traversing 75 yards in 12 plays to take the lead. Sheehan rushed for 19 yards and threw for 47 yards on the drive, which started with an Anderson 11-yard catch and ended on a 20-yard Anderson touchdown reception on third-and-long. Senior
Mack McManus ran in the subsequent two-point conversion to put Union up 8-7 with 66 seconds left in the first quarter.
Ithaca took back the lead on the next possession, with a roughing-the-kicker penalty giving the Bombers a second chance yet again and a huge 59-yard catch by Michael Reed on third-and-23 contributing mightily to the touchdown drive.
The home team knotted the score late in the quarter with a nine-play, 91-yard drive that was helped by a 35-yard connection between Sheehan and Anderson as well as a 32-yard catch and run by senior
Joe Curran. First-year
Frankie Strachan plunged in from two yards out to tie the game at 14 after the two-point conversion came up just short. However, penalties haunted Union again on the next Ithaca drive, as the Bombers got 45 of their 71 yards via flag on the way to a back-breaking touchdown with 20 seconds left that put Ithaca up 21-14 at the half.
The Garnet Chargers had two promising drives to start the second half, getting inside the Ithaca 30-yard line both times only to lose the ball on downs and via fumble. Another turnover on downs early in the fourth led to a short field and subsequent touchdown for Ithaca, and the Bombers put the game away with another time-consuming drive later in the frame.
Sheehan's 332 passing yards are the most by a Union quarterback since William Bellamy '20 threw for a program-record 456 yards in the NCAA Tournament against Salisbury University on November 20, 2019.
Union will return to action next Saturday with a noon matchup at Hilbert College.
