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Football Hartwick SI

Football Comes Up Short at Ithaca

Football Hartwick SI

Football Comes Up Short at Ithaca

             ITHACA, NY – Nationally 30th ranked Ithaca scored the game's first 22 points and hung on for a 29-17 victory over Hartwick's football team on Saturday at Butterfield Stadium in the Empire 8 opener for both teams. The Hawks battled back in the third quarter and trailed by a 22-17 margin before the Bombers picked up a touchdown on their next possession en route to the win. Hartwick gained 377 total yards of offense, just five yards shy of IC's total, but the Bombers forced five Hawk turnovers that they turned into 13 points.
            Junior quarterback Dan Brainard (Owego, NY/Owego Free), who made his first career start as the Hawks signal caller, registered 377 yards through the air and two touchdowns. He finished the day 27-for-44 with three interceptions and he was sacked five times. Junior wide receiver Jordan Wilkins (Portsmouth, NH/Hyde School) made nine catches for 170 yards and two scores and Nick Clair (Walden, NY/Valley Central) and Grady Edwards (Stillwater, NY/Stillwater) each notched four catches for 61 and 57 yards, respectively.
            Ithaca got on the scoreboard first midway through the first quarter. On Ithaca's opening drive, 'Wick's Kevin Lee (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) picked off Rob Zappia's pass in the end zone. The Hawks punted on their first drive and Dan Ruffrage returned the ball 58 yards back deep in Hawk territory. Zappia completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dan Higgins and after a failed PAT, the Bombers led 6-0.
            In the second quarter, IC took a 9-0 advantage on an Andrew Rogowski 30-yard field goal and following a Hartwick interception, a 6-play, 45-yard drive produced a Zappia to Ruffrage 20-yard touchdown to extend the edge to 15-0. After a Hartwick fumble on an Ithaca sack, the Bombers needed five plays for another Zappia-Ruffrage touchdown to make the score 22-0.
            Hartwick got its first points of the game with 34 seconds left in the half. Brainard connected with Wilkins for 35 yards in the drive and the duo hooked up for a 14-yard score to give the Hawks six. Heath Dunn (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) tacked on the extra point and the half ended 22-7.
            The Hawks scored 10 unanswered points to begin the second half. 'Wick got the ball and drove 80 yards on 10 plays. Brainard hit Edwards for 24 yards and Anthony Casimano (Gansevoort, NY/Schuylerville) registered a 30-yard carry in the drive which was capped off by a Wilkins touchdown catch for 12 yards. Dunn added the extra point and he knocked in three more following an Ithaca punt to cut the deficit to five. A 57-yard Hartwick drive was finished off by Dunn, who hammered in a season-high 37-yarder to make the score 22-17.
            The Bombers, however, came right back on their next drive to get some breathing room. Zappia found Andre Jamison who found the end zone on a 43-yard reception to build the IC edge right back up.
            Brainard was intercepted in the Hawks' final drive of the third quarter and 'Wick turned the ball over on downs on their first possession of the fourth. The Hawks got the ball back with just 4:29 to play, but a Mike Conti interception sealed the game for the Bombers.
            Sophomore Bryan Schweitzer (Babylon, NY/Babylon), senior Stephen Leisenfelder (Wynantskill, NY/Troy), and junior Jordan Spirou (Westbury, NY/WT Clarke) each tied for a game-high in tackles with 10 apiece.  Chad Rockefeller (Delhi, NY/Delaware Academy) made eight tackles including two and a half tackles for a loss, two sacks and one pass broken up.
            The Hawks return to Wright Stadium for Homecoming next weekend. The Hawks host Alfred at 2 p.m.
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