Michael Roumes, Jake Villanueva and AJ Wingfield, plus 44 other seniors and fifth-years lead Ithaca into a quarterfinal at North Central. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com

By Greg Thomas
D3football.com

There are certain characteristics typical of teams that reach the quarterfinal round of the Division III Football Championship.

Great athletes, impeccable execution, outstanding coaching, and senior leadership to name just a few.

National quarterfinalist Ithaca exhibits these characteristics, but perhaps none more so than their senior leadership. With 47 rostered seniors and graduate students, Ithaca has experience to spare.

• Updated 2022 playoff bracket
• Oct. 5 feature: Bombers flying high under new old coach
• Michael Toerper interview: Revisit podcast No. 305
• More NCAA playoff headlines, features

Ithaca’s seniors have been on the cusp of a return to the postseason for most of their careers. These Bomber seniors entered Week 9 of the 2019 season undefeated and eyeing a Liberty League championship before consecutive losses to Union and RPI ended their Liberty League title hopes and left them with one loss too many for selection to the 2019 playoffs. In 2021, Ithaca found itself in a similar position, but were again foiled by RPI by three points and then a one-point loss to rival Cortland had Ithaca back in the precarious two-loss position, hoping for an at-large bid that would not be delivered on Selection Sunday. Ithaca may well have been the first team out in 2021. In either of these seasons, just one more win would have launched the Bombers back into their first postseason since 2014.

Ithaca’s seniors were determined to break through that wall in 2022. “We have 15 fifth-years and I think it starts there,” Ithaca coach Mike Toerper said. “Those guys were committed to coming back for the extra year because of COVID, and we knew that the guys that come back for that extra year have one goal in mind and one pursuit in mind. That was to get to the postseason by winning the Liberty League and keeping this team intact for as long as it takes.”

Those goals have been achieved and then some. Ithaca’s 2022 season is among the best ever for one of the Division’s most storied programs. Ithaca won the Liberty League for the first time in program history and completed an undefeated regular season for the first time 1986.

For offensive lineman Jake Villanueva, one of Ithaca’s 15 fifth-year student-athletes, coming back to play in 2022 was an easy decision. “As soon as I found out that I had a fifth year, and this goes for most of the fifth year guys too. I think there was no question whether we were coming back or not,” Villanueva explained. “We have this sort of unfinished business. Obviously not making it (to the postseason) the past couple years definitely heavily influenced our decisions.”

Just as important as closing out the Liberty League championship that has narrowly eluded them, Villanueva and his fifth-year teammates wanted another season together. “Top to bottom, this is the closest team that we've ever been on because some of us have been playing together for 3, 4, 5 years. That camaraderie and brotherhood was also another factor of coming back for a fifth year,” Villanueva added.

For senior quarterback and Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist AJ Wingfield, the close losses in 2021 have been a motivator, but not something he or the team focuses on. “We lost to Cortland by one and RPI by three. That hurt us last year and not getting to the playoff crushed a lot of guys.” Wingfield continued, “But the second Coach Toerper got here. It was a big message of his to get rid of that. Those four points are behind us and we've got to look forward.”

Wingfield notes that while those four points are behind them, the narrow margin is a big reason why so many players returned for this season. “We’ve got a lot of fifth-year guys on this roster that came back because they knew how close we were and if we stayed together that, this year we could do it. It's great to kind of see it all finally happen for us,” Wingifeld said.

It is happening for Ithaca in a significant way. Ithaca has reached the 12-win plateau for just the fourth time in program history. The previous three seasons with 12 or more wins ended with Stagg Bowl appearances- two of them wins.

No team wins 12 games or reaches the quarterfinals without playing through pressure and adversity. Ithaca has leaned on their experience to stay in the moment as the moments have brought more pressure. Maybe no pressure has been bigger this season when Ithaca fell behind Springfield by 10 points early in their second round matchup.

“I think being in a lot of big moments this year has helped us. When the moment does get big no one flinches and Coach always preaches that to us. We’re going to hit adversity,” Wingfield said. “We knew Springfield was a tough team. On the sideline no one flinched, no one wavered. I think our team embraced that mentality that we’ve been down before, we've been in big games, and this is nothing new for us.”

Few moments and stages in Division III football are bigger than the annual contest for the Cortaca Jug. The 2022 edition of Cortaca took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx in front of over 40,000 fans. Division III playoff crowds and venues are more modest and the intensity of the games are similar, but not being guaranteed another game changes the dynamic.

“I think what's different is in a playoff game, tomorrow's not guaranteed. In the Cortaca Jug game, we knew we were going to the playoffs,” Toerper said. “When you're playing and tomorrow's not guaranteed, there's just this mentality that you do whatever it takes, you lay it on the line. I think we do that every game, but when you're surviving and advancing, it just feels different.”

Villanueva echoed his coach’s thoughts. “With playoff games, it's survive and advance. Every play, every possession is magnified that much more.” Comparing playoff games to Cortaca, Villanueva said “It's similar pressure with playing in front of all those fans. But I mean, playoff football is just totally different than anything else.”

For this group of Bombers seniors, 2022 has been about unfinished business in the Liberty League and the regular season. After Cortaca, it’s been about a group of student-athletes earning one more week together. “We're the first team here at Ithaca to be playing in December since 2003,” Toerper noted. “It's a testament to their work ethic and their commitment to each other. We only care about one stat and that's getting a ‘W’ and that's really what this culture is all about. Let’s put our collective energy together. And get the win no matter what it takes. And, and we don't care who gets the credit. So we're very much a team first operation here in Ithaca.”

This is a close-knit Ithaca squad that has left very little to chance throughout this season. A trip to the semifinals for the first time since 1994 is the prize this weekend. “Operation Keep the Team Together” is how Toerper phrased the current phase of Ithaca’s 2022 season and the operation is “going pretty well and we hope to do it again this week.”