ALFRED, NY ‑‑ The Alfred University football team dominated both sides of the ball in a 20-6 Homecoming victory over visiting Ithaca College Saturday afternoon at Yunevich Stadium.
The AU defense held Ithaca to just 54 yards offense through three quarters and for the game limited the Bombers to 169, including minus-three on the ground. Freshman end Joshua Rivers (Medford, NY/Longwood) had three sacks and one stop for loss among his five tackles.
Against a stout Bomber defense, a balanced AU offense produced 322 yards (162 rushing, 160 passing). Senior quarterback Tyler Johnson (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) had 259 yards of total offense, giving him 8,597 for his career, which breaks the school record of 8,564 set by Tom Secky (2008-11).
With the win, which snapped a three-game losing streak to Ithaca, AU stayed unbeaten at 4-0 and improved to 2-0 in Empire 8 Conference play. Ithaca fell to 1-2 (0-1 Empire 8).
After AU punted on its first two possessions, it was the defense that got the Saxons on the board. On first-and-10 from his own 22, Ithaca quarterback Wolfgang Shafer threw an interception to AU junior cornerback Jared Watkins (Buffalo, NY/Cleveland Hill), who returned it 25 yards for the touchdown.
Alfred's increased its lead to 14-0 on its first possession of the second quarter. After an Ithaca punt gave Alfred the ball at its own 7-yard line, the Saxons went on a 16-play 93-yard march that took 9:49 off the clock and ended with a nine-yard scoring pass from Johnson to senior wideout Brendan Buisch (Hornell, NY/Hornell) with 3:22 left in the half.
The Saxons scored on their third possession of the third quarter to take a three-touchdown lead. Facing a fourth-and-5 from its own 34-yard line, Ithaca tried to run on a fake punt, but the Bombers' Jack Yule was stopped four yards behind the line of scrimmage by Alfred junior Michael Joiner (Webster, NY/Webster-Schroeder) and the Saxons took over on downs at the Ithaca 30. Six plays later, Johnson ran in from three yards out and, after a blocked PAT attempt, the Saxons led 20-0.
AU came close to shutting out Ithaca, but the Bombers on their first possession of the final period, driving 78 yards on 15 plays. Facing fourth-and18 from the Saxon 27-yard line, Shafer lofted a pass into the back-left corner of the endzone to wideout J.R. Zazzara. The extra point attempt hit the left upright and AU led, 20-6.
Johnson ran 14 times for 99 yards and a touchdown and junior tailback Maleke Fuentes (Olean, NY/Olean) had 12 rushes for 46 yards. Johnson was 16-for-31 for 160 yards and a touchdown. Buisch finished with two catches for 45 yards and senior wide receiver Emile Frigon (Utica, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) had five receptions for 32 yards.
Shafer was 15-of-27 for 152 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Yule had six catches for 57 yards and Zazzara three for 43 yards and a touchdown.
AU junior linebacker A.J. LiCata (Lake View, NY/Frontier) had eight tackles (five solo) and an interception for the Saxons. Junior end Toby Hale (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott), senior end Charles Branwell (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) and senior tackle Andy Miller (Hilton, NY/Hilton) each had a sack, with Miller adding two pass deflections, and senior free safety Shyheim Wingate (Jamaica, NY/Holy Cross) had three solo tackles and an interception.
Linebacker Kenny Bradley led Ithaca with 12 tackles (one for loss), while linebacker Dan Loizos added 11.
Alfred is in action next on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 1 p.m. at Empire 8 foe Morrisville.