Nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College scored two touchdowns in a 69-second span early in the fourth quarter, as the No. 24 Cardinals doubled-up visiting Ithaca College 34-17 in an Empire 8 Conference football matchup.
With the win, Fisher improves to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the Empire 8 Conference, while the Bombers fall to 4-4, 3-3.
It was a balanced effort from the Cardinals, who scored in all three phases of the game.
Chris Smith tallied two of Fisher's five sacks on the day, including a safety in the first quarter. Receivers Dylan Harrington (7 catches, 80 yards) and William Coon (4 catches, 101 yards) each caught a touchdown pass from Matt Naton, while Tony Fusco rushed for 54 yards and one touchdown.
Richard Ewell blocked a punt deep in Ithaca territory, which David Carroll scooped up for a one-yard touchdown return for the game's final points.
Ithaca got on the board first after forcing Fisher to go three-and-out on its opening possession, but the Bombers 78-yard drive ended with just three points on a 23-yard field goal.
Smith sacked Ithaca's Wolfgang Shafer with 5:06 left in the first quarter to make it 3-2. A 42-yard punt from Brandon Belles pinned the Bombers at their own three-yard line to set up the defensive score.
Fisher took the lead on the first play of the second quarter as Fusco scampered in from three yards out, while Naton hit Mike Collichio on a slant for the two-point conversion to make it 10-3.
After a tipped pass from Naton was intercepted at the Fisher 20, Ithaca tied the game up at 10s scoring on an 8-yard pass from Shafer to Evan Skea with 9:25 left in the second.
Fisher's Devin Dzikowicz put the Cardinals up for good at 13-10, drilling a 30-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the half.
Harrington pushed the Cardinals' lead to 20-10 with 3:51 left in the third quarter, scoring on a 13-yard pass to cap an eight-play, 65-yard drive with Harrington adding catches of 22 and 10 during the drive.
Ithaca however came right back and drove 77 yards on eight plays with Brian Balsamo scoring on 14-yard pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 20-17.
Fisher didn't waste time answering back. On its first offensive play of the next drive, Coon scored on a 73-yard bomb to make it 27-17 with 14:37 left.
Fisher forced Ithaca to go three-and-out on its next possession, and on fourth down, Ewell came off the right edge and blocked a punt that Carroll recovered for the scoop-and-score with 13:28 remaining.
Sophomore Demarre Nelson put an end to any Ithaca rally, intercepting two passes in the final five minutes to give him a team-leading four interceptions on the year.
Naton finished the game with 251 passing yards on 20-of-30 attempts, while adding 31 rushing yards.
Justin DiBernardo, Shane Ross and Collichio each snagged two passes.
Defensively, DJ Logory led the Cardinals with 12 tackles. All-American Alec Mortillaro broke up two passes, while Evan Majewski and Mark Guarino-Hyde each finished with a sack. Jonathon Piersma and Carroll each shared one sack.
Fisher will return to action next Saturday and will host Hartwick College. The game time has been moved up to 12 p.m. to accommodate the Fisher field hockey team hosting the Empire 8 Conference Championship.
Fisher Doubles Up Ithaca
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161029_tz60.xml
2016
Ithaca
17
St. John Fisher
34
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca (4-4) | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 22 St. John Fisher (7-1) | 2 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 34 |
Oct 29, 2016