ITHACA, N.Y. - The nationally ranked No. 17/18 Ithaca College football team looked to improve on their two-game winning streak on Saturday at Bertino Field at Butterfield Stadium, returning to play against Hobart College Statesmen after a bye week. Ithaca would end up continuing its winning ways, defeating the Statesmen by a score of 24-14 to advance to 3-1 on the season, and handing Hobart its first loss of the season. The Bombers are now 18-0 all-time at home against the Statesmen.
After Hobart won the coin toss, Ithaca received to begin the first half. Their first drive started with a fumble on the first play as the Bombers would be moved back to their own 18-yard line as they recovered the football. The Bombers would go four and out in their first drive.
The Statesmen's first drive would see a lot of rushing opportunities for Tim Denham Jr., as the Hobart running back would lead the Statesmen to a first down as they faced a 3rd-and-5 on their own 22-yard line. The Bombers wouldn't allow another first down, however, as they would stop the Statesmen on 3rd-and-5, forcing Hobart to punt on fourth down.
The Bombers would see a little more success moving the football on their second drive, as they saw a couple of first downs with A.J. Wingfield finding two of his main targets in Sam Kline and Julien Deumaga for catches and handing the ball over to Jalen Leonard Osbourne on a couple of occasions to gain some rushing yards. A 10-play, 40-yard drive that lasted 3:39 would end in the Bombers coming up empty, as Ithaca would punt on 4th-and-8 on its own 46-yard line.
Hobart's second drive lasted 2:41 and saw six plays across 23 yards. Rayshawn Boswell was targeted for a couple of rushing yards, to push the Statesmen up the field. However, the drive would end on 2nd-and-10 on the Hobart 32 after Johnny Colombi completed a pass to Ahmad Crowell for 12 yards, but on their own 44-yard line, the Statesmen would fumble as Jake Connolly knocked the ball loose and was recovered by Ben Stola.
Ithaca's next drive would last just one play, as Wingfield's pass from the Hobart 36 would be intercepted by the Statesmen's Mekhi Rodgers. As Hobart regained the football, they would end the first quarter on a 2nd-and-6 on their own 39-yard line.
The second quarter would see a lot more action as both teams would get on the board. The Statesmen would almost the whole length of the field on their first drive of the second half. Through 17 plays across 9:19 of gameplay, Colombi handed the ball off to Boswell and Denham Jr. for multiple rushes, completing just one pass on the drive (to Crowell). The long drive would culminate in Denham Jr. rushing for four yards from the Ithaca four-yard line for a touchdown to put the Statesmen up 6-0. The extra kick by Tobias Wefering would put Hobart up 7-0.
Ithaca would respond on a long drive of its own, with 13 plays across 75 yards in 5:29 of gameplay. The drive started with five straight rushes for Jalen Hines that would get Ithaca to the Hobart 47. Ithaca would earn a couple of more completions before scoring on an eight-yard pass from Wingfield to Kline to the left of the endzone to get the Bombers on the board. The extra kick from Derek Baldin would tie the game at 7-7.
The Statesmen would get the ball back put go four and out. On 4th-and-5 on their own 30-yard line, Hobart would have a punt loss of 30 yards, as Ithaca's Sam Tourangeau would fall on the ball in the endzone for another Bombers touchdown. Baldin's extra point kick would put the Bombers up 14-7. With 1:25 left on the clock, Hobart would get the ball back for a chance to make something happen before the half, but once again would be stopped by the Bombers, this time after six plays. Ithaca would get the ball back at their own 11-yard line after the Statesmen punted on fourth down, and the Bombers would get one play in before letting the clock run out to end the first half.
Hobart would receive the kickoff to begin the second half. Their first drive of the second half would get within goal range after nine plays but would be restricted to an attempted field goal and the Bombers kept them out of the endzone. Ithaca would block the field goal attempt on Wefering's 30-yard attempt on 4th-and-12, resulting in Ithaca gaining the football on their own 15.
Ithaca's first drive of the second half would start with multiple rushes from Leonard-Osbourne and Wingfield. On 3rd-and-7 at the Ithaca 44, Wingfield would rush right for two yards before being knocked out of bounds on a hard hit by Hobart's Jaimen Bliss. Penalties would follow for holding and unsportsmanlike conduct for the Bombers, which would push the Bombers back, forcing Ithaca to punt on 4th-and-20.
On their next drive, Hobart would only gain one first-down completion, having a short-lived drive that lasted five plays and saw them gain 12 yards over 1:40 of gameplay. They would punt on 4th-and-15.
The Bombers' second drive of the third quarter would last 13 plays, as the team went 75 yards in a little over five minutes. Wingfield continued to target Leonard-Osbourne and Kline throughout the drive, but the Bombers would be held to a field goal as on 4th-and-3, Baldin would extend Ithaca's lead to 17-7.
Hobart would begin the fourth quarter with the ball, going on a nearly six-minute drive. The Statesmen would use 12 plays to go 85 yards and end their drive with their second score of the game. Denham Jr. would score his second touchdown of the game, getting into the endzone on a four-yard pass from Colombi on 3rd-and-4. Wefering's extra point kick would bring the Statesmen within three points of the Bombers, at 17-14.
The Bombers would respond very quickly, only needing three plays to score once again. On 3rd-and-1, Leonard-Osbourne would rush 79 yards up the middle to extend the Bombers' lead. Baldin's extra point kick would give Ithaca a ten-point advantage at 24-14.
Hobart would muster just six plays on their next drive, as Colombi would be taken down on his rush attempt by Isaiah Couser and Jason Haber on 4th-and-5.
Ithaca would have their final drive of the game in the last five minutes of the game, getting to the goalline with a little over 30 seconds left in the game before taking a knee to complete the win.
The Bombers saw a strong offensive performance, as Wingfield completed 13 of his 21 attempted passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. Leonard-Osbourne gained 155 yards rushing on 22 carries, while Kline had six receptions for 73 yards.
Stola and Couser led the Bombers with 17 and seven tackles, respectively. Stola, Couser, and Jordan Sosa each had tackles for loss, with Stola racking up 3.5 and a sack. Ithaca outpaced the Statesmen with 355 yards to Hobart's 322.
The Bombers will play their second Liberty League opponent of the season next Saturday, October 7 at 12 p.m. when they travel to Troy, N.Y. to face off with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
No. 17/18 Ithaca Opens Bertino Field With 24-14 Win over Hobart
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230930_fg1e.xml
2023
Hobart
14
Ithaca
24
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart (3-1) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 19 Ithaca (3-1) | 0 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
Sep 30, 2023