40 Straight Winning Seasons For Ithaca Football After 30-6 Win Over Utica
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The football team (6-2, 3-1 Empire 8) routed Utica (5-3, 0-3 Empire 8) 30-6 Saturday to clinch the program's 40th straight winning season. Only six schools, at any level of college football, have ever recorded a streak of winning seasons that long in 140 years of college football. The Bombers play at Alfred next week and can clinch a share of the Empire 8 title with a win.
Senior quarterback Rob Zappia (Greece Athena/Rochester) threw for a pair of touchdowns and the Bomber defense contributed a pair of scores against a Utica offense that ranked in the top- 25 nationally in four categories. The win was Ithaca’s 10th in as many all-time meetings with the Pioneers.
Ithaca’s defense recorded the game’s first points, recording a safety on the first play of Utica’s second possession. The Pioneers were pinned at their own one-yard line on a 39-yard punt by Bomber junior Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst). Senior defensive end Sean Gil (Sachem North/Holbrook) and senior tackle Andrew Haim (Douglas MacArthur/Levittown) led a surge that dumped Utica's running back in his own end zone.
Rogowski, who converted all four of his extra points, punted a career-high eight times. He averaged 39.2 yards per kick (including a career-long 58-yard effort) and stranded Utica inside its 20-yard line five times.
The Bombers took Utica’s free kick and drove 85 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Senior Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl, Pa.) ran six yards for the score.
Zappia threw a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, completing a 15-yard scoring pass to senior tight end Dan Higgins (Greece Athena/Rochester) and a 23-yard touchdown to senior wideout Dan Ruffrage (Utica Notre Dame/Whitesboro). Zappia raised his career total to 1,963 yards, good for eighth all-time at Ithaca, and finished with 215 yards, completing 16 of 33 passes. His top target was senior wide receiver Thomas Vossler (Loon Lake/Saranac Lake), who caught seven passes for 78 yards. Vossler raised his career total to 129 receptions, second on Ithaca’s all-time list and two short of tying the school record held by Abe Ceesay (131 catches from 1996 to 1999).
The Bombers closed out the scoring 40 seconds into the final quarter. After a Rogowski punt forced Utica to start on its own eight-yard line, the Pioneers turned the ball over on their first play on a fumble caused by strong safety David Ahonen (Victor/Farmington) that junior cornerback Mike Conti (Daniel Hand/Bradford, Conn.) recovered and ran in 12 yards for a touchdown.
Sophomore linebacker Will Carter (Westlake/Thornwood) led Ithaca’s defense with 11 tackles, including a career-best three for loss. Junior linebacker Eric Toporoff (Montville Township/Montville, N.J.) was in on seven stops, including two for loss, and broke up a pair of passes. Junior linebacker Ryan Clarke (Archbishop Spaulding/West Friendship, Md.) added two tackles for loss and a pair of pass break-ups. Haim knocked down three passes at the line of scrimmage and recorded two tackles for loss.