St. John Fisher Takes Out E8 Rival Ithaca in OT
St. John Fisher College came through with a 13-10 overtime-win over host Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon in a pivotal Empire 8 Conference football matchup.
With the win, Fisher improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Empire 8, while Ithaca falls to 3-2, 1-2. The win marked Fisher's sixth straight win over Ithaca and the third straight time the Cardinals have won at Butterfield Stadium. Fisher's last overtime win came back in 2004, a 45-38 victory over the Bombers at Growney Stadium.
Fisher’s Chad Monheim split the uprights on line-drive shot from 34 yards out on the opening possession of overtime. On the ensuing possession, Fisher’s Ryan Seymour deflected a 35-yard attempt that would have extended the game.
It was Seymour’s second block of the day. The sophomore batted down a 29-yard kick with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 10-10.
Fisher had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but a 41-yard attempt from Monheim came up short and left as time expired.
Fisher out-gained Ithaca 374-346. The Cardinals were 11-of-18 on third downs, while Ithaca was 1-for-9 on the day, converting only on its first attempt of the day.
Fisher took the lead on its first possession of the game on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Schmidt to Ryan Francis. Schmidt, who lined up in the backfield, took the option-pitch from quarterback Ryan Kramer and threw it to Francis, who caught the ball at the Ithaca 2 before falling into the end zone.
The Cardinals trailed 10-7 at the half. Fisher’s Troy Sant and Tyler Schier each intercepted passes, but Fisher committed three turnovers in the first half, including two inside the Ithaca 15.
Fisher scored the only points of the second half on its opening possession, as the Cardinals drove 62 yards on 12 plays, before Monheim made a 36-yarder with 9:43 left in the third.
The Fisher defense kept the Bombers at bay for the rest of the game. Sant wrestled the ball away from an Ithaca player on a third down at the Fisher 10 for his second interception of the game and his third in the last two games.
Dave Vosburgh led the Fisher defense with 11 tackles, while Schier was in on nine stops and shared a sack with Cody Foster. Brenden Moore made eight tackles.
Offensively, Kramer completed 22-of-32 passes for 150 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. He also ran the ball 19 times for 98 yards which set a new career-high for the junior.
FuQuan Borum and Cody Miller each carried the ball 10 times and gained 43 and 40 yards, respectively.
Francis caught a 10 passes for 118 yards, while Schmidt snagged nine passes for 43 yards.