Football routes RPI at home, 33-14

Match Review: Football | Oct 19, 2024 5:14 p.m

ITHACA, NY – The Ithaca College football team increased its season record to 3-3 with a dominant 33-14 Liberty League win over RPI at Butterfield Stadium on Oct. 19. With the triumph, IC also equalizes the all-time series at 5:5. 5 against the Engineers, as the Bombers have now won three straight in the rivalry and have surpassed the 30-point mark for the first time (the previous high was 27 in 2001).

Matthew Parker As a signal caller, he had a career day on Saturday, throwing for 282 yards on 19 of 24 passes and three touchdowns. Jalen Leonard Osbourne Ran for 75 yards on 15 carries and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass Nicholas Lang had his best game with 141 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.

RPI received the opening kickoff but was unable to do anything as the Engineers were eliminated with a three-pointer. IC then took a 7-0 lead two games later when Parker scored Jake Williams for a 50-yard touchdown score with 13:11 left in the quarter.

The IC defense forced the Engineers into three more three-and-outs in the quarter, keeping the score 7-0 after 15 minutes of play.

Ithaca began the second quarter at its own 25-yard line and moved quickly down the field, trailing Leonard-Osbourne 46 yards on the drive. The game stalled inside the 5-yard line and IC settled for an 18-yard field goal Derek Baldin with 9:02 remaining in the half.

RPI answered with a 65-yard kick return and scored five plays later, making it 10-7 with under seven minutes left.

From then on it was all “Bombers” as IC scored another touchdown on the ensuing drive to take a 17-7 lead. The drive started with an 11-yard completion to Leonard-Osbourne and then Nicholas Matos caught a 26-yard pass to advance into RPI territory. Parker then found Lang for 13 yards, and two plays later Leonard-Osbourne completed a 24-yard pass to Matos for a touchdown.

On the first play after kick-off Danny Portas intercepted a pass to force the sudden change, and IC took over at the RPI 39-yard line. After the two-minute timeout, Parker found Lang for a 31-yard touchdown grab with 1:54 left.

Parker threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns in the half when he was 15 of 19 through the air. Leonard-Osbourne had 56 yards on nine carries and Lang had five catches for 69 yards.

Parker ➡️ Osbourne ➡️ Matos ➡️ TUDDY!!!#GoBombers | #OneBeat pic.twitter.com/Wa18m1xChH

— Ithaca Bomber Football (@IthacaBomberFB) October 19, 2024

The Bombers entered the second half with a different offensive philosophy, running out the clock as much as possible on nearly every drive.

After exchanging possessions for most of the period, the Bombers scored another touchdown after a timeout at 5:27 when Parker Lang scored for a 67-yard touchdown to make it 30-7. The Bombers attempted a two-point attempt that was unsuccessful.

Midway through the fourth quarter Joe Spira intercepted the second pass of the day for the IC defense and returned it 27 yards to the RPI 6-yard line. Less than two minutes later, Baldin hit a 22-yard field goal, making the score 33-7.

The Engineers scored a late touchdown with 1:41 left to make the final 33-14.

Matos finished the game with 65 yards rushing on five grabs, while Williams had 57 yards rushing on two receptions and 34 yards rushing on seven attempts. He also served as a punter and averaged 35.2 yards on five punts, with three of them coming inside the 20-yard line.

Darren Brunner, Andrew Swierbut And Ryan Burns led the defense with five tackles each, while Spirra finished with four stops. Ryan Reilly scored a sack in the process Chris Clax and Burns combined on one sack.

Ithaca managed 22 first downs in the win and totaled a season-best 481 yards on 310 passing and 171 rushing. The Bombers also controlled the clock with over 40 minutes of possession time.

The defense held RPI to just 203 yards on offense and held Liberty League leading passer Jake Kazanowsky to just 77 yards on 10 of 29 with two interceptions. Kazanowsky came into the game averaging over 220 yards.

IC travels to Buffalo State next Saturday, October 26th for a 1 p.m. opener. The Bombers will also be on the road at Union the following Saturday, November 2nd.