Breaking ground at the all-new Bertino Field at Butterfield Stadium, the Ithaca College football team opened Liberty League play with a 24–14  win against the Hobart College Statesmen on Sept. 29.

The game started rough for the Bombers, as on the very first play, a jet sweep was botched by senior running back Jalen Leonard-Osbourne and graduate student quarterback A.J. Wingfield, putting the Bombers behind the sticks early.

Following a two-yard run on 2nd and 24, Wingfield found Osbourne for a 14-yard completion, bringing the football back to the original line of scrimmage.

With the Statesmen seemingly gaining solid field position after a great defensive start, junior linebacker Darren Brunner drilled a 49-yard punt, flipping the field position and forcing the Statesmen to start at its 17-yard line.

Sticking with what has worked for the team through three games this season, the Statesmen’s offense started with six straight runs. Facing a 3rd and 5, junior quarterback Johnny Colombi was forced out of the pocket by junior defensive lineman Owen O’Neil and was brought down a yard short of the line of scrimmage.

Like the Bombers, Statesmen junior punter Tobias Wefering launched a 56-yard punt, with it being downed at the Bombers’ six-yard line.

After the Bombers were forced to punt again, they pinned the Statesmen down at their own nine-yard line. After, Colombi completed a 10-yard pass to senior wide receiver Chris Bartosic to get out of the shadow of their endzone.

A few plays later, facing a 2nd and 10 at their 32-yard line, Colombi completed a pass to sophomore wide receiver Ahmad Crowell. However, Crowell had the football knocked out and was recovered by graduate student linebacker Ben Stola.

However, the celebration was short-lived for the Bombers, as Wingfield’s pass was intercepted by sophomore defensive back Mekhi Rodgers, with his momentum taking him out of bounds at the one-yard line.

The Statesmen would go the length of the field, 99 yards, to score the game’s first touchdown. Senior running back Tim Denham Jr. carried it four yards for his third touchdown on the season.

It did not take long for the Bombers to respond, as they evened the score on a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive, with senior wide receiver Sam Kline hauling it in for a touchdown and tying the game up at seven. The highlight on the drive was a one-handed grab by Kline, gaining 19 yards on the play.

Hobart could not respond, as they went three and out on their next offensive possession. With Wefering back to punt, a bad snap sent the ball flying over his head and into the endzone; the Bombers were the first to jump on the football, turning the bad snap into a touchdown and giving them the lead, 14–7, with 1:30 remaining in the first half.

Head coach Mike Toerper was impressed with the special teams play from the South Hill squad in the contest, being a key factor through all four quarters.

“We’ve been waiting for our special teams to break through and make some plays,” Toerper said.  “We did a great job today playing complimentary football and using our special teams to help us in the field position battle.”

Coming out of halftime, the Statesmen received the second-half kickoff. A long return from senior running back Rayshawn Boswell and a personal foul call on the Bombers set up Hobart on the Bombers side of the field.

One of two personal fouls against the Bombers in the game, Toerper wants to reinforce to his team not to make silly penalties.

“No selfish penalties. I want us to be aggressive but controlled aggressive,” Toerper said.

Quick passes moved the Statesmen and Wefering into field goal range. As they attempted to cut the Bombers lead to four, graduate student defensive lineman Jordan Sosa blocked the field goal and kept the score 14–7.

The Bombers and Statesmen traded punts on each of their next drives. Following the Statesmen’s punt, the Bombers started on their 22-yard line. A long drive from the Bombers took 5:17 off the clock but stalled just past the Statesmen’s five-yard line. Junior kicker Derek Baldin converted the field goal, pushing the lead to 10 for the Bombers.

Coming out of the timeout, with 9:31 remaining, the Statesmen found themselves with a third and goal on Ithaca’s four-yard line. With Colombi seemingly attempting to use his legs to run the ball in, he flipped the ball over the crashing Bombers’ defense to Denham Jr. for the touchdown, cutting the lead to three.

With all the intentions of running the clock down, the Bombers ran the ball twice to set up a third and one on their 21-yard line. As Wingfield handed the ball off to Leonard–Osbourne, he found an opening for a 79-yard touchdown run, ultimately putting the game out of reach for the Statesmen.

Watching from the line of scrimmage, graduate student offensive lineman JoJo Puckey knew without a doubt that Leonard-Osbourne was gone.

“Knew right away it was a touchdown,” Puckey said. “Looked up to make sure there were no flags, but once he gets into open space he’s gone.”

The Statesmen put together a six-play drive following the Bombers’ score but turned the ball over on downs after junior defensive lineman Isaiah Couser tackled Colmobi short of the line to gain.

While the Statesmen did have long drives and were 50% on third-down conversions, Toerper said the defense did a great job of keeping the ball in front of them and making plays when needed.

Out of timeouts and facing a fourth and one, the Statesmen needed a stop to give themselves a chance at making a comeback. However, an offside call on the Statesmen gave the Bombers a first down and handed the Statesmen its first loss.

While the Bombers were slow to start offensively, Toerper said he was proud of how the offense kept grinding and not letting the slow start affect them.

“They did a great job of just continuing to play,” Toerper said. “We always talk about making one play independent of itself. So I thought our guys really tapped into that and just kept playing. We knew our possessions were gonna be limited, and we had to make the most of them. Whether that was scoring points or flipping the field.”

Now 3–1 on the season and 1–0 in Liberty League play, the Bombers will hit the road again for a contest against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Technology at noon Oct. 7 in Troy, New York.