The Jug is returning to Cortland, New York, as the Ithaca College football team dropped the 64th annual Cortaca Jug to the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons by a final score of 38–28.
After forcing a three-and-out on the Bomber’s first drive, the Red Dragons had no problems moving the ball against the number two-ranked defense in the Liberty League. Starting at its 10-yard line, they went the full 90 yards in 15 plays for the opening score, capped off by a one-yard touchdown run from junior running back Jaden AlfanoStJohn, his ninth of the season. Following an extra point conversion from junior kicker Mike Baloga, the Red Dragons went up 7–0 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
The Bombers wasted no time responding, as first-year quarterback Colin Schumm pushed it in from the one-yard line for the touchdown. The Bombers were set up at the one following a trick play to senior running back Jalen Leonard–Osbourne, who threw it to graduate student wide receiver Julien Deumaga, who was tackled at the one-yard line. Junior kicker Derek Baldin missed the extra point, keeping the Red Dragons up 7–6 with 1:28 remaining in the first quarter.
On its second drive of the game, the Red Dragons continued its strong offensive start with a run-heavy drive. Senior running back Ashton Capone and junior quarterback Zac Boyes found running room throughout the defense and capped it off with a one-yard touchdown run from Capone. Baloga converted the extra point, giving the Red Dragons a 14–6 lead with 10:19 remaining in the second quarter.
The Bombers could get nothing going on its second drive, and junior linebacker Darren Brunner was sent out for his second punt, pinning the Red Dragons on its 11-yard line. After crossing midfield following a 20-yard pass completion from Boyes to sophomore wide receiver Joe Iadevaio, penalties piled up for the Red Dragons. A holding call and a false start pushed the Red Dragons back to midfield.
Faced with a second and 18, Boyes took a deep shot to senior wide receiver Cole Burgess, but was intercepted by graduate student defensive back Derek Slywka, his sixth of the year, and took it down to the Red Dragons 26-yard line.
Following a two-yard rush on the first down, the Bombers gave the ball back to Leonard-Osbourne, who picked up a first down on a nine-yard gain. However, the Bombers graduate student offensive lineman JoJo Puckey went down with an injury and was helped off the field. Puckey would not return for the remainder of the game.
Two plays later, faced with a third and three, a designed QB keeper to Schumm led to the ball being knocked out of Schumm’s hands and recovered by senior defensive back Luke Winslow, killing the Bomber’s momentum.
The Red Dragons could not get points off the turnover, as the drive ended with a graduate student linebacker Ben Stola interception in the end zone, bringing the half to a close.
Boyes had an impressive first half, even with the two interceptions, throwing for 178 yards on 20 attempts, completing 15 of them. Boyes even picked up 45 yards on the ground. Senior wide receiver JJ Laap led the Red Dragons with 88 receiving yards on five catches.
For the Bombers, Schumm finished the first half 7/16 with 64 yards. Deumaga led the receivers with 35 yards on two catches, while Leonard-Osbourne led the running game with 21 yards. Overall, the Bombers were outgained on offense 299-132.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Red Dragons picked up right where they left off, putting together an eight-minute drive over the course of 15 plays, capping off the 90-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Iadevailo. Following the extra point, the Red Dragons pushed its lead up to 21–6 with 6:52 remaining in the third quarter.
The Red Dragons dominated the time of possession battle. By the game’s end, they amassed 40:16 of possession time. While the defense made plays to set up third and fourth downs. The Red Dragons found a way to keep the chains moving.
“We were making them earn it,” Stola said. “We were taking away the deep pass. If you tell me before the game [Cortland] is gonna have three fourth and one’s on the goal line, that’s what we want. We’re gonna make them earn it, and they did.”
The South Hill squad came out strong to start the second half, scoring on a trick play; this time, it was Deumaga finding Leonard-Osbourne for the 22-yard touchdown pass. The drive was kept alive by a massive fourth down conversion by the Bombers, with Schumm hitting senior wide receiver Ben Marinaccio for a 26-yard gain. Following the Baldin extra point, it was 21–13 Cortland with 4:23 remaining.
The excitement was short-lived, as the Red Dragons wasted no time responding. Boyes hit Burgess with a six-yard touchdown pass, pushing the lead back to two-scores with the Red Dragons up 28–13. It was all set up by a targeting call against Slywka a play earlier, which saw him ejected for the remainder of the contest. Stola said while emotions were high following the penalty, he said the unit had to come together to keep the emotions in check.
“Next man up,” Stola said. “Whoever is coming in is coming, and we got all the confidence in the world with whoever it was gonna be.”
With play resuming and faced with a 3rd and 13, Schumm hit the biggest completion of the day to Marinaccio for a gain of 41 yards, converting a huge third down and keeping the Bombers alive. After a holding call against graduate student offensive lineman Colin Norton, the Bombers caught a huge break when a flag was thrown on the Red Dragons against Winslow in his coverage of senior wide receiver Sam Kline.
A play later, Schumm hit a 25-yard pass to Deumaga, who was tackled at the one-yard line and was capped off with a one-yard touchdown run by Leonard-Osbourne. Passing on the extra point, the Bombers opted for the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game. Schumm found Kline on the rollout, who took it in for the two-point conversion and made it a one score game.
Bertino Field at Butterfield Stadium was rocking, but the hype was short-lived for Bomber fans, as Burgess took the kickoff return 72 yards following a pooch kick from Baldin and set up the Red Dragons at the Bomber’s 11-yard line. After the defense forced a fourth and goal at the one-yard line, StJohn got through the line for the score, giving the Red Dragons a 35–21 lead with 11:01 remaining.
The Bombers offense stayed hot. The first play of the drive saw Leonard-Osbourne take a pass from Schumm 21 yards upfield, moving the Bombers up to midfield. A massive break on the drive for the Bombers came on fourth and one when the Red Dragons junior defensive lineman Matt Ferrer jumped offside and gave the offense a new set of downs. A play later, Schumm hit Kline for a 15-yard touchdown pass, and following the Baldin extra point, the Bombers were down 35–28 with 6:05 remaining.
While the offense struggled in the first half, Schumm and company made it a close game. Big plays from Leonard-Osbourne and Marinaccio gave the team a chance, and head coach Michael Toerper said they did their best to give the team a shot in the end.
“Proud of the way they kept playing,” Toerper said. “They’re guys that trust in each other, and they kept playing. I’m proud of their fight.”
With the chance to give the offense the ball back, the defense could not come up with the big stop the team needed. Boyes used his legs to keep the ball moving for Cortland, with the biggest play coming on a 46-yard run from Boyes, which put the Red Dragons in field goal range. After getting a stop on third and 13, Baloga hit the 29-yard field goal to put the game out of reach for the Bombers and handed the Red Dragons their 35th Cortaca jug victory.
Schumm finished with 18/26 with 224 yards and a touchdown. Marinaccio finished with 90 yards on four catches, while Leonard-Osbourne finished with 65 yards on 21 rushing attempts.
The Bombers will await their fate in the NCAA playoff as they will learn their opponent following the selection show Nov. 12. They will finish the regular season with a record of 8–2.
