The No. 20 Ithaca College Football Team fell to the No. 8 Johns Hopkins University on Sept. 7, with a final score of 27-23.
The Bombers came out to start their season red-hot, marching down the field and putting on a clinic under new offensive coordinator Brandon Maguire. Sophomore quarterback Colin Schumm put the South Hill squad on the board first, taking the ball into the end zone himself for a 16-yard run, escaping from senior defensive back PJ Penders on the way.
After holding the Blue Jays to a 3-and-out, Schumm continued to shine, hitting sophomore wide receiver Nicholas Matos for a 48 yard strike that put the Bombers one yard from the goal line. Schumm took the sneak himself for his second rushing touchdown of the day. The Blue Jays came back looking to answer, but a holding call deep in Bombers territory brought the offense to a halt. A big fourth down stop gave the Bombers possession and a 14-0 lead to close the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Blue Jays’ defense buckle down and find its footing, forcing its first stop of the day. However, the Blue Jays could not capitalize on the defense’s efforts, as they were forced to punt out of their own end zone. Capitalizing off of great field position, the Bombers added to the lead with a field goal, 17-0.
The Blue Jays scored their first points of the game when senior quarterback Bay Harvey connected with sophomore wide receiver Cole Crotty for a 56-yard touchdown. The Bombers swatted the extra point attempt to save some momentum, but neither team could get anything going for the rest of the quarter, with both defenses starting to heat up. The Bombers took a 17-6 lead into halftime.
The second half was ushered in by a 46-yard connection between Harvey and his junior running back Geoff Schroeder to set up a quarterback sneak for the Blue Jays. Harvey ran in once again on his next opportunity, this one coming from 22 yards out to give his squad its first lead of the game. After a controversial two-point conversion that the Bombers sideline wanted waved off for a holding penalty, the Blue Jays kept rolling as junior defensive back Jack Schondelmayer picked off Schumm on an errant deep ball attempt.
Despite the sudden wave of adversity, the Bombers took the punches in stride. Junior linebacker Ryan Burns hunted Harvey down for a sack and forced the Blue Jays to punt, minimizing any collateral damage from the previous turnover. Schumm, undeterred from his last possession, came out poised and collected, leading his team down the field with huge strikes to Matos and senior running back Jalen Leonard-Osbourne. Lining up in the end zone, the Bombers closed the third quarter trailing 20-17, down but certainly not out.
The Bombers found paydirt on the first play of the final quarter, with Schumm delivering the ball to senior running back Jake Williams to take the lead back despite a point after attempt ringing off the left upright. The Blue Jays took the lead right back, with Harvey delivering the ball to senior wide receiver EJ Talarico in the end zone. The Bombers, on what appeared to be their last breath, failed to convert on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Blue Jays.
However, as the Blue Jays attempted to run out the clock, senior defensive back and team captain Jake Connolly kept fighting for his team, ripping the ball out of Schroeder’s hands to give his team another chance. The Blue Jays’ defense, however, iced the game for the final time, as junior defensive back Carson Bourdo picked off Schumm to let his offense kneel out the clock.
Bombers’ head coach Michael Toerper declined to comment after the game and denied access to athlete interviews.
While the Bombers showed their youth in their opening game, they also showed tremendous heart, refusing to back down against a tough Blue Jays team. Senior captain Sam Tourangeau led his squad on defense with 10 solo tackles. Schumm threw for 250 yards on a formidable defense. Matos had 97 receiving yards on only four receptions.
While this loss was heartbreaking for the South Hill squad, they have a great opportunity to redeem themselves against another ranked opponent next week. No. 18 Endicott College makes the trip up north from Massachusetts at 1 p.m. Sept. 14 to visit Butterfield Stadium.
