The Ithaca College football team rebounded strongly in a 49-7 thumping of the Buffalo State Bengals on Senior Day, Nov. 1 at Butterfield Stadium. The win keeps the Bombers’ hope of bringing home a Liberty League Championship title alive.
The Bombers started their first drive on the opposing 39 and quickly found momentum. Junior quarterback Mike Reed had his first collegiate start and started off strong with a read option that saw Reed power it 16 yards to the 23. The Bombers eased down field and punched it in with a fullback dive to sophomore running back Chris Scully. The Bombers led 7-0 with 11:21 remaining in the first quarter.
Reed said that he began preparing to start immediately after his second-half appearance last week against Union College.
“[Offensive coordinator Brandon] Maguire told me on Sunday and preparation was great throughout the week,” Reed said. “Got me practicing against their defense all week long, so I had a great understanding of what Buffalo State was going to be today.”
After a 14-yard completion from Bengals’ junior quarterback Amir Cameron to senior wide receiver Otho Cox brought the Bengals to their 39. The Bengals’ drive was interrupted when Bombers’ junior defensive back Cam Paquette jumped a flat route out left and lost everyone in the dust, sprinting 89 yards for a pick six. Paquette ran across the back of the end zone, spinning his arms as his teammates on the sideline ran along with him in anticipation for the score. The Bombers led 14-0 with 4:35 remaining in the first quarter.
Cameron was not deterred from the pick six because one play into the drive, Cameron launched a ball down the left sideline that found a wide–open junior wide receiver Mikai Johnson for a 44-yard gain. The Bengals settled for a field goal attempt, but graduate student defensive back Sam Tourangeau broke through the line and tipped the ball, sending the ball spiraling to the turf.
After another Bombers’ score, the South Hill squad found itself in unusual territory with a play on fourth-and-4 from their own 47. Reed took the snap and looked left, hitting Scully on a screen with perfectly executed blocking in front of him down the left sideline. With one man to beat, Scully dove for the pylon but was ruled out at the 2. After two unsuccessful scoring attempts, Reed looked to the middle of the field and found a slanting first-year wide receiver Antwan Harvey, who leapt and pulled down a bullet of a pass for his first career score as a Bombers, putting the squad up 28-0 with 7:06 to go in the first half.
On the Bengals’ next drive, the Bombers imposed their will. On third–and–forever Tourangeau came off the left side like a bullet train and, leading with his shoulder, demolished Cameron. Tourangeau rose from the ground and hit a LeBron James-esque celebration toward the sideline.
Déjà vu struck with 1:04 to go when Cameron looked right and junior defensive back Marcus Boyle jumped an out route and took it to the end zone. Boyle’s celebration across the back of the end zone was cut short though because a “roughing the passer” was called on junior defensive lineman Aidan Parry, and the Bengals emerged from the potential disaster unscathed. A few plays later, Cameron threw a moon ball down the middle of the field, over two Bombers defenders, that was pulled down by a lunging Cox for a 45-yard score.
Head coach Michael Toerper said he knew the defense could be effective against the Bengals but is still focused on working toward winning the turnover battle.
“We knew that we could compete up front with these guys and I think that was a big message all week is that we got to dominate up front so we can fit the run properly,” Toerper said. “If they get into a pass game, then we get some opportunities there to make some plays on the ball and I think we left a couple of turnovers out in the field today.”
The Bombers quickly set themselves up for another score in response to the blemish. Coming off a savvy return by sophomore running back Chase Myers to the Bengals’ 45, Reed quickly found success. Reed took the ball up the middle and juked past a defender right, cutting up the field with defenders closing in. Reed nearly tripped over a Bengal but somehow shook loose and rumbled into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown to put the Bombers up 35-7 at the half.
Toerper said Reed’s mobility was a major factor in making him the starting quarterback this week.
“[Reed’s] a guy that just adds a different element to the game and he’s a guy that we believe in and we certainly believe in Matt [Parker] as well,” Toerper said. “Right now we just need a little extra out of the quarterback run game and he certainly adds that element.”
The Bombers slowed down their scoring pace in the second half, but still managed to hold the Bengals at bay. In the fourth quarter on first-and-10 from their own 26-yard line, Scully took the handoff and bursted right through the line. Scully rumbled down the field and was tripped up at the Bengals’ 22. Two plays later, Reed ran the read option and took it left, hopping into the end zone to put the Bombers up 42-7 with 10:22 to go. Both Reed and Scully finished the game with over 100 rushing yards.
From there it was cruise control for the Bombers. Graduate student wide receiver Tyrell Penalba burst up the middle of the field for a 7-yard score to make it 49-7 with 1:57 to go, and the Bombers captured the win.
With it being Senior Day, Toerper gave props to the first class of players he got to work with as head coach of the Bombers.
“[The senior class] committed here without a head coach and that’s not an easy thing to do,” Toerper said. “They bought in from the moment they arrived on campus. There were 35 when they came in, there’s nine now, so they’re nine warriors and I’m proud of those guys.”
The Bombers will next travel to face the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers at 1 p.m. Nov. 8 in Troy, NY.
