Senior wide receiver Thomas Vossler made two touchdown catches in his return from a one-game suspension for violating team rules and senior quarterback Rob Zappia scored the first touchdown of his career as the football team beat Union College 28­-20 Saturday at Butterfield Stadium.

Zappia scored his first career touchdown on a 4th and Goal from the one, when Head Coach Mike Welch decided to go for it to give the Bombers an early 7-0 lead. The Blue and Gold added another touchdown later in the second quarter when Zappia, after a play action fake, found Vossler from 13 yards out for the first touchdown pass of his career.

“It was nice having some playmakers back,” Zappia said “Vossler [and I] have always had a good connection so it was special throwing my first one to him.”

The Bombers pushed the lead to 21-7 early in the third quarter when senior wide receiver Dan Ruffrage found Vossler for a 41-yard touchdown.

“We have some fun with it and when you have good athletes it makes it easier,”  Welch said “Ruffrage made a great throw. [Union] really had Vossler covered well and he made a nice catch.”

The catch made Vossler the seventh receiver in the college’s history to total 100 career receptions

The Bombers scored another touchdown on their next drive to stretch the lead to 28-7 as sophomore Clay Ardoin scored his second touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run. The Bombers held Union running back Chris Coney to just 38 yards on 14 carries, and allowed Union to convert just 2 of 13 third downs.

“They’re just playing great right now,” Welch said. “It’s really given our offense a chance to relax and know that they don’t have to be perfect all the time.”

The Bombers’ defense stepped up as Union tried to tie the game late. After moving the ball well in the hurry up offense for most of the fourth quarter, Union found themselves deep in their own territory, down eight with just over a minute left to play. After sacking Union quarterback Drew Connolly, for the first time all game on first down, the Bombers sealed the game when junior cornerback Spence White intercepted his first pass of the season and the Blue and Gold took a knee to run out the clock.

“I just read the quarterbacks’ eyes and made sure nothing went over my head,” White said. “We take a lot of pride in making plays and we needed to step up and shut them down and we did.”

Special teams also had a big day for Bombers, consistently setting the offense up with good field position. Sophomore kick returner Andre Jamison came up big for the Blue and Gold, averaging 28.5 yards on punt returns and 29 yards on kick returns.

“I just have to thank the blockers up front,” Jamison said. “They created the holes and I didn’t have to break too many tackles.”

The Bombers, now 2-0 on the season, will return to the field next week when they hit the road Saturday to take on Widener College.