ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For the first time since 1984, the nationally ranked No. 8/7 Ithaca College football team secured back-to-back shutout victories as the Bombers defeated the University of Rochester, 59-0, on Saturday at Fauver Stadium. The 1984 Bombers notched shutout wins of 82-0 over Fitchburg State and 37-0 against Alfred. Ithaca is now 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in the Liberty League.
It was a slow start for the Bomber offense in the early going of the first quarter, but IC found the end zone with 1:05 left in the quarter on a 7-yard pass from senior Joe Germinerio to junior Andrew Vito.
From that point on, it was all Bombers, as IC scored 28 points in the second quarter to build a 35-0 lead heading into halftime. IC racked up 334 yards in the first half to just 138 for Rochester.
In the second quarter, Germinerio connected for an 8-yard touchdown catch to Gladney with 7:09 to go. On the drive, Ithaca was set up inside the Rochester 10-yard line on a 75-yard reception from Vito.
Not even two minutes later, Ithaca found the end zone again on the first play from scrimmage and Germinerio hit sophomore Michael Anderson with a 70-yard catch-and-run to extend Ithaca's lead to 21-0.
Ithaca's lead grew to 28-0 with less than two minutes left in the half as junior David Nieto scored on a 17-yard pick-six. Nieto had two interceptions in the quarter to mark first time since 2013 that a Bomber had two picks in a game, while senior Nick Garone had another interception in the quarter.
The Bombers took the ball right back on the second Nieto interception, and six plays later, Germinerio
connected with sophomore Jacob Cooney for a 8-yard touchdown grab with 15 seconds to go.
Germinerio threw for 277 yards on 19-of-23 attempts and four touchdowns in the first half, while Vito hauled in 10 receptions for 134 yards. Anderson finished the first half with 95 receiving yards on three catches.
It took Ithaca just 1:02 into the second half to punch in another touchdown as Germinerio and Cooney hooked up again for a 19-yard score.
Midway through the third quarter, Ithaca built a 49-0 edge on a 1-yard run by junior Wahid Nabi.
Ithaca wrapped up its offensive onslaught with a 30-yard field goal from freshman Nicholas Bahamonde and a 21-yard touchdown run by senior Dominick Pfisterer in the fourth quarter to come away with the impressive 59-0 win. The Pfisterer touchdown also marked the first time since 2003 that two quarterbacks rushed for a score in the same game.
Freshman Ryan Kaiser set up the Pfisterer touchdown with a 31-yard interception return down to the Rochester 32-yard line.
Ithaca outgained Rochester, 556-201, in the game and notched 28 first downs to go along with the four interceptions.
Germinerio concluded the contest with 332 yards on 22-of-27 passing and five touchdown passes, while Nabi went 6-for-8 for 50 yards and 10 yards rushing.
Senior Kendall Anderson recorded 65 yards on eight carries, while sophomore AJ Clifford notched 34 yards on five attempts. Pfisterer added 36 yards rushing on five carries.
Cooney finished the day with 37 yards on three grabs, while Gladney had 31 yards receiving on three receptions. Senior Isaiah D'Haiti added 26 receiving yards and 15 rushing yards for IC.
On the defensive end, sophomore Miles Haynes racked up seven total tackles, while Garone and sophomores Joey Philippi and Ed Longest each had six tackles.
Bahamonde finished the day with eight made extra points, a field goal and six touchbacks. He averaged 62.3 yards on 10 kickoffs.
The Bombers will face off against nationally ranked No. 25/24 Union College next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Butterfield Stadium for Senior Day. Ithaca and Union will enter Saturday's battle with matching 7-0 overall records and 4-0 marks within the Liberty League.
No. 8/7 Ithaca Posts Second Straight Shutout in 59-0 Win at Rochester
/seasons/2019/boxscores/20191026_6v60.xml
2019
Ithaca
59
Rochester
0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca (7-0) | 7 | 28 | 14 | 10 | 59 |
| Rochester (0-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Oct 26, 2019