Ithaca College Athletics

Ithaca College Football

 ITHACA BOMBERS (1-0, 0-0 Empire 8)  Union Flying Dutchmen (0-0, 0-0 LL)

1 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009

Frank Bailey Field (c. 5,500); Schenectady, N.Y.

THE GAME: Ithaca makes its second straight road trip to open the season, traveling to Schenectady, N.Y., for a non-conference game against the Union Dutchmen. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Union’s Frank Bailey Field.

THE COACHES: Entering his 16th season as Ithaca’s head coach, Mike Welch (Ithaca ’73) has posted a 122-43 (.739) record, including a regular-season mark of 113-36 (.758). He entered the season 19th all-time among Division III coaches in winning percentage. A running back who earned two letters while playing for coach Jim Butterfield, Welch succeeded his former coach after spending 10 years as an assistant at his alma mater.  He is 0-2 against Union.

        In his 18th year at Union, John Audino (Notre Dame ’75) has posted a 125-46 (.731) record, with a 133-58 (.696) mark overall (including two seasons at Kean). He is 2-0 against the Bombers. He and Welch were both members of the coaching staff at Albany in 1976.

THE SERIES: The Bombers lead the series 3-2, with all three wins coming in the NCAA playoffs. The two teams have never met in the regular season.

LAST TIME THEY MET: #19 Union rallied for a 55-41 win in the opening round of the NCAA playoffs on Nov. 19, 2005. Quarterback Josh Felicetti set school playoff game records with three touchdown passes and 272 yards. Alex Baez ran for a career-best 196 yards on 22 carries. Tight end Tom Labenski and wide receivers Kelly Gordon and Justin Esposito caught touchdown passes.  Gordon also scored on an 80-yard kickoff return. Middle linebacker Jose Colon matched a career-high with 15 tackles, recorded four tackles for loss and broke up a pass. Matt Scalice was a freshman linebacker on the 2005 team but his season ended after an injury in Ithaca’s third game.

SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN: Union returns 17 starters after going 10-9 the past two seasons and face four NCAA playoff teams this fall (Ithaca, Muhlenberg, Hobart and future Empire 8 member Salisbury). Sophomore quarterback Andrew Connolly and junior tailback Chris Coney top the returning skill players and will operate behind a line that brings back four starters. Defensively, senior tackle Sean Conerly (injured last year) is a key returner.

LAST WEEK: Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf (Niskayuna/Rexford) had a hand in five touchdowns and the Bomber defense held the host Saints to two first downs and 79 yards of total offense as the #10 Bombers opened the season with a 45-0 romp of St. Lawrence.

OFFENSIVE RECAP: Grastorf completed 21 of 32 passes for 285 yards and ran for a pair of touchdowns (all four figures were career bests). He capped the game’s opening drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Matthew Hannon (Minisink Valley/Middletown) and added a six-yard scoring run later in the opening quarter. He threw a four-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl, Pa.) on Ithaca’s final play of the opening half, then ran for a one-yard score and threw a 20-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Eric Breton (Shaker/Latham) in the third quarter. Ruggiero ran for a game-high 75 yards on 19 carries and rushed for a three-yard fourth-quarter score. Junior wideout Thomas Vossler (Saranac Lake/Loon Lake) caught five passes for a career-best 100 yards. Junior fullback Lance Baumgartner (Walkill Valley/Hamburg, N.J.) added five catches for 43 yards (both were career highs) and junior wide receiver Dan Ruffrage (Notre Dame/Whitesboro) caught three passes. Breton and Hannon’s touchdown catches were both the first of their careers. Junior running back Adam Lajara (Cambridge Central/Cambridge) ran for 39 yards in his collegiate debut. Junior Rob Zappia (Greece Athena/Rochester) and freshman Jason Hendel (Deerfield/Riverwoods, Ill.) both made their Bomber debut at quarterback; playing the final 25 minutes.

DEFENSIVE NOTES: Linebacker Matt Scalice (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda), a graduate student, led Ithaca with seven tackles and an interception (the first of his career), which set up a first-quarter touchdown. Sophomore linebacker Ryan Clarke (Archbishop Spalding/West Friendship, Md.) added seven tackles. Senior Chad Herring (Unatego/Unadilla), one of five first-time starters for the Ithaca defense, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass in the first quarter; both set up Bomber scores. Senior defensive end Scott Auchenbach (Spring-Ford/Collegeville, Pa.), another first-time starter, and junior defensive end Sean Gil (Sachem North/Holbrook) both had a pair of tackles for loss. Gil and freshman defensive end Owen Kugler (Highland Park/Highland Park, Ill.) both contributed a sack and a fumble recovery. Sophomore cornerback Spence White (Sleepy Hollow/Yonkers) forced a fumble – that Herring recovered – on St. Lawrence’s first play from scrimmage.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT: Sophomore Andrew Rogowski (Canisius/East Amherst) matched a career high with nine points, kicking extra points after all six Bomber touchdowns (running his streak to 17 in a row) and kicking a career-long 33-yard field goal. Sophomore Eric Toporoff (Montvale Township/Towaco, N.J.) punted five times, putting four kicks inside the Saint 20-yard line; none were returned. Clarke led Ithaca with four tackles in kick coverage. Junior Andy Lonsky (Delaware Valley/Dingmans Ferry, Pa.) added three. Ruffrage averaged 12.5 yards per return on four punt returns and freshman Jake Fietkiewicz (West Genesee/Syracuse) ran back three punts for an 11.7 yard average.

EMPIRE 8 UPDATE: This season marks the eighth year of Empire 8-sponsored football and the fifth year that the conference’s champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The 2004 addition of Norwich and Springfield as affiliate members brought the league’s total to seven football playing members. Norwich dropped out of the conference following last season, but the NCAA allows conferences a two-year grace period to replace members in order to maintain their automatic bids. Frostburg State and Salisbury will join the Empire 8 as affiliate members for the 2011 season.

    The Bombers own an all-time record of 32-6 in league competition. They were picked atop the conference’s preseason poll for the fifth time in the six years that the preseason balloting has been conducted.

    The Bombers won the inaugural Empire 8 title in 2002 and repeated as conference champion in 2003, posting a 4-0 league record each season. In 2004 Ithaca and St. John Fisher tied for the league crown with 5-1 records. In 2005 the Bombers posted the Empire 8’s first 6-0 record en route to their fourth league championship then won the title outright last year with a 5-1 mark. The Bombers also won conference titles in the Independent College Athletic Conference (forerunner to the Empire 8) in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. Ithaca owns a 90-30-2 (.746) advantage against the conference's current members.

OPENING ACTS: The Bombers’ win over St. Lawrence stretched their streak to 12 straight wins in season-opening games. Ithaca has now posted a record of 45-31-1 in season openers (15-1 under Mike Welch), including a 29-4 record since 1977.

POLL POSITION: The Bombers are ranked eighth in D3football.com's second regular-season poll, matching their highest ranking ever in that poll (which began in 2003). Ithaca was ranked 10th in three preseason polls (D3football.com, USA Today Sports Weekly and Lindy’s College Football Preview).

RECORD WATCH: (note Ithaca career and season records include post-season games since 2002; statistics compiled in post-season games before that do not count toward Ithaca career and season records)

    Senior running back Thomas Bergerstock (Webster-Thomas/Webster) ran for 1,240 yards last fall, good for third on the program’s single-season list, giving him a career total of 1,339 yards. The 29th Bomber to gain 1,000 career yards (and the 10th Ithaca running back to reach that total since 1998); he ranks 19th and needs 93 yards to move into 15th. His 20 career rushing scores put him seventh on Ithaca’s all-time list, leaving him four away from the top five. The 27th Bomber with 100 career points, Bergerstock ranks 15th on the all-time scoring list. He is 21 points away from moving into the top 10.

    Junior running back Dan Ruggiero raised his career total to 750 rushing yards; he’s 250 yards away from becoming the program’s 30th 1,000-yard rusher.

    Senior quarterback Brian Grastorf became the program’s 22nd 1,000-yard passer, raising his career total to 1,240 yards in Saturday’s win. In his third career start, Grastorf moved into 18th on the program’s all-time list. He’s 143 yards away from a spot in the top 15. He’s one touchdown pass away from 10th all-time and his 149.2 rating and .574 completion percentage rank second and fourth, respectively, among Bomber passers.
    Junior wide receiver Thomas Vossler now ranks 32nd on Ithaca’s career list with 46 receptions.

    Linebacker Matt Scalice, a graduate student, has raised his career total to 274 tackles to move past all-American linebacker Joe Marra (269 tackles from 1984 to 1987) into 10th on the program’s all-time list. The 26th Bomber to reach 200, he ranks 10th all-time and needs 26 to become the fifth Ithaca player with 300.

    Sophomore Andrew Rogowski raised his total to 74 points, good for sixth all-time among Ithaca kickers.

ITHACA ITEMS: Ithaca’s win over Springfield last fall clinched the program’s 37th straight winning season. The Bombers own the nation’s second-longest active streak of winning seasons at any level of college football (Linfield has clinched its 52nd straight winning season).

    Linebacker Matt Scalice, a graduate student, who received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA after missing all but three games of his freshman season, is the first Bomber to start a game in five different seasons. With 34 career starts, he’s six away from breaking the school record held by his brother Joe, an all-American offensive tackle who started 39 of Ithaca’s 47 games between 2002 and 2005.

    Junior running back Dan Ruggiero is the first Bomber to score a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game since fullback Dan Ross in a 2007 win over Brockport.

    Ithaca’s 10 first-time starters in Saturday’s win were the most newcomers to the starting line-up since the 2002 opener, when 12 new starters helped Ithaca beat Alfred.

    The Bombers have now taken a lead into halftime 110 times under Mike Welch and have won 99 of those games. Ithaca’s record when leading after three quarters in that span is 111-10.

    Saturday marked the 75th time that the Bombers have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent since 1994; they’ve won 72 of those games including 47 of the last 48.

    Since 1985, Ithaca is 65-13 (.833) during September, including a 43-10 (.811) record under Mike Welch. The Bombers have won 40 of their last 46 September games.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS: Award winners for the St. Lawrence game, as chosen by the coaching staff, were: Outstanding Back: Grastorf; Outstanding Lineman: Scalice; Outstanding Specialist: Toporoff; Hustler of the Week: Lajara; Offensive Scout Team Player of the Week: freshman center Will Stotter (Shaker Heights/Shaker Heights, Ohio); Defensive Scout Team Player of the Week: freshman linebacker Will Carter (Westlake/Thornwood); Special Team Scout Team Player of the Week: freshman Matt Costello (Martha’s Vineyard Regional/Edgartown, Mass.); Honorary Offensive Captain: Baumgartner; and Honorary Defensive Captain: Auchenbach.

    Play of the Game awards were given to senior Sean Puckhaber (Eden/Eden) for special teams.

BROADCAST NEWS: The Union game will be broadcast by WICB-FM (91.7) in Ithaca. Senior Andrew Champagne and junior Josh Getzoff will call the game, beginning at 12:30 p.m. with the Countdown to Kickoff pregame show. WICB’s coverage – which also includes a live post-game call-in show – can also be heard online through TEAMLINE, a pay-per-listen service, by calling 800/846-7000. Ithaca’s access code is 3945.

NEXT WEEK: The Bombers return to Ithaca for their first home game of the season, hosting the Widener Pride (0-0) in a non-league game Saturday, Sept. 19. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Ithaca’s Butterfield Stadium. Widener plays at Curry (0-1) this week.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Ithaca sports information director Mike Warwick in the sports information office at (607/274-1401) or mwarwick@ithaca.edu, or at home (607/662-4446) or Union SID Eric McDowell (518/388-6170).

 2009 SCHEDULES