Football Falls to Ithaca, 24-0, in Season Opener
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Ithaca College junior quarterback Phil Neumann tossed a pair of touchdown passes as he completed 13-of-22 pass attempts for 125 yards to lead the Bombers to a 24-0 non-conference victory over host Moravian College at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday to open the 2012 season.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
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0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Team Stats
Ithaca (N.Y.) College
| Game Statistics | Ithaca (N.Y.) College | Moravian University |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 125 | 112 |
| Rushing Yards | 331 | 34 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
| Time of Poss. | 37:49 | 22:11 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Ithaca College junior quarterback Phil Neumann tossed a pair of touchdown passes as he completed 13-of-22 pass attempts for 125 yards to lead the Bombers to a 24-0 non-conference victory over host Moravian College at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday to open the 2012 season.
The Bombers earned their 15th straight opening day victory and closed the series with the Greyhounds to a 4-3 Moravian advantage. All seven of those games have been played in Bethlehem but this was the first meeting between the schools since 1948.
The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff of the year and the teams would trade punts on the first five possessions of the game.
Ithaca started its third possession of the contest at its own 22. The Bombers would put together a 16-play, 78-yard drive that took 8:16 off of the clock. Neumann found junior tight end Jared Prugar with a 19-yard touchdown pass to finish off the drive and open the scoring. Sophomore kicker Garrett Nicholson added the extra-point for Ithaca for a 7-0 lead with 13:15 left in the second quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Moravian sophomore quarterback Jimmy Lahue hit freshman wide receiver Will McLaughlin with a 22-yard pass on the opening play before the drive stalled. Lahue completed six-of-14 passes for 53 yards, and he added another 13 yards rushing on five carries in his debut with the Greyhounds before an injury forced him out of the game in the second quarter.
The Bombers received the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 68 yards on 11 plays with senior running back Clay Ardoin finishing off the drive with a one-yard leap. Nicholson's extra-point pushed Ithaca's lead to 14-0 with 9:17 left in the third quarter.
Moravian would punt on its opening possession of the second half but the Greyhounds would get the ball right back when sophomore defensive back Rick Sinnig intercepted a Neumann pass at the Ithaca 41-yard line. Moravian ended up turning the ball over on downs after the takeaway.
Ithaca would push its lead to 21-0 with a seven-play, 65-yard drive that Neumann capped off with a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Joseph Ingrao. Nicholson's PAT pushed the Bombers' lead to 21-0 with just three seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Bombers controlled the ball for nearly 38 minutes in the game including 11 and a half minutes in the third quarter.
Nicholson missed a 27-yard field goal attempt with 12:20 to play before he connected on a 35-yard field goal with 5:32 remaining to end the scoring in the game.
On the next possession for Moravian, the Greyhounds would move into the red zone behind freshman quarterback Ryan Davies, the third quarterback of the game for Moravian due to injuries. The drive ended at the Ithaca three-yard line when freshman wide receiver Jimmy McCarthy was unable to hold onto a pass from Davies, and the ball fell into the hands of Ithaca junior defensive back Tom Scanlon for an interception.
Davies was six-for-12 for 59 yards while freshman Corey Clemons played briefly after Lahue was hurt before he headed to the sideline with an injury himself.
Junior wide receiver Vinny Reed caught five passes for 44 yards for the Greyhounds while McLaughlin pulled in two passes for 33 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Sam Boyer added two receptions for 19 yards for the Greyhounds. Senior running back Joe Tegan had 17 yards on two carries.
Ardoin led the Ithaca rushing attack with 206 yards including an 84-yard run on the next to last play of the game and a touchdown on 19 carries while senior running back Jarrett Naiden added 114 yards on 22 attempts. Ingrao led the Ithaca receivers with seven receptions for 68 yards.
Moravian senior defensive back Travis King returned the opening kickoff of the game 22 yards to tie the school record with his 53rd career kickoff return, and he added three punt returns for 25 yards, seven tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass break-up and a forced fumble before having to leave the game with an injury early in the second half.
Sophomore linebacker Kevin Bracken and junior defensive back Brendon Lesko each had ten tackles to lead the Moravian defense with Bracken adding a pass breakup. Senior defensive back Rocco Del Priore, who made the transition to defense this season after three years on the offense, had nine tackles while senior defensive back Rees Judge added six stops. Freshman linebacker Brendan Downey had six tackles and a pass breakup in his collegiate debut.
Senior linebacker Will Carter led Ithaca's defense with six tackles, a sack and a pass breakup while sophomore linebacker Chris Williams added five tackles, one and a half tackles for loss and a sack. Sophomore defensive lineman Joe Ricotta had four stops with a sack for the Bombers.
Greyhounds' senior punter/kicker Tyler Thompson punted ten times for an average of 35.4 yards per punt while Ithaca punter A.J. Vallone punted four times with an average of 44.8 yards.
Moravian will open its 2012 Centennial Conference season on Saturday, September 8th when the squad welcomes McDaniel College to Rocco Calvo Field. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. on Take a Kid to the Game Day with all children 14 and under free. There will be activities and games for the kids throughout the contest.
