ITHACA, N.Y.—Nationally-ranked No. 10 Ithaca scored 38 first-half points and piled up 305 first-half yards en route to a 48-14 victory over visiting Buffalo State in the Bengals' first-ever Liberty League contest this afternoon.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Ithaca - 48, Buffalo State – 14
LOCATION: Butterfield Stadium – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Ithaca (5-0/2-0), Buffalo State (0-5/0-1)
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE
- Quarterback Zak Ciezki (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) finished 24 of 39 for 286 yards with two touchdowns.
- Jordan Evert (Amherst/Sweet Home) led Buffalo State with 10 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
- Gino Bonagura (Lindenhurst/Lindenhurst) and Devin Delmont (Blasdell/St. Francis) each finished with a team-high 10 tackles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Ithaca converted an on-side kick on the opening play of the game and the Bombers quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Joe Germinerio.
- It was 14-0 before the midway point of the first quarter after the Bengals were unsuccessful on a fake punt try, Ithaca quickly responded with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Vito.
- Buffalo State cut the deficit in half on the ensuing possession on a 49-yard touchdown catch by Evert on a fourth-and-two. Evert had three catches for 90 yards on the drive.
- Ithaca pushed the lead to 28-7 before the end of the first quarter after another failed fake punt attempt set up a second touchdown catch by Vito, covering 7 yards.
- Ithaca's offense added an 18-yard catch by Isaiah D'Haiti and a 30-yard field goal by Nicholas Bahamonde before halftime to lead 38-7.
- The Bengals surrendered a 32-yard field goal by the Bombers on the opening possession of the second half, but responded with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Ciezki to Evert to trim the deficit to 41-14. Evert was the main target on the drive, catching three passes for 61 yards on the drive.
- Ithaca capped off a five play, 55-yard drive, on its next possession, with a nine-yard touchdown run by Kendall Anderson to extend the lead to 48-14.
- Buffalo State had one final opportunity to cut into the lead as it used a 15-play, 52-yard drive that put itself on the Ithaca 11-yard line, but the Bengals failed to capitalize as the Bomber's defense forces two incompletions and a tackle for a loss.
- Ithaca finished with 483 yards of total offense, including 342 passing yards, compared to 358 yards of total offense for Buffalo State.
- The Bengals were penalized seven times for 75 yards, while the Bombers were flagged 11 times for 96 yards.
FOR THE FOES
- Germinerio finished 28 of 37 for 325 yards and three touchdowns.
- Will Gladney and Andrew Vito tallied 11 catches for 140 yards and nine catches for 110 yards respectively.
- Nick Garone finished with a game-high 12 tackles.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will return to Coyer Field next Saturday when it hosts the University of Rochester for a noon kickoff.
