KING’S FOOTBALL AT
ITHACA FALLS TO ITHACA 29-16
ITHACA, NY-- King’s
College football coach Rich Mannello often speaks of the importance of a
team handling adversity. On Saturday, host Ithaca College turned an
adverse situation for both teams into a hard-fought 29-16 victory over
the Monarchs at Butterfield Stadium, Ithaca, NY.
A spirited first half was drawing to a close when Mother Nature made an
appearance and changed the complexion of the game. With King’s leading
7-6 with 3:02 remaining on the clock, lightning and heavy rains resulted
in a subsequent 1:20 delay. When play resumed, Ithaca stormed out of the
locker room to register two touchdowns in a 1:34 span to take command
and never relinquished the lead to the game Monarchs. Three turnovers
and several missed scoring chances also plagued King’s opportunity for victory.
The Bombers (2-0) would push
across the first points of the game when Ithaca assumed possession at
its own 44 following a King’s punt. After the Bombers drove to the
King’s five, junior defensive end Tom Tulaney registered a quarterback
sack to force an Ithaca field goal attempt. Bomber kicker Dillon Dwyer
would make good on a 29-yard attempt to give Ithaca a 3-0 lead with
11:53 remaining in the second quarter.
King’s (0-2) would assume possession at its own 31 following the kickoff and
immediate began to respond as junior quarterback Searfass found junior
split end Mike Verbitski for 20-yards to the Bomber 49. After King’s
drove to the Bomber 13, Searfass hit senior tight end Chris Maloney in
the end zone for a touchdown to complete the nine-play, 69-yard drive.
Tim Lust added the point-after to give King’s a 7-3 lead with 7:46 left
in the half.
Following the kickoff,
Ithaca would resume possession at its own 33. Junior quarterback Dan
Juvan would make good on a 12-yard pass to Brian Hogan at midfield.,
then hit Brian Weverbergh for 38 yards to the King’s 12. The Monarch
defense would hold and Dwyer made good on a 23-yard attempt to bring the
Bombers to within 7-6 with 4:14 remaining in the first half.
Following the kickoff,
the Monarchs would assume possession at its own 40. On the first play
from scrimmage, Searfass was intercepted by junior cornerback Jason
Cheir at the Ithaca 41, returning the ball 20 yards to the Monarch 39.
After two short runs
set up third-and-seven from the Monarch 36, the game was halted due to
lightening as both teams were sent to their respective locker rooms with
3:42 remaining on the clock. Heavy rains and lightening would persist,
resulting in a 1:20 minute delay until the game resumed at 3:23 p.m.
The break proved to be detrimental for the Monarchs as Ithaca would come
flying out of the locker room and scored twice within a 1:34 span.
When the teams would
finally continue play, Juvan immediately found Weverbergh for 14 yards
and a first down at the King’s 19. On the next play, Jamie Donovan
rumbled 17 yards to the Monarch two. Donovan would put the Bombers back
on top when he carried into the end zone on the next play. King’s Alex
Watty would block the extra point kick as Ithaca took a 12-7 lead with
2:32 remaining in the half.
After the Monarchs
were forced to punt, the Ithaca special teams came up with a critical
play when Chier would deliver a 75-yard touchdown return. Dwyer’s
conversion kick would give the Bombers a 19-7 lead with 0:58 left in the
half
King’s would answer
when the Bombers were flagged for a personal foul penalty and Searfass
found Verbitski for 31 yards to the Bomber 16 with 0:17 on the clock. On
fourth down, Tim Lust’s 32-yard field goal would draw the Monarchs to
within 19-10 at half.
The teams would forgo
a half-time break and immediately began the third quarter of play.
The Bombers would take
the second half kickoff at its own 27 and immediately went to work.
Donovan would carry for 10 yards to the 37, later hit Weverbergh for 29
yards to the King’s 22. Donovan would rush for five yards to the 17,
before Juvan found Danny Witbeck for a first and goal at the Monarch
nine. After Donovan gained eight yards to the one, the Monarch defense
held and Dwyer booted a 21-yard field goal, his third of the game, to
give Ithaca a 22-10 lead with 10:26 left in the third quarter.
The Monarchs missed out on a golden opportunity on its next possession.
Searfass would hit Maloney for 28 yards to the Bomber 37. Later in the
drive, the Monarch signal-caller Searfass found Jones for a 15-yard gain
on a screen play, but a holding penalty resulted in a one-yard loss.
Two plays later Searfass would fumble the snap from center and Ithaca
linebacker Billy Struzzi recovered at the Bomber 33 to end the King’s
threat.
King’s would
eventually force a punt and mounted another drive. Searfass hit Maloney
for nine yards to the 16, then found Verbitski for 10 yards to the 26.
Two plays later Searfass connected with Jones on a screen pass out of
the back field for 51 yards to the Bomber 16. King’s would again make
another mistake with a holding penalty, moving the ball back to the
Bomber 26. But Searfass found Maloney for 17 yards to the nine. On
fourth-and-two from the seven. On fourth-and-goal from the three,
Searfass would pass to a wide open Jones in the end zone but the Monarch
tailback was unable to hold on to the ball as the Bombers took over on
downs as King’s failed to capitalize on another scoring chance.
The Monarch defense
would hold and forced a Bomber punt from its own two-yard line. Jay
Torres would give King’s excellent field position with a 13-yard return
to the Ithaca 27.
Searfass would find Rick Ritter for six yards to the 21, followed by a
five-yard carry from John Cataldo to the Bomber 16. Searfass would then
hook up with Cataldo for 10 yards and a first down at the Ithaca
six-yard line. On the next play, Cataldo would score on a toss play off
right tackle to cut into the Bomber lead. Ithaca’s Adam Drescher,
however, would block the point after as the Bombers would cling to a
22-16 lead with 8:42 remaining in the contest.
Ithaca would look to
counter when Juvan hit Brian Hogan for 20 yards to the Monarch 45.
Juvan would then avoid a sack and scrambled nine yards to the King’s
36. Donovan would later race off left tackle for a 34-yard touchdown
run to extend the Ithaca lead. Dwyer’s extra-point kick would give the
Bombers a 29-16 advantage with 5:57 on the clock.
King’s would look to
answer with an Arnell Cozart return to the Monarch 44. Searfass would
hook up with Rick Ritter for 36 yards to the Ithaca 20. An 11-yard
completion to Maloney would give the Monarchs a first-and-goal at the
nine. But on third-and-goal from the nine, Searfass’ pass was deflected
at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Cheir at the goal line to
end the Monarch threat. The Bombers would run out the clock to walk
away with the victory.
The game was played virtually even statistically as Ithaca held a
383-to-375 advantage in total yards along with a 21-18 lead in first
downs. Juvan completed 13-of-21 passes for 188 yards without an
interception or touchdown. Donovan registered 144 yards on 27 carries
with two touchdowns while Weverbergh posted a team-high five catches for
104 yards.
Searfass set a King's single-game completion record by going 24-of-38 for a career-high 325 yards with one touchdown and
two interceptions. He bettered the previous mark of 22 set by Chris
Barnic against Widener in 2005. Verbitski was outstanding for the Monarchs with seven
catches for 105 yards. Maloney had five receptions for 78 yards while
Ritter added five catches for 60 yards. Jones rushed for 38 yards on 16
carries and added three receptions for 63 yards. Cataldo chipped in with
nine carries for 20 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively for King's, senior linebacker Tore Alaimo had 18 tackles in
the game, including a school-record 15 assists. Junior linebacker Matt
Rhodes followed with 12 tackles while sophomore linebacker Matt Little
added 11. Tulaney finished with six tackles, including six sacks for 20
yards in losses. Victor Sierra and Shane McNamara chipped in with eight
tackles each.
