Football Falls to Ithaca, 40-14
BUFFALO, NY--Jeff Welch had six catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns as he led Ithaca (8-1) to a 40-14 victory over host Buffalo State (1-8) today at Coyer Field.
Ithaca drove 67 yards on four plays on its first possession, capped off by a 42-yard touchdown strike from Josh Felicetti to Welch. The Bengals answered on the ensuing drive with their own four-play drive covering 70 yards, 63 of them coming on the legs of Curtis Hathcock, including a 2-yard touchdown run. The Bombers regained the lead just over four minutes later when Pete Celebre scored from one-yard out to culminate a 11-play, 69 yard drive.
Ithaca regained possession of the ball just two plays later when it recovered a fumble on a poor exchange. The Bombers took just one play to extend their lead to 21-7 when Felicetti found Welch for a 35-yard touchdown. Buffalo State forced Ithaca to punt from its own end zone on the final play of the first quarter and after a bad snap and scrambling punt, the Bengals took over on the Ithaca five yard line. The Bengals pulled back into the game just two plays later and five seconds into the second quarter when Patrick Moore plunged across the goal line from two yards out to close the deficit to 21-14.
Ithaca needed just three plays to find the end zone again when Felicetti found Welch for his third score of the day from 67 yards out. Felicetti threw his fourth touchdown of the day on the next Ithaca drive as he connected with Mike Oertel from 40 yards. Brett Kitenplon completed the first half scoring when he connected on a 37-yard field goal to extend the Bombers lead to 37-14. Kitenplon accounted for all of the second half scoring as he booted a 38-yarder early in the fourth quarter.
Felicetti was 17-for-26 for 332 with four touchdowns and one interception. Celebre carried the ball 16 times for 117 yards. Robert Truman led the Bombers defense with 11 tackles, including two sacks and recovered a fumble.
Buffalo State tailback Curtis Hathcock became the first Bengal to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 1996, carrying the ball 24 times for 154 yards, bringing his season total to 1,009. Mike Mikolaichik was 17-for-30 for 137 yards, and Marc Hoppy had 10 catches for 90 yards. Nick Warren and Hank Pirowski led the Bengals defense with 12 and 11 tackles respectively.
Ithaca drove 67 yards on four plays on its first possession, capped off by a 42-yard touchdown strike from Josh Felicetti to Welch. The Bengals answered on the ensuing drive with their own four-play drive covering 70 yards, 63 of them coming on the legs of Curtis Hathcock, including a 2-yard touchdown run. The Bombers regained the lead just over four minutes later when Pete Celebre scored from one-yard out to culminate a 11-play, 69 yard drive.
Ithaca regained possession of the ball just two plays later when it recovered a fumble on a poor exchange. The Bombers took just one play to extend their lead to 21-7 when Felicetti found Welch for a 35-yard touchdown. Buffalo State forced Ithaca to punt from its own end zone on the final play of the first quarter and after a bad snap and scrambling punt, the Bengals took over on the Ithaca five yard line. The Bengals pulled back into the game just two plays later and five seconds into the second quarter when Patrick Moore plunged across the goal line from two yards out to close the deficit to 21-14.
Ithaca needed just three plays to find the end zone again when Felicetti found Welch for his third score of the day from 67 yards out. Felicetti threw his fourth touchdown of the day on the next Ithaca drive as he connected with Mike Oertel from 40 yards. Brett Kitenplon completed the first half scoring when he connected on a 37-yard field goal to extend the Bombers lead to 37-14. Kitenplon accounted for all of the second half scoring as he booted a 38-yarder early in the fourth quarter.
Felicetti was 17-for-26 for 332 with four touchdowns and one interception. Celebre carried the ball 16 times for 117 yards. Robert Truman led the Bombers defense with 11 tackles, including two sacks and recovered a fumble.
Buffalo State tailback Curtis Hathcock became the first Bengal to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 1996, carrying the ball 24 times for 154 yards, bringing his season total to 1,009. Mike Mikolaichik was 17-for-30 for 137 yards, and Marc Hoppy had 10 catches for 90 yards. Nick Warren and Hank Pirowski led the Bengals defense with 12 and 11 tackles respectively.
Media Contact:
Jeffrey Ventura, Sports Information Director | 7168786030 | venturjm@buffalostate.edu