BROCKPORT, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 20 Brockport football team lost to visiting Ithaca College 23-8 in the home opener for the Golden Eagles on Saturday at Bob Boozer Field. Brockport will now turn its focus to next Saturday when it hosts the University of Rochester on campus at 12 p.m.
Brockport (1-1), the three-time defending Empire 8 champions, snapped a four-game winning streak in the series against the Bombers and they are now 21-2 in their last 23 home games at Bob Boozer Field. Ithaca moved its record to 2-0 on the year.
The Golden Eagle defense came out flying for the second straight week as senior defensive end
Josh Greenwood sacked Ithaca quarterback AJ Wingfield for a ten-yard loss in the endzone to give the home team a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Ithaca answered with ten straight points, including a 71-yard pass from AJ Wingfield to Andrew Vito and a 35-yard field goal from the leg of Nick Bahamonde to hand the visiting Bombers a 10-2 lead with 14:13 left in the first half.
Brockport responded with a seven play, 41-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter, capped by a one-yard plunge from junior running back
Jala Coad to make the score 10-8 at the half. Coad finished the day with 22 carries for 76 yards on the ground.
The stingy Bombers would not allow a second half score and posted 13 unanswered points in the final 30 minutes of action to secure the key regional victory. Miles Haynes returned an interception 35 yards for a score early in the second half and Bahamonde connected on field goals of 42 and 29 to close out the scoring on the afternoon.
Brockport's
Alaan Montgomery totaled a team-high nine tackles and broke up one pass in the secondary, while Greenwood finished the day with seven tackles, 2.0 tackles for a loss and one sack.
Ben Damiani and
Jordan Harris each posted six tackles and one tackle for a loss. Brockport's defense was stout against the run once again, allowing just 19 yards rushing on the ground.
Imhotep Cromer had another big day for Brockport as he posted eight receptions for 94 yards, while
Alex Benson added six catches for 52 yards. Freshman quarterback
Jack Cheshire completed 24 passes for 235 yards on the day.
Kenny Hernandez picked off a pass for the Golden Eagles, while
Elijah Aikens broke up a pass and blocked a punt.
IC quarterback AJ Wingifled finished the day with 20 completions for 223 yards and a TD through the air. Andrew Vito finished with six catches for 87 yards and the long score.
Brockport won the time of possession battle 31:25-28:35 and the Golden Eagles also held Ithaca to a 1-for-16 effort on third down conversions. Ithaca's defense recovered three fumbles and posted three interceptions on the afternoon. Two of those interceptions came from Derek Slywka. Each team punted the ball seven times on the day.
