ITHACA, N.Y. – Dan Ruggiero rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns and Andrew Rogowski made all three of his field goal attempts as Ithaca edged Cortland, 23-20, in the annual Cortaca Jug game in front of a sellout crowd of 9,700 fans at Butterfield Stadium.

With the victory, Ithaca ends the season at 7-3 and wins the Cortaca Jug traveling trophy for the third straight year. Cortland drops to 7-3 with the loss and will await a possible ECAC postseason berth. The ECAC pairings will be announced on Monday.

Cortland quarterback Alex Smith (Niagara Falls/Niagara-Wheatfield) completed 18-of-29 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Wayne Wheeler (Memphis/Jordan-Elbridge) registered two touchdown passes among his four receptions and senior Eric Hajnos (Grand Island) finished with seven catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Ruggiero gained his 109 yards on 35 carries. Brian Grastorf finished 12-of-27 passing for 158 yards and Thomas Vossler made six catches for 79 yards. Rogowski, in addition to making 23, 32 and 39-yard field goals, also averaged 43.2 yards per punt on six attempts, including two inside the Cortland 20-yard line.

Ryan Clarke led Ithaca's defense with 16 tackles, 14 in the first half, and had 1.5 tackles for losses. Eric Toporoff finished with nine tackles and both Kevin Cline and Mike Conti intercepted passes. Sophomore linebacker Cody Allen (Medina) paced Cortland with 10 tackles and senior defensive end Evan Wyler (Warwick/Warwick Valley) finished with nine tackles.

Ithaca took the game's opening possession and drove 72 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. A personal foul face mask penalty early in the drive turned what would have been 3rd-and-12 for the Bombers into a first down at the Cortland 44-yard line. Ruggiero ran 14 yards on 1st-and-10 from the Cortland 15-yard line, then scored from one yard out on the next play.

Cortland drove to the Ithaca 27-yard line on its first possession before turning the ball over on Conti's interception near the left sideline. Late in the first quarter, Cortland's Will Schroeder (Rockville Centre/Holy Trinity) intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Ithaca 26-yard line, but lost a fumble on the play.

In the second quarter, a 48-yard punt return by Dan Ruffrage gave the Bombers the ball on the Cortland 24-yard line. Ithaca drove to the 5-yard line before eventually settling for a Rogowski 23-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead. Cortland responded on its next possession with a 7-play, 61-yard touchdown drive. On 3rd-and-6 from the Ithaca 22-yard line, Smith found Wheeler open on the left side of the end zone for the score. Ithaca's Adam Drescher, however, blocked the extra-point kick and Ithaca led 10-6.

Ithaca's final drive of the half started on the Cortland 48-yard line following a 40-yard Jake Fietkiwicz kickoff return. The Bombers eventually stalled at the Red Dragon 11-yard line and, followng a false start penalty, Rogowski made a 32-yard field goal with 26 seconds left to give Ithaca a 13-6 halftime lead.

Ruffrage's second big punt return of the game, a 25-yard effort, set up Ithaca for the lone score of the third quarter. The Bombers started at the Cortland 39-yard line and quickly moved to the 12-yard line on a 25-yard connection from Grastorf to Vossler. A holding call pushed them back to the 22-yard line, but Rogowski nailed a 39-yard field goal – his school record 12th of the season – and Ithaca took a 16-6 lead.

Cortland, which outgained Ithaca 308-268 in total offense, put together a 9-play, 69-yard scoring drive midway through the fourth quarter to tighten things up. Smith's 25-yard touchdown pass to Wheeler capped the drive, but a two-point conversion pass failed and the Red Dragons trailed 16-12 with 6:37 left.

Ithaca converted a key third down on its next possession when Grastorf threw a 17-yard pass to Vossler on 3rd-and-8 from the Bombers' 35-yard line. Two plays later, Matt Crandall caught a short pass, broke a tackle and ran down the left sideline for a 37-yard gain to the Cortland 10-yard line. Ruggiero ran for five yards on each of the next two plays, the latter putting Ithaca ahead 23-12 with 3:06 left.

Cortland, however, answered quickly as sophomore Joe Aston (Chenango Forks) returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the Ithaca 40-yard line. Smith threw a deep 36-yard pass to Hajnos on the next play, with a roughing the passer call advancing the ball to the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Smith hit Hajnos on a 2-yard scoring pass with 2:18 left. Hajnos also made a nice 2-point conversion catch on the left side of the end zone and the Red Dragons were within three at 23-20.

Ithaca recovered an onside kickoff attempt, but couldn't get a first down and was forced to punt with 1:19 left. Conti made a nice play to bat the ball before it went into the end zone, forcing Cortland to start from its 5-yard line with 1:09 left and no timeouts. Cline's interception at the Cortland 44-yard line with just under a minute left, however, sealed the Ithaca victory. Cortland finished the game with four turnovers to Ithaca's one.

Junior Dom Sair (Huntington) led Cortland with 64 net rushing yards on 16 carries. Junior Anthony Giuliano (Thornwood/Westlake) caught three passes for 19 yards and ran five times for 23 yards. Senior punter Kyle Peterson (Montrose/Hendrick Hudson) averaged 37.5 yards per punt, with three of his six kicks pinning Ithaca inside the 20-yard line.


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