ITHACA, N.Y. — The No. 15/16 nationally ranked Endicott football team defeated No. 24/24 Ithaca, 13-7, in a tight defensive battle on the road at Jim Butterfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
With the Gulls leading 13-7 late in the fourth quarter, the Endicott defense made several key plays to keep the host Bombers out of the endzone and secure the victory.
As Ithaca entered the red zone on its final drive, Endicott forced a holding penalty on 1st and 10 to set the Bombers backward on the next snap.
Colin Meropoulos (Monroe, Conn.) pressured the quarterback as he threw an incomplete pass setting up second down.
Two more incompletions on second and third down, with Hector Johnson (Worcester, Mass.) applying pressure on third down and Zachariah Twardosky (Merrimack, N.H.) breaking up the third down pass, meant the game came down to fourth and long.
On the fourth down and with the Endicott d-line crashing in, the Bombers quarterback threw the ball to the back of the endzone which was intercepted by Alfino Davis (Cranston, R.I.) and improved the Gulls record to 2-0 on the season.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, with Ithaca threatening to score at the Endicott 16, Twardosky made another big play, this time coming up with an interception in the endzone and ending the drive. Another Ithaca drive started at the Endicott 28 and didn't result in points after Joe Tirrell (Franklin, Mass.) came up to force an eight-yard loss on a run and broke up a pass on back-to-back plays.
Following a scoreless opening quarter, the Bombers got on the board first with an 11-yard rush less than a minute into the second.
Endicott responded back with a Yavier Cosme-Diaz (Stratford, Conn.) 3-yard game-tying TD run.
Coming out of halftime and the score knotted at seven apiece, the Gulls got the ball first and went down the field to take the lead with a Clayton Marengi (Lynnfield, Mass.) to Kennedy Charles (Portland, Maine) 57-yard touchdown pass.
The defense held true the rest of the way limiting Ithaca to a season-low 112 yards of total offense for the entire game.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- First-ever win over Ithaca, as the all-time series is now squared up at 1-1.
- This is the fifth time the Gulls have started a season at 2-0 overall.
- Tirrell filled the stat sheet with a game-high/career-high 10 tackles (6 solo), one sack (-3 yards), two pass breakups, and two tackles for a loss (totaling -11 yards).
- Johnny Carreiro (Southington, Conn.) intercepted his first career pass at the end of the second quarter to prevent a Hail Mary attempt by the Bombers.
- Ryan Smith (Glastonbury, Conn.) controlled the field-possession game by pinning two punts inside the 20-yard line (6 punts total, 220 yards, 36.7 average, 47 long).
- Charles scored his second career TD (first receiving).
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 15/16 Endicott (2-0) hosts Hilbert on Saturday, September 21 at 12 PM. No. 24/24 Ithaca (0-2) travels to Curry on Saturday, September 28 at 12 PM.
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(Photo Credit - Tammy McManaway)
