ITHACA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team stepped out of conference on Saturday as the Cardinals fell to Ithaca College on the road, 35-10, at Butterfield Stadium.  With the loss, Fisher moved to 1-6 on the season while the Bombers improved to 4-3 overall.

After receiving the ball to the start the game, the Cardinals put the Bombers on notice after marching down the field with a 17-play, 77-yard drive to open up a 7-0 lead.  Facing a 3rd and 17 at its own 27 yard line, Fisher moved the chains into Ithaca territory after Joshua Michels connected with Dylan Harrington for a 28-yard completion. With a fresh set of downs, Fisher went to the ground as Nick Fischetti and Ryan Ingerson combined to pick up 25 yards over the next four plays as the Cardinals moved inside the red zone.  Three plays later with Fisher facing a 4th and eight, Michels hit J.J. Mulvey on the far sideline for a gain of 11 to set up first-and-10 at the Ithaca nine.  From there, Fischetti pushed his way forward and into the end zone for his first career touchdown as the visiting team opened up a 7-0 lead.

The Bombers countered on their first possession, however, as Ithaca strung together a 14-play 60-yard drive of its own to knot things up at 7-7 in the second quarter.

After swapping possessions over the course of the next five minutes, Fisher added to its lead courtesy of another long drive – this time a 10-play 46-yard effort capped by a season-long 37-yard field goal from Devin Dzikowicz to make it 10-7 with 6:04 left to play before intermission.

Trailing by three points, Ithaca looked to move the ball downfield, but Fisher's defense forced the Bombers into a three-and-out as the Cardinals took over at their own 42 thanks to a 15-yard return by Willy Stevenson.

With nearly four minutes left to play in the opening half, Fisher worked its way into Ithaca territory.  After picking up a fresh set of downs on a run by Ingerson, the Cardinals were poised to add to their lead, but Ithaca halted Fisher's momentum after recovering a fumble on the ensuing play to keep the game at 10-7 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Ithaca took its first lead of the game after a 48-yard punt return set up a first-and-10 at the Fisher nine yard line.  After failing to breach the goal line on three straight snaps, the Bombers pitched the ball to the outside and broke a tackle to claim their first lead of the game, 14-10.

Ithaca would add to its edge after bridging the third and fourth quarters with an eight-play, 48-yard drive capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass to the pylon to open up an 11-point lead, 21-10.  The home team would extend its edge to 18 points on its next possession, 28-10, after orchestrating a five-play 54-yard drive highlighted by a 29-yard reception down to the Fisher three yard line.
Trailing late in the fourth quarter, Fisher had an opportunity to cut into the Bombers' lead as Michels connected with Harrington for a 37-yard passing touchdown, but the play was whistled dead after offsetting penalties negated the score to keep it a three-possession game.

Ithaca would add one final score with 2:38 remaining in the game as the Bombers used nearly six minutes of clock en route to a nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive to hold a 35-10 margin.

Michels was 12-for-29 with 143 passing yards on the day while Alejandro Utset had two completions in six attempts.

The Cardinals rushed for 86 yards as a team led by Ingerson's 52 yards on 18 carries.  Fischetti had 22 yards and a touchdown while Michels had 20 yards on the day.

Harrington led the team with five receptions and 90 yards while Will Blake and Colin McGraw combined to catch four passes for 37 yards.  Senior Mike Collichio had one grab for nine yards, which moved him over 2,000 receiving yards in his career.

On the defensive side of the ball, David Carroll led the team with 10 tackles including one sack while Cameron Bellino and Richard Ewell each had nine stops.  Justin Rivera had eight tackles and Evan Majewski had five to his credit.

Fisher will return to action at 2 p.m. next Saturday when it hosts SUNY Cortland in an Empire 8 bout at Growney Stadium. Prior to kickoff, Fisher will honor the members of its senior class during a senior day ceremony.