PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College football team nearly erased a 14-point deficit in the second half on Saturday afternoon before falling to nationally-ranked Ithaca College, 21-14, at Growney Stadium.  Fisher, which celebrated Homecoming, fell to 0-2 on the season while the Bombers, who are ranked 25th in the latest D3football.com national poll, improved to 3-1 overall.

Despite trailing throughout the game, Fisher gained 355 total yards of offense led by Joshua Michels who completed 31-of-43 pass attempts for a career-high 362 yards along with two touchdowns an interception.  Michels also led the team in rushing with 15 yards on nine attempts. 

In all, seven different receivers hauled in a pass for Fisher led by Will Blake's 87 yards on seven grabs including two touchdowns.  Pat Galer caught five passes for 82 yards while Dylan Harrington made his season debut with seven balls for 80 yards including a 39-yard catch.  Sophomore Johnathan Letta had a career-high six catches for 48 yards and Willy Stevenson corralled four balls for 35 yards.

After heading into halftime trailing the Bombers 14-0, Fisher's defense turned up the intensity as the Cardinals forced back-to-back three-and-outs to begin the third quarter with Ithaca gaining no yards on six plays.  Down by two scores and momentum beginning to swing in the home team's favor, the Cardinals' offense went to work on the Ithaca 40 with 10:18 showing on the clock.  Michels lined up in the shotgun and delivered a strike downfield to Letta for 39 yards to set up a first-and-10 at the Ithaca one, but the Bombers kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard after a mishandled snap at the goal line ended up in the visiting team's hands.   

Following the fumble, Ithaca took over deep inside its own territory, but wouldn't possess the ball for long as Demarre Nelson jumped in front of a pass on the sidelines to pick off a pass and give Fisher's offense another crack inside the Bombers' turf.

From there, Fisher strung together a four-play, 42-yard touchdown drive capped by a four-yard leaping catch in the end zone by Blake to cut the deficit to 14-7 with just under eight minutes left to play in the third quarter.

Leading by seven, the Bombers regrouped and orchestrated a 10-play, 79-yard drive that included four first downs to reclaim a 14-point advantage, 21-7.

Not to be outdone, however, Fisher responded with a touchdown drive of its own as the Cardinals bridged the third and fourth quarters with a nine-play, 67-yard burst that ate up 3:07 to pull back to within a touchdown.  In all, Michels and the Cardinals' offense moved the chains five times on the drive with Michels connecting with three different receivers before finding Blake in the back corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown catch to make it 21-14.

With momentum firmly on Fisher's side, Ithaca was boosted by a 27-yard return on the ensuing kickoff and quickly moved into Fisher territory with four straight completions to set up at the Cardinals' 39.  The Bombers would move the sticks again, but stalled as Fisher came up with four big stops including a fourth-and-one chance to take over on downs at its own 21.

After swapping possessions over the next four minutes, Fisher took over at its own 38 trailing by seven and with 4:57 still remaining in the game.  Following a quick two-yard run, Fisher aired it out as Michels hit Harrington over the middle for 14 yards to cross midfield.  With a fresh set of downs, Michels again went to the air and found Blake at the Ithaca 28, but the Bombers' defense jarred the ball loose as Ithaca halted Fisher's drive and began its drive at its own 40.

Trailing by seven, Fisher's defense came up big again as Christopher Biryla came down with an interception at the Fisher 16 to give the offense another chance with just over two minutes left to play.

From there, Fisher spread the field again as Michels threaded the needle and found Cam Cleveland down the sideline to pick up a quick 20 yards.  After picking up six yards on the ground, Michels teamed up with Galer for a 21-yard toss and came right back to find the sophomore receiver again on the next play as the duo produced a 32-yard strike to move Fisher down to the Ithaca 13.  With time winding down and the Bombers' defense on its heels, Michels tried to feed the ball between two Ithaca players only to see the pass picked off in the end zone to end the threat and all but seal the win for Ithaca.

Defensively, Justin Wheeler led the team with 15 tackles including two for a loss while Nelson and Biryla each came away with 11 stops and an interception.  Cameron Bellino made 10 tackles in the loss while William Riechert, Tony Silvanic and Evan Majewski each collected nine tackles. 

The Cardinals were aided by their play up front as the defensive line was in Ithaca's backfield all game.  In all, the team had three sacks led by Terry White who had 1.5 on the day.  Leyton Miner had one sack while LeMar Peters was credited with a half sack.

Michael Burton had a busy day as the senior punter kicked the ball away 10 times and averaged 33.6 yards per kick including a season-best 41 yard punt.  Placekicker Devin Dzikowicz was 2-for-2 in extra point opportunities. 

The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Cardinals as they head across town to Brockport at 6 p.m. on Saturday to take on the No. 4 Golden Eagles in Courage Bowl XIV. 

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