FOOTBALL

Ithaca returns 12 starters from last year’s 9-2 team, which won the Eastern College Athletic Conference northwest championship. The Bombers’ streak of 28 straight winning seasons is the eighth-longest active streak in any division of college football.

Strengths for Ithaca should include the offensive line (four players with starting experience are back) and the backfield (three regulars return). The offensive line featured just one returning starter last fall — guard Adam Grossman — but the Bombers allowed only 11 sacks while attempting over 30 passes per game. Grossman, now a junior, is an all-American candidate after starting every game the past two years; during that time Ithaca has set more than a dozen school records. Seniors Ryan Carpenter and Nick Dibble rushed for 617 and 582 yards, respectively, last year. Carpenter will serve as a captain this year, along with Grossman and senior linebacker Rich Pasquale.

Pasquale (71 tackles) and junior cornerback Ron Amato (team-high five interceptions) are the top returning players defensively.

The NCAA playoff field has nearly doubled, growing from a 16-team field to this fall’s 28-team tournament. Ithaca’s road to the postseason will be one of the toughest the Bombers have ever faced: for the first time, Ithaca will play three teams coming off NCAA playoff seasons (College of New Jersey, Springfield, and Buffalo State).

Photo:Julian Forbes (45). Photo by Tim McKinney.