ITHACA, NY - In its third postseason appearance in program history, the Utica College football team will finally be returning home with hardware for their efforts to close the season. Down by one point in the final minute, Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) booted a season-long 36 yard field goal to lift the Pioneers past former Empire 8 rival Ithaca College by a 44-42 score in the 2018 ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field.

The win marked Utica's first-ever victory in a bowl contest in three tries. The Pioneers had previously lost to Morrisville in the ECAC North Central Bowl in 2014, and lost to Westminster in 2016 at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field. The Pioneers also tied a school record for wins where they stand alongside those two Utica squads with seven victories. Utica finished 7-4, with a 4-3 final record in the Empire 8 conference.

A high octane quarterback duel headlined on a frigid day in Ithaca as Pioneers freshman quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) and Bombers quarterback Wahid Nabi clashed with brilliant performances. Wilcox went 30-of-49 for a new school record 467 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also becoming the leading freshman passer in school history in his tenth career start. He was named the game's most valuable player. On the other end, the Pioneers found a way to overcome the efforts of Nabi, who also threw for an Ithaca school record 524 yards and six touchdowns.

While the quarterbacks impressed, the Pioneer ground game finished the job on a well balanced opening offensive series. After forcing Ithaca to turn the ball over on downs at the Utica 32 yard line, the Pioneers marched the ball downfield with a methodical 10 play, 68 yard series capped off by Utica's all-time leading rusher Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood). The kick was good, and the Pioneers went up early by a 7-0 margin in the first quarter. Stowe rushed for a total of 64 yards and a touchdown on the day, and graduates with 1,963 career rushing yards. He is the first 1,000 yard rusher for a single season in school history as well.

The Bomber aerial attack struck twice before the end of the quarter to grab hold of the lead. A broken coverage left Jacob Cooney all alone to receive a pass past midfield from Nabi, and the Bomber receiver took it the distance from 79 yards to get Ithaca on the board. The ensuing kick was blocked by Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack), but Ithaca's Kyle Berna recovered the ball in the endzone for the two point conversion to put Ithaca in front. Ithaca struck again as the clock struck zero as Nabi hit receiver Will Gladney with a pass from 43 yards out to cap the quarter and the Bombers led 15-7 after one frame.

The lead got even bigger for the Bombers on a bizzare play, as Ithaca caught the Pioneers off guard with a fake snap gadget play, and Nabi tossed it to a wide open Gladney from 33 yards for his third passing touchdown for a 21-7 advantage.

Utica drove 36 yards on eight plays on its next drive and was knocking on the door of chipping into the lead, but a Medici field goal try from 38 yards landed just short. The Pioneers instead would turn to their defense to do the job. Just two plays later, linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) stepped in the way of a Nabi pass and made the most of his first career interception by running it back 25 yards for a return touchdown that trimmed the Bomber lead back to seven points.

The Pioneers defense digged its heels in and forced Ithaca to punt on three straight incomplete passes following a Gladney first down, and Wilcox came out firing with 2:26 left before the break and 53 yards to go to the endzone. That mentality guided the Pioneers to paydirt as he completed four passes for all 53 yards, capped off by a pair of grabs by Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) including a 15 yard reception for a game-tying touchdown with the score at 21-21.

The Bombers had a very quick answer to the game-tying score. Four plays later, Cooney hauled in his second touchdown at a distance of 23 yards from Nabi. The Pioneers tried to make the most of the remaining 46 seconds with a drive into Bombers territory, but time ran out and Utica would have to settle for getting the ball back on the second half kickoff with the score standing 28-21 at the break.

The Pioneers got the ball back on the second half kickoff, and while they initially did not pick up the first down, they got a new lease on life on the drive by being in the right place at the right time. The return attempt on Maki Medici's (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) punt was muffed, and the Pioneers recovered the loose football when Dylan Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) fell on it at midfield. Utica cashed in the second time around when Medici chipped in a 22 yard field goal to slash the Bomber lead to 28-24. Ithaca went up by eleven points before the quarter ended on the third and final touchdown pass to Gladney from Nabi with 6:55 left on the clock and the 35-24 Bomber lead lasted into the fourth quarter.

That lead was far from permanent. Utica opened the fourth quarter with 17 straight points and the rally was truly on at Schoellkopf. After Ithaca punted at the end of the third quarter, the surge began when Utica embarked on a nine play 51 yard drive capped by another Medici field goal, this one from 30 yards to start the scoring in the fourth.

Just over three minutes later, the Pioneer passing game struck again with possibly its most explosive passing play in program history. With 10:20 left in the game, Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) lobbed a deep ball up to midfield, and Josh Connor (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) fought through the defender, made the catch, and bolted the remaining 40-plus yards to the endzone for an 81 yard touchdown pass. The completion was the longest in Utica College history, and Wilcox now holds the two longest passes by a quarterback in school history as a freshman.

Ithaca was threatening on the next possession as they marched their way all the way down to the Utica two yard line. Nabi again began passing for significant chunks of yardage, with four completions on the drive including a 16 yard sideline strike to Gladney to get the Bombers to the two yard line. The Bombers' stay inside the five yard line didn't last, as Gladney was flagged for a fifteen yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and disqualified from the game. That marched the Bombers back to the 17 yard line, and the Pioneers made Nabi pay dearly for an ill-advised pass three snaps later.

On the ensuing 3rd and 6 from the Utica fourteen yard line, Nabi unleashed a pass to the perimeter on the right side, and defensive back Elijah Belle (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) got his money's worth. After jumping the route at the line of scrimmage,  Belle intercepted the football and kept right on going on an 84 yard interception return for a touchdown that gave Utica its first lead since the first quarter and capped off Utica's 16 point run as they led 41-35.

The Bombers rallied back once more as Nabi again led his team down the field on a twelve play, 69 yard drive capped off by his sixth touchdown pass to Andrew Vito to tie the score. Ithaca broke the tie at 42-41 on an extra point by Brian Fallon.

That set the stage for the deciding score. Down by one point, Marquis Simpson (Middle Island, NY/Longwood) returned the kickoff to the 32 yard line to start the drive with 2:45 left to go. Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) sparked Utica with a big play to get the Pioneers downfield as he won a Wilcox deep ball away from multiple defenders to get Utica across midfield on the 25 yard reception. Short gains by Brad Dougherty (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Connor set up a pass play to tight end JJ O'Connor, who made his only catch of the day count as he reeled in a 13 yard grab to get the Pioneers to the Ithaca 22 yard line. A couple of short runs by Dougherty set Utica up inside the 20 yard line, and the Medici field goal did the rest as he steered it through the uprights from 36 yards to give Utica a 44-42 advantage.

Ithaca had one final gasp of air in the final 48 seconds, but Addo's second interception of the day sealed the deal. The celebration was on as the Pioneers walked away victorious in a bowl game for the first time in the program's history with a 44-42 win in the Whitelaw Bowl.

In a game where defense was expected to be king with the Bombers ranking in the top ten nationally in scoring defense, and the Pioneers allowing just 17 points in the last two weeks, the offenses notably came to play at a high level. Coming into Saturday, the Bombers had not allowed more than 21 points. That total happened in last week's Cortaca Jug game against Cortland. The Pioneers more than doubled that with 44 points.

Utica was thinly out-gained by the Bombers in total yards by a 569 to 525 margin. Neither rushing offense was overwhelming as the Pioneers had 58 rushing yards, and the Utica defense put on another great showing against the ground game by limiting Ithaca to 45 yards on the ground. The Pioneers were 5-for-5 in the red zone on the day, and were a strong 8-of-18 on third downs. The offenses combined for nearly 1,000 passing yards.

In additional individual offensive notes, Josh Connor (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) had a brilliant day downfield catching six passes for 167 yards and a touchdown, which was the sixth best receiving yardage performance in the history of the program. Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) had eight catches for 95 yards and a touchdown for the day. His performance netted him the second best receiving yardage season in school history with 987 yards, and he was just shy of becoming Utica's second ever 1,000 yard receiver. His 77 catches are also the second best total in school history behind Jerred Beniquez's 87 catch season in 2016. Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) also was a strong presence in his last game with seven catches for 86 yards. In addition to his strong passing day, Wilcox also did not throw an interception.  Gladney had 236 yards receiving and three touchdowns for the Bombers before his fourth quarter dismissal.

On defense, Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) led Utica with nine tackles, and Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) chipped in with eight. Addo had two interceptions, and Matt McCoy and Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) each finished with two pass breakups. The Pioneer defense also featured some collective record setting performances. The defense finished with three interceptions for a new single season total of 18, which is a new school record. They also added two sacks for a new season total of 35, eclipsing a school record set by a defense that included elite players like Nick Woodman and Juwan Wilson in 2015.

On special teams, Maki Medici (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) was brilliant throughout in possibly his most memorable performance since last year's overtime shootout at St. John Fisher. He punted four times for an average of 41 yards and landed a 52 yard punt. He also pinned the Bombers inside the five yard line twice. He was also 3-for-4 on field goals including the game-winner.

The Pioneers wrap up their season at 7-4, and posted their third win over the Bombers in 18 tries on Saturday. The win for Utica was the first win in the series for the Pioneers to come in Ithaca, NY, although it did not come on the grass at Ithaca College's Butterfield Stadium. All three Utica wins in the all-time series have come on turf. Utica wraps up its season with a win for just the third time in program history.