Bombers dump Saints in Raymond's return

ITHACA — Turnovers hurt the St. Lawrence University football team as the Saints dropped their season opener 33-3 to Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon in a nonconference game at Butterfield Stadium.

SLU trailed just 13-3 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Bombers struck for 20 points in the final 15 minutes to win comfortably.

The Saints were tied 3-3 with 32 seconds to go before halftime when Ithaca's Mike Conti intercepted a pass from Andy Spadoni and returned the ball 66 yards for a touchdown, giving Ithaca a 10-3 lead.

"We did some positive things throughout the first half and we were able to hang around," said SLU coach Mark Raymond, a long-time Ithaca assistant who made his debut Saturday. "We simply can't turn the ball over four times, especially against a team like Ithaca who will make you pay."

SLU's offense did not find much success against the Bombers, producing only 156 total yards. The Saints had just 61 net rushing yards on 41 carries.

Spadoni, making his debut as a starting quarterback, completed 6-of-14 passes for 75 yards, but threw two interceptions. Ramon Mignott gained 39 yards rushing on 13 carries and Tim Robinson caught three passes for 68 yards. SLU's top production came on kickoff returns as Trevor Saunders gained 118 yards on six.

Ithaca put the game away with two long runs in the fourth quarter as Dan Ruggiero scored on a 31-yard run and Clay Ardoin scored on a 30-yard run. Ardoin finished with 71 yards on 16 carries. Rob Zappia completed 11-of-23 passes for 177 yards for the Bombers.

COLGATE 30, MONMOUTH 29

Greg Sullivan had 254 total yards to lead Colgate past Monmouth at Hamilton.

Sullivan threw for 180 yards on 11-of-14 passing, and had 74 more on 15 carries in the Raiders' second straight season-opening win over Monmouth.

Colgate led 17-7 at halftime and went up 23-7 on Doug Rosnick's 50-yard touchdown pass from Sullivan with 10:28 left in the third quarter. Evan Colborne missed on the extra point.

The Hawks, however, quickly answered with a 90-yard kickoff return by Bobby Giles. Kyle Frazier's pass failed on the two-point conversion.

After one more Colgate score, Monmouth kicked a 33-yard field goal and scored on a 20-yard run to pull within 30-23.

With 4:32 remaining, Monmouth went 52 yards on 10 plays for a 7-yard TD pass from Frazier to Tyler George. However, the two-point conversion was stopped behind the line.