CORTLAND, N.Y. - Senior cornerback Jason Chier (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) tied a school record with three interceptions and Ithaca's defense held Cortland's offense without a touchdown and the Bombers won the 50th Annual Cortaca Jug with a 35-13 win in front of 10,300 fans at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.

Ithaca, which won the Jug for the second straight year, and Cortland will both be playing in the NCAA Division III playoffs next weekend. Ithaca (9-1) arned an automatic berth as the Empire 8 outright champion by virtue of Alfred's 36-33 overtime win versus St. John Fisher. Cortland (9-1), which had its bid for its first unbeaten regular season since 1988 thwarted, is the New Jersey Athletic Conference champion.

Junior quarterback Brian Grastorf (Rexford/Niskayuna), making his first career start, completed 19-of-28 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for two 1-yard scores. Senior Kyle Crandall (Herkimer) made four catches for 111 yards and two scores and sophomore Dan Ruggiero (Pen Argyl, PA) came off the bench to rush for 96 yards and catch a touchdown pass.

Cortland was limited to a pair of Jeffrey Lang (Dryden) field goals from 39 and 22 yards and a 12-yard blocked punt return by freshman Bill Smith (Nanuet). Smith's return, off a block by freshman Cody Allen (Medina), gave Cortland a 10-7 lead with nine minutes left in the first half.

Chier finished with seven tackles and two pass breakups along with his three interceptions. He is the sixth Ithaca player in school history with three picks in one game and the first since Charlie Stephens at Brockport in 2006. Sophomore David Ahonen (Farmington/Victor) made nine tackles and recorded an interceptions and sophomore Morgan Abdelnour (Somers) added a career-high nine tackles for the Bombers.

Sophomore linebacker Brian Haas (East Aurora/St. Francis) led Cortland with 13 tackles and senior linebacker Jim Smith (Nanuet) made 10 tackles. Sophomore safety James Lenhart (Ticonderoga) registered his first career interception. Senior tailback Andrew Giuliano (Thornwood/Westlake) rushed for 135 yards on 18 carries.

Crandall caught a 14-yard pass from Grastorf with 9:44 left in the first quarter to give Ithaca a 7-0 lead. Lang's career-long 39-yard field goal in the first quarter and Bill Smith's blocked punt return gave the Red Dragons the lead, but Crandall turned a short pass from Grastorf into an 80-yard touchdown with 1:26 left in the half and Ithaca led 14-10 at halftime.

Lang made a 22-yard field goal on the opening possession of the third quarter to pull Cortland within 14-13. Ithaca, however, drove 71 yards on 10 plays on its next possession, capped by a 32-yard screen pass to Ruggiero for a touchdown and a 21-13 Bomber advantage.

Cortland advanced to the Ithaca 12-yard line on the next series but Chier intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop the threat. Lenhart's interception gave Cortland the ball back at the Bombers' 49-yard line, and a 26-yard Giuliano run gave the Red Dragons a first down at the 23-yard line. Chier picked off Miles in the end zone again, however, to end that drive.

Ithaca capitalized with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that Grastorf finished with a 1-yard sneak and the Bombers led 28-13 with 12:22 remaining. Ithaca sophomore Matt Dibble (East Schodack/Columbia) sacked Miles and forced a fumble on the next drive to give the Bombers the ball on the Cortland 35-yard line. Ithaca put the game away with an eight-play drive, capped by another Grastorf 1-yard sneak with 6:07 left. Chier's final interception came at the Ithaca 2-yard line on the Red Dragons' next drive.

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