Football

Scavo heading to Ithaca College

HORNELL — On Dominic Scavo’s second visit to Ithaca College, the Hornell senior and Red Raiders’ star-studded quarterback knew that’s where he belonged.

“I absolutely fell in love with it the second visit,” said Scavo, who recently announced he will be taking his football talents to Ithaca College this fall to play for head coach Mike Welch and the rest of Bomber Nation.

“I am really excited about going to Ithaca,” said Scavo. “Coach Welch and his staff have supported me the entire time. During basketball season he would be showing up with three or four other coaches to watch my games and he really recruited me hard.”

Most people that were in Scavo’s circle felt the Red Raiders’ all-time winningest player was heading to Alfred University to enter the same backfield as another HHS standout — Austin Dwyer, who will be a junior in the Saxons’ backfield next fall.

“Alfred is a good school and the coaches are great,” said Scavo. “And getting another chance to play with Austin again seemed like it couldn’t go wrong. But I really like the size of the Ithaca community, and since I will be only going to go to college one time, I wanted to venture out a little bit. Plus, I have not heard a single bad thing from anyone that has gone there — they are all positive and love the place.”

While Alfred’s Merrill Field was only a 15-minute jaunt from Scavo’s front door, it’s not like Ithaca’s Butterfield Stadium is several hours away.

“It takes about an hour and 10 minutes — if my dad is driving,” chuckled Scavo. “That was another reason why Ithaca seemed like a great fit. Those that are close to me understand how important my family is to me. Knowing that my family can jump in a car on a Saturday and come to all my games in just over an hour really is nice.”

Another important factor that came into play was the fact that Ithaca has a baseball program, something AU doesn’t have.

Although he’s not 100 percent sure he will play baseball right away, it’s a comfort factor knowing that he can if he chooses.

“It definitely came into play,” said Scavo. “Ithaca has an outstanding baseball program too.”

Scavo’s success at Hornell was nothing short of amazing.

The starting quarterback since his sophomore season, Scavo led the Red Raiders to three straight NYS Class B championships, and finished his career with 3,523 yards passing, 45 TD’s and most importantly a perfect 39-0 record.

He was named this year’s Class B NYS Player of the Year, and was a three-time All-State player, and a three-time Livingston County News Super-22 First Team selection.

Ithaca College used two quarterbacks last fall — Jason Hendel and Phil Neumann.

Hendel, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound junior was a little more effective going 88-of-145 passing for 971 yards with five TD’s but was picked off nine times. Neumann, a 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore was 77-of-149 passing for four TD’s and seven INT’s. Hendel was more of a threat to run the ball as he carried the pigskin 66 times for 261 yards and three TD’s.

Scavo knows the college game will take some getting adjusted to, but he’s ready for the challenge.

“I like my chances, and I definitely think coach Welch will give me a fair chance,” said Scavo. “If I put in my time and study film, I think I can contribute right away. I feel it is up to me to put in hard work over the summer, and I’m ready for it.”