GAME #3: Cornell vs. Navy
GAMETIME: Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Rip Miller Stadium, Annapolis, Md.
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (1-1, 1-0 CSFL); Navy (2-0, 0-0 CSFL)
SERIES RECORD: Navy leads, 49-13-2
LAST MEETING: Navy defeated Cornell, 31-25, at Saratoga Springs, NY
THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 150-123-7 (.549) after victory over Mansfield last weekend. Cullen has been a member of the coaching staff since 1964 and officially became the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football in 2001.
THE CO-HEAD COACH: In August, 2008, it was announced that Bart Guccia would assume a majority of the on-field coaching and gameday decisions for the Big Red. Guccia is in his fifth year with the sprint football team and has posted a 6-3 record (.667) in his new role.
THE MATCH UP: Cornell and Navy are the only teams to win the CSFL title since 2004, and both teams have played some epic games, including a thrilling 16-10 overtime win for Cornell in 2006. Navy, the two-time defending CSFL champion, has won 25 titles in total, the most of any sprint football program. Both teams are coming off victories last weekend, but Navy defeated Cornell at last season's Allegiance Bowl, 31-25. Navy holds the all-time advantage in the series with a record of 49-13-2.
SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN: This is the first game of the CSFL season for Navy in the team's attempt for a three-peat. Navy has 32 letter winners returning from a year ago, led by linebacker Tyler Hawkins. Hawkins, a first-team All-CSFL selection from a year ago, has been dominant at the start of the 2009 season with a league-leading 27 tackles. He is joined by linebacker Viet Vo, who has seen a limited role the past two seasons, but has already accumulated 16 tackles and two sacks this year. Like Cornell, the Midshipmen have replaced most of its starters at the specialty positions from a year ago, including 2007 CSFL MVP D.J. Green. Replacing him at quarterback is junior Tyler Terronez. He has three touchdown passes, but has only completed 44 percent of his passes, along with two interceptions. Expect a heavy attack of rushes from the Navy squad. Nate Stewart will receive most of the carries, but Jordan Foley is an explosive homerun hitter type running back. Stephen Philips, a first-team All-CSFL place kicker, has already earned the CSFL Special Teams Player of the Week after his booming 40.5 yards per punt and 64.7 yards per kickoff performance against St. Vincent JV.
LAST TIME VS. NAVY: Cornell played very well against the defending CSFL champs, but a late interception prevented a Cornell comeback in a 31-25 loss at the Allegiance Bowl. There were five lead changes in a very tight game that went down to the wire. Down by nine late in the fourth quarter, the Big Red's Mitch Ottinger kicked the ball through the uprights to make it a six-point game with just over three minutes left. The Big Red than recovered an onside kick and drove down the field until Zak Dentes threw an interception deep in Navy's territory that ended the comeback. Dentes had a very strong game, throwing for 273 yards, passing for a touchdown and rushing for two. Josh Friedman caught a game-high six receptions for 121 yards, while Upal Sarker had the lone touchdown reception. The Big Red defense was able to pickoff D.J. Green twice, and John Parke led the team with nine tackles.
THE MIDSHIPMEN'S LAST GAME: Navy, coming off a bye week, moved to 2-0 on the season after defeating St. Vincent JV, 45-7, on September 13. After starting the game with an early 10-0 lead, which included a 45-yard field goal from kicker David Reifenberg, St. Vincent JV struck back in the second quarter with a touchdown to cut the lead to three. Navy's defense took control after that with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Midshipmen went on a 35-0 run to end the game and easily earn its second victory of the season. Navy had four rushing touchdowns on the day from four different players and the team accumulated 211 yards on the ground in total. Tyler Terronez and backup Shain Jowett combined for 139 yards in the air and two touchdown passes.
CORNELL'S LAST GAME: Cornell recovered nicely after the loss to Penn by easily defeating Mansfield, 20-0. DJ Schiavetta scored Cornell's first two touchdowns, the first coming with exactly 3:00 remaining in the first quarter as scampered 20 yards to the end zone. Daren Phillips added the extra point to make it a 7-0 game. Schiavetta scored again late in the second quarter on an 11-yard rush and Phillips added the PAT to push Cornell's lead to 14-0. Elliot Corey ended the scoring for the game with a 20-yard run of his own just five minutes into the third quarter to account for the 20-0 final. Cornell held the Mountaineers to just 61 yards of total offense, thanks in large part to a run defense that allowed just eight yards on the ground. John Parke registered a team-high seven tackles, including two for a loss and a sack, while Chris Lamont and Tim Dooley had four tackles apiece. The Big Red also registered three interceptions, one each from John Mackintosh, Ted Alexander and Chris Fieschko, to go along with two fumble recoveries. The Big Red netted 352 yards of total offense and was led by Schiavetta with 115 yards rushing, while Corey ran for 111 yards.
RUNNING WILD: DJ Schiavetta and Elliot Corey became the first members of the Big Red to rush for over 100 yards since Oct. 10 of last year when Corey ran for 104 yards against Princeton. Schiavetta became the first running back to reach the century mark in yards for Cornell since Oct. 21, 2005, when Michael Fullowan '06 ran for 157 yards vs. Penn.
SAILING BACK SOUTH: Cornell will be making its first appearance at Annapolis since 2005, which means that this Friday will be the first time that every player on the roster will get an opportunity to play at Navy. In 2008, the teams meet in Saratoga in Allegiance Bowl, while the 2007 game was held in Union, N.J., as part of the Pride Bowl. The 2006 game was at Schoellkopf Field … Cornell has not won a game at Navy since a 10-9 victory in 1989.
OUT OF THE CSFL STARTING GATE: With the victory over Mansfield, the Big Red started the CSFL season at 1-0 for the first time since 2006, and only the second time in the last 10 years. It was also the first road victory to open the CSFL season since 1993 when the Big Red defeated Penn in Philadelphia.
UP NEXT: Cornell returns home to face Princeton on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:00 p.m.
