Boxscore
PHILADELPHIA, Pa – On a chilly night in Philadelphia, Cornell completed one of its best comebacks in what has turned into one of the better rivalries in sprint football. Down eleven points in the fourth quarter, the Big Red came back to tie the game before winning it in overtime, 27-24.
The Big Red defense had its best performance of the season. Against an offense that was averaging over 450 yards a game, Cornell only allowed 341 yards, including only 141 in the air to the league's leading passer. John Parke led Cornell with 10.5 tackles, and Jon Mackintosh had six tackles and an interception.
DJ Schiavetta had his third 100-yard game of the season, accumulating 146 yards on the ground on just 24 carries. Elliot Corey threw for a touchdown and had no interceptions, going 12-for-25 for 116 yards. Three Big Red receivers – Clay Hemminger, Chris LaBerge, and Upal Sarker – had at least 20 yards receiving, with Sarker catching Corey's touchdown pass.
From the beginning, it looked as if Penn would take control of the game. On the first play from scrimmage, the Quakers' Todd Busler completed a pass to the league leading receiver, Whit Shaw, who proceeded into the end zone for the 62 yard score, giving Penn the 7-0 less than one minute into the contest.
Cornell was unable to strike up any offense of its own until the beginning of the second quarter, when Alex Perilstein connected on a 37-yard field goal.
With the score at 7-3 and time winding down in the first half , Sarker caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Corey with two seconds on the clock. Perilstein kicked the ball straight through the uprights, and Cornell had its first lead, 10-7, going into the half.
The third quarter was all Penn as the home team scored 14 unanswered points to take a 21-10 lead into the final quarter. Mike Bagnoli, the CSFL's leading rusher, had a 21-yard touchdown run for the first score while the Penn punter Clarke Armaris completed a TD pass to the kicker Raiam Santos after a bobbled snap.
Corey and the Big Red offense were resilient though, opening the fourth quarter with a 15-play, 63-yard drive, which ended with a touchdown run from Schiavetta at the goal line. Corey completed a pass to Chris LaBerge for the two-point conversion and Cornell trailed by just a field goal, 21-18.
Penn thwarted any scoring drives from the Big Red until Cornell had the ball with less than five minutes to play. Corey and the offense drove down the field, setting up a 33-yard game-tying field goal from Perilstein with four seconds left to play.
Cornell won the coin toss at the start of overtime and deferred the ball to Penn, who could only manage a 28-yard field goal.
On its possession, the Big Red took to the ground, starting with a five-yard rush by Schiavetta, before Corey carried for six. Matthew Pierce carried nine-yards down to the Penn 5-yard line and Schiavetta put the team on the doorstep with a four-yard run. A false start penalty moved the visitors back five-yards, but Corey used two carries to cross the goal line and clinch the 27-24 comeback victory.
Cornell will return home to take on Army on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
