GAME #7: Cornell vs. Mansfield
GAMETIME: Friday, Oct. 30 at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Schoellkopf Field (Ithaca, NY)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (3-3, 3-2 CSFL), Mansfield (2-4, 1-4)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell defeated Mansfield, 20-0, on Sep. 26, 2009 at Mansfield
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/sprint/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/

THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 152-125-7 (.549) after the loss to Army 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 fourth year with the sprint football team and has posted an 8-5 record (.615) in his new role.

THE MATCH UP: Cornell and Mansfield will meet for the fourth time in program history this Friday, Oct. 30 as the Big Red welcomes the CSFL's newest team to Schoellkopf Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff. For the third time in the series history, the Mountaineers are coming off a victory as it enters its game with Cornell, but Mansfield has yet to put together a two-game winning streak. Cornell has won all three games in the series, outscoring the Mountaineers, 93-28, but Mansfield put up a good fight in the finale last season, as the Big Red escaped with the 38-28 victory.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: Mansfield has two wins this season, with both victories coming against the winless Princeton Tigers. The Mountaineers' program is on the rise despite its struggles in the CSFL. Mansfield has yet to score a point against a team other than Princeton, while giving up a combined 160 points over the past two seasons. The team is led by its running game with three different players having rushed for more than 100 yards this season. The team is led by Desmen Johnson's 182 yards on the ground, but Tyler Floyd and Lucas Bailey also provide a punch out of the backfield. Quarterback Kode Plank took over for Danny Moss this season and has played as the primary quarterback all six games. He ranks fifth in the CSFL with 480 passing yards and three touchdown passes. The team has done an effective job stopping the pass, with the defense allowing just 846 passing yards and making 10 interceptions. Mansfield has eight players with at least 20 tackles, with Cody Croasdale leading the way with 28.

LAST TIME VS. MANSFIELD: 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.

THE MOUNTAINEERS' LAST GAME: Mansfield overcame two seven-point deficits against Princeton to win its second game of the year and the team's first CSFL conference win in program history. Down 14-7 late in the third quarter, Desmen Johnson caught a three-yard pass from Kode Plank. The extra point tied the game at 14 heading into the final quarter. After recovering a fumble on Princeton's next possession, Johnson again found the endzone with a seven-yard touchdown run. A failed two-point conversion gave the Mountaineers the 20-14 lead. The team forced a Princeton punt and added an insurance touchdown, this time on a Lucas Bailey run, to win the game, 26-14. Johnson had 121 yards on the ground and two touchdowns while Plank passed for 116 and a pair of scores. The defense forced four fumbles and picked off two passes.

CORNELL'S LAST GAME: The Big Red lost a heartbreaking 10-9 game against Army at Schoellkopf Field to end the possibility of a CSFL title. The rain and wind took over the game to aid the defenses in preventing any scoring. Cornell took the early 6-0 lead from two Alex Perilstein field goals before Army kicked a field goal of its own to cut the score in half, 6-3, going into halftime. The Big Red came out of the intermission strong, kicking another field goal and taking the 9-3, but with the Big Red driving deep in Army territory, the Black Knights stripped the ball from quarterback Elliot Corey and ran it back 85-yards for the touchdown. The extra point gave Army the 10-9 lead, its first lead of the game. Going into the wind, the Big Red offense was able to put together one final drive, aided by the acrobatic catches of Chris LaBerge, but Army picked the ball off at the eleven yard line with seven seconds left to clinch the game. The Big Red defense stopped the top-rated rushing Army attack, holding the visitors to just 84 yards on the ground, including a mere 33 in the first half. Cornell only allowed 111 total yards, and held the Black Knights to just four pass completions. John Parke led the Big Red with 10 tackles, and Kevin Schmidt had the lone Cornell sack. John Mackintosh and Evan Levy both had interceptions. Dan Rowoth led the team with 56 yards on the ground on just eight carries.

CLASS OF 2010: This Friday's game will be the last for 22 seniors on the Big Red roster. Cornell will be honoring eight starters: linebacker John Parke, offensive lineman Sam Lincoln, defensive back Evan Levy, running back DJ Sciavetta, defensive back Heff Soffen, wide receiver Upal Sarker, offensive lineman Michael Adler, and defensive back Nicholas Indovina. Also graduating are key contributors to the program, such as four-time letter winners Chris LaBerge, Darren Phillips, and Andrew Jeong. Other graduates include Jeff Christian Latimer, Mike Kenien, Matthew Seymour, Andrew Picciano, Chris Stanton, Dan Rowoth, Ivan Cruz, Daniel Navo, Avery Kovler, Chris Jiblian, and Robert Napolitano. The class of 2010 had four players receive All-CSFL postseason honors during their career (Parke, Lincoln, Levy, and Adler) and seven different Defensive Player of the Week awards. Parke, Lincoln, Levy, Adler, LaBerge, Phillips and Keong were all members of the 2006 sprint squad that won the national championship, Cornell's first since 1982.

SENIOR DAY: Since 1980, Cornell has a 17-13 record on senior day, the final home game of the year. The Big Red has also won its last three home finales, including a 38-28 victory over Mansfield last season.

RUNNING DOWN A DREAM: Cornell added 40 more yards to the team's rushing total for the 2009 season to give the Big Red over 1,200 yards for the first time since 1986. Dan Rowoth had a breakthrough performance, rushing for 56 yards on eight carries to lead the Big Red. Cornell just needs 286 more yards on the ground to break the school record for most rushing yards in a season. The Big Red ran for 334 yards against this weekend's opponent, Mansfield, in the teams' match up earlier in the season.

Cornell Rank Year Rushing Yards Games Yards per Game
1 1975 1494 6 249
2 1982 1378 7 197
3 1986 1231 7 176
4 2009 1208 6 201


A WALK IN THE PARKE: Senior John Parke was honored with the CSFL Defensive Player of the Week after accumulating 15 tackles in a victory against Penn on Oct. 16. Parke also added one sack and had 1.5 tackles for a loss. Winning the CSFL Defensive Player of the Week award is nothing new for the senior, as he has earned the honor six times during his career.

CSFL STANDINGS: Although the Big Red's hopes of a national title were eliminated by the 10-9 loss to army last weekend, Cornell should be proud of its 3-2 conference record. After losing nearly all of its specialty position starters from a year ago, the Big Red put together a solid 2009 season, posting its sixth straight season with a .500 record or better in the CSFL..

UP NEXT: Friday evening's game will conclude the 2009 sprint football season.