Boxscore

ITHACA, N.Y. – On a chilly night in Ithaca, N.Y., the sprint football senior class of 2010 took over and dominated in their final game for the Big Red, posting a 31-14 victory over Mansfield on Schoellkopf Field. The win gave Cornell another winning season at 4-3 and seniors Dan Rowoth, Upal Sarker and Chris Stanton ended their careers by having a hand in three of the Big Red's four touchdowns.

Cornell came up just 28 rushing yards shy of breaking the school record for rushing yards in a season, but the team made a good run at the record, gaining 258 yards on the ground vs. the Mounties. Matthew Pierce led the team with a brilliant performance, rushing for 125 yards on just 12 carries (10.4 ypc). Rowoth tallied 66 yards and scored a touchdown, while quarterback Elliot Corey added 52 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Corey also completed 6-of-18 passes for 80 yards and threw for another score. Backup quarterback Tim Bruhn also saw significant action in the second half and completed 3-of-8 passes for 66 total yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to Stanton. Sarker led the Big Red receivers with five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Kicker Alex Perilstein also contributed seven points to the victory with a 42-yard field goal and four converted PATs.

The Big Red defense was led by Tim Dooley with five tackles, while John Mackintosh and John Parke chipped in four tackles each. Cornell forced five Mansfield turnovers, as Chris Lamont, Jim Barger and Evan Levy all came up with interceptions, while Jeff Soffen and Colin Lounsberry both recovered fumbles.

The game could not have started any better for the Big Red as Mansfield's Lucas Bailey fumbled the ball on the opening kick and Soffen recovered to give Cornell the possession at its own 33-yard line. Pierce had three runs for at least 10 yards on the drive, including a 42-yard blast up the middle to set up Perilstein's 42-yard field goal which gave the home team the 3-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.

The Mounties were able to drive into Cornell territory on its first possession, but the Big Red defense forced a punt and the Big Red took over on its 23-yard line. That's when Corey and the running game took over. The junior signal caller was 2-for-4 with 29 yards on the drive to go along with 23 yards on the ground. The drive was capped off when Rowoth pushed the line into the endzone for his second career TD. Perilstein's extra point gave the Big Red the 10-0 lead.

The Cornell defense again thwarted the Mansfield offense at the end the first quarter as a near blocked punt gave the Big Red excellent field position at the Mansfield 43-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Pierce had a powerful 13-yard run which ended with a Mansfield personal foul after the play for a net of 28 yards. With the ball at the 15-yard line, Corey threw up a jump ball and Sarker out-leaped Mansfield's Zachary Sours in the corner of the endzone for another touchdown. Perilstein's extra point gave Cornell the 17-0 advantage to begin the second quarter.

After forcing Corey to fumble on a failed pitch on the Big Red's next posession, Mansfield quarterback Kode Plank completed a 46-yard slant to Ryan Bernaiche to bring the ball all the way to the Cornell 14-yard line. After a pair of incomplete passes, Lamont intercepted the ball at the Cornell eight-yard line and ran it back 39 yards to end the Mansfield threat and give the Big Red the ball near midfield.

After a pair of completions from Corey to Sarker for 13 and 14 yards, respectively, Pierce rushed for 10 yards, bringing the ball to the Mansfield 16-yard line. On the next play, Corey decided to keep the ball on a quarterback draw and he split two sets of Mounties defenders and rushed head-first into the endzone. Perilstein completed another extra point for the 24-0 Big Red lead, which the home team carried into halftime.

Bruhn took over the Big Red offense after halftime and late in the third quarter the sophomore QB couldn't handle a high snap and Cornell loss the ball deep in its own territory. Justin DiMatteo recovered the fumble and returned it 10 yards to the end zone. The Mounties decided to go for the two-point conversion and Spencer La Montain completed a pass to Ryan Bernaiche to make it a 24-8 game with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter.

The teams traded the next several possessions before Bruhn led the Big Red to its final touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter. Bruhn completed both of his pass attempts on the drive for 29 yards, including a 19-yard TD strike to Stanton, who wrestled the ball away from a defender and maintained possession despite being knocked to the ground. Perilstein's fourth extra point of the evening put the Big Red up, 31-8.

The Mounties offense stalled on its next possession, but once again, its defense came up big and put some points on the board for the visitors. After a Mansfield kick, Cornell opened its drive on its own 46-yard line, but another high snap sailed over the Big Red QB's head and Aaron Blinn scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 34 yards for the touchdown. Once again, Mansfield went for the two-point conversion, but this time it was picked off by Tim Dooley to account for the 31-14 final.