Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell went more than nine full quarters without scoring a touchdown entering Friday night's season finale against Mansfield, but the Big Red were not going to be held back on senior night.
 
Cornell exploded for five touchdowns on offense – its second-best total of the season – as it handed the visiting Mounties a 35-26 loss to finish the season above .500. The Big Red scored 42 points in the season opener against Penn, though the team had the advantage of six overtimes to rack up that score.
 
Cornell had not scored more than 35 points in regulation since a 49-7 win over Princeton last season.
 
On Friday night, senior receiver Spenser Gruenenfelder caught two touchdown passes and senior Abe Mellinger had a third as the Big Red continued its domination of the Mounties. Cornell (4-3, 3-3 CSFL) has now defeated Mansfield (2-5, 1-5 CSFL) in all nine meetings between the sides.
 
Cornell used three second-half touchdowns to earn the victory and held Mansfield to just six points of offense in the second half, scoring 28 unanswered in one stretch. Jim Barger and Noah Shepherd led the way with nine tackles apiece while Evan Zittel and Christopher Leyen each had a sack on the night.
 
The Big Red found itself in a 13-0 hole in the early going. An interception on an attempted flea flicker gave the Mounties the ball at midfield right after they had punted to close their first drive. Two plays later, Jeremy Estremera had a 21-yard touchdown run that saw him break a tackle and sprint the rest of the way into the end zone. A missed extra point made it 6-0.
 
Mansfield scored again seven minutes later on another Estremera run. This one came from 18 yards out and saw him go up the middle. It was 13-0 with only 10 minutes gone in the game.
 
The Big Red got going on its next possession though, driving 60 yards in nine plays and capping the possession with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Miller to Spenser Gruenenfelder. The senior caught the ball on the edge of the field, evaded a tackle and stayed in bounds for the score and the Big Red's first touchdown in more than nine quarters.
 
Mansfield got the touchdown right back, this time on a reception by Estremera. He caught a ball from seven yards out to make it a 20-7 game.
 
The Big Red's other senior receiver, Abe Mellinger, made a terrific catch midway through the second quarter to bring the game within six once again. After going 35 yards on its first three plays of the drive, Mellinger brought down a floating ball in stride from Miller for a 32-yard touchdown that started Cornell's string of 28 consecutive points.
 
It only took four minutes of the second half for the Big Red to take its first lead of the game. Recovering a short Mansfield kick on its own 43, Cornell drove 57 yards in seven plays and had the drive ended with a touchdown reception for Gruenenfelder on a screen. This play went 20 yards as Gruenenfelder caught the ball on the line of scrimmage, cut inside and went untouched to the end zone.
 
Cornell did not score again until the fourth quarter when Miller got a score himself, running a quarterback draw for nine yards and diving into the end zone to give Cornell a 28-20 lead. Nick Perez capped the night with 4:11 to go, leaping and flipping into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run.
 
That made it a 35-20 game, and the outcome was merely a formality as Mansfield offense was ineffective for the entire second half. The Mounties ended the night with 107 rushing yards and 191 through the air, though a good chunk of that came on their 80-yard touchdown drive at the end of the game as Cornell was focused on keeping them in bounds to run out the clock.
 
Also on Friday night, Army defeated Navy 21-18 to finish undefeated and claim the CSFL championship from the defending champs.