Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – In a game that saw a nearly two-hour rain delay, four interceptions, five missed field goals and six overtimes, Cornell's sprint football team opened its 2012 with a game for the ages, defeating visiting Penn by a 42-34 margin in a contest that concluded five hours after it began.
 
After Cornell drove down the field to tie the score at 21-21 with 7:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, neither team could score before the clock expired and thrilling overtime began.
 
The Big Red (1-0, 1-0 CSFL) and Quakers (0-1, 0-1) matched each other point for point in the overtimes and made it all the way to six. The teams somehow remained tied through five overtimes, scoring two touchdowns each and not converting on three other drives.
 
At the start of the sixth overtime, Cornell and Penn were matched at 34 points apiece. Cornell got possession first, and on the team's initial play, quarterback Brendan Miller hurled a ball to the 1-yard line that senior receiver Abe Mellinger somehow came down with despite seeming to be behind a Penn defender when both players went up in the air.
 
With the ball just inches from the goal, Miller ran in a quarterback sneak to put the team ahead 40-34. A beautiful pass to the left side of the end zone to Spenser Gruenenfelder put the Big Red ahead 42-34 with some defending still to do.
 
The Quakers took over possession 25 yards from goal and were stymied by the Big Red's defense. Three short-gain rushing plays made it fourth-and-1 from the Cornell 16-yard line, and a short pass by quarterback Keith Braccia went incomplete, ending the marathon game just before midnight.
 
A wild celebration erupted from the Cornell side lines and the bleachers, as fans who stuck it out for 300 minutes were reward with a home victory.
 
Much, much earlier in the night, Penn took a 7-0 lead on a three-yard run from Braccia in the first quarter. That's when the sky opened up and the lightning started coming, delaying the game until nearly 9 p.m.
 
When play resumed, the Big Red's offense had an easy time of scoring two quick touchdowns. Miller snuck in a one-yard run when he got great field position thanks to an Evan Zittel interception.
 
Cornell then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, leaving the team just four yards to go for another score. The fumble was forced by freshman Matthew Bruhn and recovered by Derek Saddler after Penn's returner muffed it. The Big Red needed just one play to go four yards – a pass from Miller to Gruenenfelder – and it took a 14-7 lead.
 
The Quakers got the game's next 14 points as the Big Red's offense stalled and the rain continued to fall, making a mess of the passing game for both sides.
 
But with time winding down, Cornell went on a 71-yard drive to tie the game at 21. Jake Michaels ran the ball in from two yards out, setting up what would become a wild six overtimes.
 
Miller finished the night with 241 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Mellinger was his leading receiver with 102 yards and two touchdowns. Benjamin Herrera led the way on the ground, picking up 36 yards in awful field conditions.
 
The Big Red's defense stepped up in a huge way, stopping Penn from scoring in four of the six overtimes and blocking two field goals on the night. John Kelder had a team-high 13 tackles while Bruhn and Jared Meichner had six each.
 
Cornell returns to action on Sept. 22 when it takes on CSFL newcomer Franklin Pierce at noon on the road.