ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell nearly erased a three touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter, but Sacred Heart was able to hold off the Big Red when it mattered late and escaped Schoellkopf Field with a 31-24 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers improved to 5-1, while the Big Red dropped its second straight to fall to 3-2.

The Big Red, playing without its leading rusher and receiver, fell behind 31-10 midway through the third quarter before its defense put the Pioneers on their heels. Interceptions on three straight Sacred Heart  pass attempts gave Cornell field position it could live with. The home team cashed in on two of the turnovers, scoring on a 2-yard run by sophomore J.D. PicKell and a 1-yard rush by classmate Dalton Banks, to cut the lead to 31-24. The Big Red forced a pair of punts, but Cornell punted it back to end the first drive and had the game end on an interception on a desperation pass with three seconds left on the clock.



On a night when the passing game struggled to find a rhythm against a Pioneers defense that had surrendered only six second half points all season entering the day, the rushing game was strong. Cornell ran for 257 yards and three touchdowns on a healthy 5.2 yards per carry, with PicKell (22 rushes, 95 yards, touchdown), Banks (15 carries, 87 yards, touchdown) and Jack Gellatly (12 rushes, 75 yards, touchdown) all doing sufficient damage. Banks connected on 15-of-38 passes for 117 yards through the air.

Defensively, junior Nick Gesualdi had a pair of interceptions to lead a Big Red group with five takeaways. Justin Solomon and Ryan Kelley each had picks, and Malcolm Chaka recovered a fumble caused by Daniel Crochet that led to the game's first score.

Cornell, who lost 31-6 at Sacred Heart a year ago, jumped on the Pioneers in the first quarter after a Chris Fraser punt backed the visitors up to their own 8 to start its second drive of the afternoon. On the second play of the drive, Crochet separated Ose Imeokparia from the football and Chaka fell on it at the 14. On the ensuing play, Gellatly took the handoff, danced past one defender on the sideline and sidestepped another on the way to his first career score. With 6:39 left on the clock, Cornell led 7-0.

That lead would be short-lived, as Sacred Heart tied it up 17 seconds later. A 76-yard kickoff return by Jordan Meachum set the visitors up at the 22, and Nate Chavious did the rest on the first play from scrimmage to knot the score.

It would be the first of a handful of big plays on offense that put Sacred Heart in the lead. The advantage grew to 14-7 on a 67-yard run by Imeokparia on a third-and-2 and a 13-yard run by Chavious on the following play, and then 21-7 when Imeokparia came out of the backfield on third-and-12 and caught a short screen that turned into a 58-yard score.

Cornell chipped away with a field goal b y freshman Nickolas Null, a 34-yard effort, after Gesualdi's first interception of the day, but that was erased when Sacred Heart made a 36-yard kick at the first half horn to go into the break up 24-10.

The lead went to 31-10 early in the third on a 39-yard pass from RJ Noel to Andrew O'Neill, but Cornell controlled play for the final 21 minutes to make it a ballgame. 

Chavious led Sacred Heart with 24 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while Noel was 13-of-24 passing for 206 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw all four interceptions. Brendon Slade had a game-high 11 tackles and broke up a pair of passes for the Pioneers and CJ Parvelus had nine tackles, including two for a loss, and a sack. Sacred Heart had six tackles for loss on the afternoon and four quarterback sacks.

With all the momentum late after the effort on defense, as well as Chris Fraser punts of 32 yards down to the 7, and 61 yards to the 18 that put the Pioneers in dangerous field position, the offense was able to get within a score in a nail-biting fourth. The defense allowed just 76 yards on Sacred Heart's final five possessions (19 plays) and turned them over three times during that stretch to help Cornell conjure up thoughts of its epic comeback against Colgate two weekends ago. This time, it wasn't to be.

Notes
• Entering the game, Sacred Heart had allowed zero touchdowns and six total points in the second half in its five previous games. Cornell scored two touchdowns in making an attempt at a rally from 21 points down.
• Junior Nick Gesualdi had his second career two interception day, giving him four in his last four games and nine for his career.
• Gesualdi's nine career picks is tied for ninth on Cornell's all-time list.
• Six of senior Chris Fraser's eight punts were downed inside the 20, and the All-American ended the contest with a 44.6 yard average.
• Cornell's 257 rushing yards were three off the high mark under head coach David Archer, surpassed only by 260 yards last season against next week's opponent, Brown.
• Sophomore J.D. PicKell had career highs of 22 rushes, 95 yards and a touchdown.
• Junior Jack Gellatly scored his first career touchdown on the ground.
• Sophomore quarterback Dalton Banks had a career-high 87 rushing yards and his fourth touchdown on the ground.
• Freshman Nickolas Null's 34-yard field goal in the second quarter was the first of his career.
• Sophomore Ryan Kelley posted his first career interception.
• The Big Red was 4-for-4 scoring in red zone and scored 24 of its points off five Sacred Heart turnovers.

The March


Next Up
• With non-conference play in the rearview mirror, the Big Red will play its final five contests of Ivy play beginning with a trip to Brown on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 12 p.m.
• The game will be televised by the American Sports Network and will be simulcast on the Ivy League Digital Network.
• Brown leads the all-time series 36-26-1 and has won eight straight meetings with the Big Red and six consecutive matchups in Providence, R.I.