ITHACA, N.Y. — The sprint football team used a staunch defense and a potent rushing attack to top Post 27-13 on Friday night at Schoellkopf Field.

Neither offense was able to get much going in the first quarter - with the Cornell defense forcing the Post offense to punt four times - and the defensive theme continued into much of the second quarter.

After the Big Red defense forced the Eagles to punt midway through the second wauter, the Cornell offense started a drive from the 27 yard line and senior quarterback Rob Pannullo took the game into his own hands.

Pannullo used rushes of two, 11, 15 and eight yards  and an 11 yard pass completion to Ryman Seeley to help the Big Red get deep into Post territory. On third-and-goal from the three, Pannullo called  his own number and put the Big Red up, 6-0.

After a missed point after, the Cornell defense once again forced the Eagles to punt, helping to send Cornell into the half with the lead and the momentum.

The Big Red received the ball at the its own 31-yard line to start the second half and once again Pannullo led a long, methodical drive down the field. Junior running back Evan Ball got the offense started with rushes of seven and 10 yards before Panullo had a huge rush of 21 yards to move the Big Red down to the Post 29 yard line. Pannullo then hit Will Griffen for a 25 yard pass to get within four yards of the end zone before calling his own number for his second rushing touchdown of the game. Ben Finkelstein converted the point after for the 13-0 lead.

The Big Red defense then stepped up yet again on the next Post drive, with Dominic LaBell blocking a punt to give the offense a short field in Eagle territory.

Seven plays later – including a pass interference and key rushes from Pannullo and Griffen – Griffen gained the edge and ran in the ball in from 14 yards out. Eric Brown converted the point after for the 20-0 lead.

The Eagles got on the board in the fourth quarter when quarterback Sayvon Willis hit Rocco Guerrera for a beautiful 31-yard strike. Willis finished 25-of-48 for 229 yards and also rushed for 43 yards but had the majority of his yards negated by sacks.

Pannullo would connect with Seeley on the next Big Red drive for a 21-yard touchdown pass – and Finkelstein converted the point after – to finish the scoring at 27-6.

Pannullo finished 7-of-14 for 88 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Griffen finished with 50 yards and a score.

On defense, the Big Red received 5.5 tackles from Ryan Jackson and five from Marcus Weeks.

The team hits the road again next weekend, traveling to Penn on Friday night.