Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA – Penn drove down the field with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and scored a touchdown to force overtime and then scored first in the extra time to top the sprint football team on Friday night, 27-20, in a Collegiate Sprint Football League thriller.

Cornell (2-4)  came out aggressively on the opening kickoff with an onside kick attempt and recovery, and though the Big Red didn't score on that opening drive, it set the tone for the night and the team look poised to get an upset.

The intensity spilled over to the defensive side of the ball all night, and the Big Red forced a fumble that Ian Rawn recovered at the Cornell 39 yard line to give the offense favorable field position. On the ensuing, clock-consuming drive, senior quarterback Rob Pannullo showed his mobility, powering off two runs of 17 yards each, and the Big Red soon found itself inside the red zone at the Penn 13 yard line. Pannullo found Will Griffen for a touchdown and Ben Finkelstein converted the extra point to make it 7-0 at the beginning of the second quarter.

The defense forced Penn (6-0) to go three-and-out on the next Quaker drive and the Big Red got the ball back at its own eight yard line.

After completions of 16 and 11 yards from Pannullo to Ryman Seeley and Alexander Furman, senior running back Kevin Nathanson took his turn in powering the Big Red offense with a key 14 yard rush into the Quaker red zone. Finkelstein nailed the 34 yard field goal to put Cornell up, 10-0, with 5:33 left in the first half.

Penn was able to put six points on the board as time expired in the second quarter when quarterback Mike McCurdy sent up hailmary pass that Marcus Jones was able to pull in amongst three Big Red defenders. Marcus Weeks blocked the extra point attempt to send Cornell into the half up 10-6.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Pannullo connected with both Rob Hendricks and Griffen for gains of 20 yards. He then hit Nathanson for a 14 yard gain and a five yard gain to get to the Penn 19 yard line. Finkelstein was able to knock the 36 yard field goal through to make it 13-6 with 8:24 on the clock.
 
Penn returned fire, with McCurdy leading the Quakers down the field before rushing the ball in himself from eight yards out to make it 13-12. Del Cueto's kick was once again blocked by Weeks.

It took the Big Red offense just four plays to go back up by seven, as Pannullo hit Hendricks for a 39 yard touchdown pass and Finkelstein converted the kick to give Cornell the 20-12 lead.
The Big Red defense stood tall on the next drive, bending but not breaking. With the Quakers knocking on the door step and facing a third-and-six, John Zelek came up with a huge sack to force Penn to go for it from the 16 yard line, but Chris D'Ambrosio knocked down the pass.

With under two minutes to go, Penn drove down the field and scored a touchdown with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter and converted the two-point conversion to tie the game at 20-20 and force overtime.

The teams traded chances in the first overtime period but it was Penn that would score first and then hold the Cornell defense to come away with the 27-20 win.

Pannullo finished the game 17-of-26 for 208 yards and two touchdowns through the air and ran for another 61 yards. Griffen finished with seven catches for 62 yards and a score while Nathanson finished with 67 yards rushing. Zelek led the Big Red defense with six tackles.

The Big Red returns home on Friday to honor the seniors in their final game at Schoellkopf Field against Franklin Pierce at  7 p.m.