MANSFIELD, Pa. - The sprint football team used a 21-point second quarter on Saturday against the Mansfield Mountaineers to come away with its first win of the season, 30-12, in the 15th annual Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic.
After a scoreless first 15 minutes, it was Cornell (1-1) that broke open the scoring five minutes into the second quarter thanks to some favorable field position set up by the special teams unit.
With Mansfield (0-2) punting the ball from its own 23-yard line, Daniel Ferguson got around the line to block Drew Beckerink's punt, and deflected the ball out of bounds at the Mansfield 20-yard line. The Mountaineers were called for a face mask penalty on the first play of the subsequent possession to send the Big Red even closer to the end zone. Evan Ball had a carry of 10 yards on the next play to get the ball down to the three yard line and then the junior punched it in on his very next carry to break the deadlock.
Ball had six rushes of at least 10 yards in the game and rushed for 134 yards on 24 carries overall.
The Mountaineers tried to answer the Cornell score by putting together a drive of their own, but the Big Red defense stood tall and didn't let them get more than a yard into Big Red territory, and senior quarterback Rob Pannullo did his part on the ensuing drive.
Pannullo took off from the pocket on the first play and scampered 12 yards to the Mansfield 47-yard line, giving Cornell favorable field position with almost five minutes left in the half. Yet they Big Red wouldn't need the full five, as Pannullo connected with tight end Rob Hendricks on the very next play for a 47-yard touchdown pass.
Ben Finkelstein converted on the point after attempt to give Cornell the 14-0 lead.
Cornell's special teams then took their turn on center stage, forcing a fumble on the following kickoff and gave the Big Red offense the ball at the Mansfield 34 with 3:47 to go until the half. Pannullo put Cornell just 10 yards away from the goal line when he connected on a pass with Will Griffen and then called his own number two plays later, punching it in from four yards out for the, 21-0, lead
The Mountaineers didn't fade into halftime, though, and marched the ball all the way to the Cornell 10 before Rene Diaz stepped up and intercepted Adam Hutchinson at the goal line to give the Big Red a three touchdown lead entering the half.
Cornell came out in the second half and put together a 13-play drive that killed 5:23 off the clock and resulted in a Finkelstein field goal. Finkelstein went 3-for-4 on extra points in the game and 1-for-2 on field goals, converting on a 35-yard attempt in the third quarter.
Mansfield would punch one in when they recovered a fumble deep in Cornell territory, making it 24-6 with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter.
The Big Red answered yet again, though, and put together a 10-play drive that resulted in a Pannullo touchdown pass to Ryman Seeley make it 30-6 just a minute into the fourth quarter.
Pannullo had a successful day both in the air, going 11-of-18 for 124 yards and two touchdowns, and on the ground, rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Seeley caught four balls for 31 yards while Hendricks finished with two catches for 56 yards.
The Mountaineers scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass to make it 30-12, but the Cornell defense didn't let up and held the Mountaineers scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Conrad McCarthy, Alfonso Nazzaro and Diaz all finished with five tackles and Ferguson added a sack to go with his blocked punt.
Cornell hits the road again next weekend when it travels to Chestnut Hill College for a 7 p.m. game on Friday.
