ITHACA, N.Y. — The sprint football team will look to get its second win of the season on Friday night when it visits Chestnut Hill for a 7 p.m. showdown. It will be the first-ever matchup between Cornell and Chestnut Hill.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #3: Cornell Big Red at Chestnut Hill Griffins
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Lafayette Hill, Pa.
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 1-1, Chestnut Hill 0-1
LIVE STATS: GriffinAthletics.com
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell enters the game with Chestnut Hill coming off of its first win of the season last week against Mansfield, 30-12. It was the Big Red's 13th straight victory over the Mountaineers. Evan Ball rushed for 134 yards on the ground and scored one touchdown while quarterback Rob Pannullo threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 80 yards and one touchdown. … The Cornell defense is currently ranked fifth in the league, giving up 26.0 points per game, and linebacker Alfonso Nazzaro's 13 tackles ranks him 14th overall in the CSFL. … Running back Evan Ball is second in the league in rushing with an average of 79.0 yards per game while quarterback Rob Pannullo is seventh with 48.0 yards per game. … The Big Red dropped the season-opener, 40-7, to Navy. Despite the score line, the Big Red had some impressive individual performances. Senior running back Kevin Nathanson led the offense, rushing for 81 yards and a touchdown, while linebacker Conrad McCarthy led the defense with seven tackles and an interception.
 
BIG RED REWIND
Cornell finished the 2015 season with a 4-3 record, its first season over .500 since 2012, and finished fourth overall in the CSFL standings. … Rob Pannullo returns at the quarterback position for Cornell and will look to build off of his junior year when he accounted for 1,045 yards, throwing for 605 and  running for another 440. He was fourth overall in the CSFL for total offense in 2015. … On defense, Cornell returns nine starters from 2015. Seven of the top 10 tacklers are back, including 2015 All-CSFL second team honoree linebacker Chris D'Ambrosio, whose 40 tackles and three sacks both led the Big Red last year, is back for his senior season.
 
ABOUT ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH TERRY CULLEN
Terry Cullen, The Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football, has been the patriarch of the program at Cornell for 53 years after joining his father, former head coach Bob Cullen, in 1964. In his 53-year tenure, Terry Cullen has an overall record of 234-214-11 and his record as head coach is 175-149-7. Cullen has had two undefeated seasons (2006 and 1982) and won six league championships. His title was endowed in 2001 and, in 2008, he requested to relinquish some of his everyday coaching duties to co-head coach Bart Guccia.
 
ABOUT CO-HEAD COACH BART GUCCIA
This is Guccia's 12th season as a member of the sprint football staff and his eighth as a co-head coach. Since Guccia joined the Big Red staff in 2005, the team is a combined 44-33. As co-head coaches, Guccia and Cullen have amassed a 31-27 record.
 
PRODUCTIVE PUNTER
Senior punter Ryan Jackson is off to a productive start to the season and sits atop the CSFL statistical board with an average of 35.5 yards per punt. Jackson had a strong first week for the Big Red, booting the ball five times for a total of 179 yards against Navy, and then followed that up by averaging 35.0 yards per punt against Mansfield. His 46 yard punt in the first quarter against Navy is the second-longest punt in the league this season.
 
A BUSTLING BALL
In his first two career sprint football games, junior Evan Ball has proved to be a welcome addition to the Big Red offense. After a solid first game in which he ran for 24 yards on four carries, Ball erupted for 134 yards on 24 carries against Mansfield. Ball, who also caught two passes, scored the game's first touchdown with a three yard punch-in in the second quarter. He is now second in the league in rushing with 158 total yards and is averaging 79.0 yards per game.
 
CAPTAIN QUINTUPLE
Cornell will be led by five senior captains during the 2016 season. The offense will be represented by quarterback Rob Pannullo, running back Kevin Nathanson and lineman Caleb Minsky. On the other side of the ball, defensive back Ryan Jackson and linebacker Chris D'Ambrosio will lead the defensive charge. All five players have been members of the sprint football team every year since their arrival at Cornell in the fall of 2013.
 
FRESH FACES
The sprint football program may have graduated 23 seniors after last season, but they also added 25 new faces to the roster this fall. Co-head coach Bart Guccia says that the 14 freshmen, five sophomores, five juniors and one senior will be critical in filling out the depth chart behind the plethora of returning starters.
 
BIG RED RUSHING REDUX
Cornell returns four of its top five rushers from 2015, all of whom gained 125 yards. Amongst the returners are last year's leading rusher quarterback Rob Pannullo and second-leading rusher Kevin Nathanson. Pannullo led the Big Red last year with 557 yards and the tailback Nathanson contributed 370.
 
ALL-CSFL
Cornell had 11 players earn spots on CSFL teams at the conclusion of the 2015 sprint football season, and six of those players are returning in 2016. Senior running back Kevin Nathanson, senior offensive lineman Caleb Minsky, senior linebacker Christopher D'Ambrosio, and senior defensive back Ryan Jackson were all named to the All-CSFL second team. Senior quarterback Rob Pannullo and junior defensive back Rene Diaz were All-CSFL honorable mentions.
 
ABOUT CHESNUT HILL
Chestnut Hill is coming off of a bye week after dropping the season opener, 38-0, on the road at Army West Point. The Chestnut Hill offense is currently ranked eighth in the league with 85 total yards, but the defense is ranked fifth overall, allowing 311 yards per game and the rush defense is third best, allowing just 119 yards per game. … Jonathan Barber led the Griffins in their game against Army with 116 all-purpose yards, rushing for 30 yards on 10 carries and returning six kickoffs for 92 yards. … Josean Perez led the defense with nine tackles while Bryan Layden and Kyle Johnson-Hackett had six tackles each. … This is the second year in the CSFL for the Chestnut Hill sprint football program.
 
THE SERIES WITH CHESTNUT HILL
This is the first-ever meeting between the Griffins and the Big Red.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell will play a third straight road game next week when it travels to Army West Point for a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday night.