ITHACA, N.Y. — Thanks to an explosive first half, sprint football marched on to victory in its season opener against Caldwell, 48-20, on Friday night at Schoellkopf Field. Sophomore Will Griffen had a phenomenal outing in the first half, rushing for three touchdowns to lead the team past the Cougars.
Griffen got the Big Red on the board in the first quarter, finding the end zone twice after rushes of 12 and six yards. Caldwell managed to get on the board early in the second quarter but missed the extra point to make the score 14-6 in Cornell's favor.
In the end, the Cougars couldn't find an answer to Cornell's productive offense as the team spewed off 28 unanswered points following four touchdowns by Griffen, Ryman Seeley, Brooks Panhans and Connor Ostrander.
Griffen notched his third and final touchdown of the outing on a one-yard run while quarterback Brooks Panhans connected with Seeley on a three-yard pass to make it 28-6.
Panhans himself would get on the scoresheet as he ran 29 yards into the end zone himself while Ostrander blasted out a 50-yard run to extend its lead, 42-6.
Caldwell would cut its deficit down to 42-12 after a rushing touchdown, but Cornell's Dean Ames whipped out a 31-yard run to notch the Big Red's final trip to the end zone of the evening.
The Cougars would close out the scoring with a touchdown and a successful two-point conversion, but it was the Big Red that left the field with a dominating 48-20 victory.
Quarterback Ostrander went on to complete eight of 13 passing attempts for 99 yards, the longest completion totaling 31 yards to Seeley.
Griffin led the rushing attack with a total gain of 88 yards while Ames and Ostrander notched gains of 71 and 66 yards.
Jack Nicoletti and Seeley were standouts for the receiving corps with Nicoletti accumulating 54 yards on four receptions while Seeley garnered 34 yards after pulling in the ball twice.
Cornell continues on its season traveling to Mansfield for a 7:30 p.m. matchup on Sept. 30.
