ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell sprint football team returns home to host Mansfield University on Friday, October 18 for a 7 p.m. match-up.
Game Information
Mansfield at Cornell
DATE: Friday, October 18
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 1-3; Mansfield 3-1
SERIES RECORD: Mansfield leads, 14-0
STREAMING: ESPN+ (link)
STATS: CornellBigRed.com (link)
How to Watch
- This game is one of 4 home games on the Big Red's schedule to be broadcast on ESPN+.
- ESPN+ is currently only available to fans in the US for $4.99/month or $49.99/year. (https://plus.espn.com/). A similar international platform is the home for fans outside of the U.S., and will feature both live and archived games.
About the Big Red
- Cornell enters Friday's matchup with a mark of 1-3, after beating Alderson Broaddus on Sept. 14 and falling to Penn on Sept. 20, Army on Sept. 27 and St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 5.
- Senior captain Will Griffen ran in four of five touchdowns for a total of 24 points earned against Alderson Broaddus.
- In addition to the lone touchdown against Penn, freshman Jacob Wynkoop scored one touchdown in the 38-21 win against Alderson Broaddus, while junior JR Quinones scored his first touchdown against St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Junior Ben Finkelstein successfully kicked each of the PATs and two field goals for a total of 12 individual points on the season, while sophomore Tyler Matsunaga has made two successful PAT kicks.
- Freshman Luke Verzella has scored one touchdown, in addition to running for 251 yards on kick returns.
Big Red Stat Leaders
- Senior running back Will Griffen leads the team in rushing yards with a net 144 yards.
- Junior wide receiver Joey Welsh leads the team in reception yards with 67 yards.
- Junior quarterback Aneesh Agrawal leads the team with 26 completed passes for 169 yards.
- Sophomore Matt Peck leads the defense with 26 total tackles but junior Seth Henks and senior Peter Sanchez lead with 17 solo tackles each.
- Senior captain Matthew Luebke leads with one sack for eight yards while Peck and sophomore John Orona have made on interception each.
- Freshman Luke Verzella leads the kickoff return team with 13 returns for 251 yards, while freshman Justin Mandell leads the punt return team with five returns for 65 yards.
Work as a Team, Win as a Team
- Cornell ranks #4 in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) in punt return average (10.8).
- Senior kicker Ben Finkelstein has made all but one kick so now Cornell is ranked #2 in field goals, with a .667 field goal average, and is tied for first, with Army, with a 1.00 PAT percentage.
- Individually, each of the following athletes falls in the top 10 for the league:
- Will Griffen
- Ranks #3 in scoring (8.0/game - 24 points in three games)
- Ranks #3 in scoring (TDs) (8.0/game - 4 touchdowns, 24 points in three games)
- Ranks #9 in rushing yards (48.0/game - 144 yards in three games)
- JR Quinones
- Ranks #3 in all-purpose (100.0/game - 200 yards in two games)
- Ranks #7 in rushing yards (64.0/game - 128 yards in two games)
- Aneesh Agrawal
- Ranks #7 in passing (84.5/game - 169 yards in two games)
- Ranks #9 in total offense (104.5/game - 209 yards in two games)
- Ben Finkelstein
- Ranks #1 in field goals (tied) (.50/game - two attempts made in four games)
- Ranks #5 in scoring (kick) (3.0/game - 12 points in three games)
- Tyler Matsunaga
- Ranks #9 in scoring (kick) (1.0/game - two points in two games)
- Luke Verzella
- Ranks #3 in kick returns (19.3/game - 251 yards in four games)
- Ranks #9 in all-purpose (76.2/game - 305 yards in four games)
- Ian Fox
- Ranks #6 in punting (32.5/game - 358 yards in three games)
- Matt Peck
- Ranks #10 in tackles (tied) (6.5/game - 26 tackles in four games)
- Seth Henks
- Ranks #16 in tackles (tied) (6.0/game - 24 tackles in four games)
- Peter Sanchez
- Ranks #23 in tackles (tied) (5.0/game - 20 tackles in four games)
- Marcus Weeks
- Ranks #7 in passes defended (tied) (1.25/game - five in four games)
- Matthew Luebke
- Ranks #1 in fumbles recovered (tied) (.50/game - two in four games)
Last Time Out
- Most recently, the Big Red fell, 39-19, to St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Senior kicker Ben Finkelstein scored the first points for Cornell with a successful field goal near the end of the second quarter. Freshman Luke Verzella was able to score a touchdown off a pass from sophomore Harrison Nicholas with just seven seconds left in the first half.
- The Big Red scored first in the second half with a team safety and they scored last in the game with a rushing touchdown by junior JR Quinones.
About Mansfield
- The Mounties are 3-1 on the season with wins against Caldwell, St. Thomas Aquinas and Alderson Broaddus and a loss to Chestnut Hill. Mansfield beat Caldwell in a forfeit and lost to Chestnut Hill by just three points. In the games against Alderson Broaddus and St. Thomas Aquinas, the Mounties have let their opponents score just 24 points total whereas the Mounties have scored 73 combined.
- Junior running back David Butler leads the team in rushing for 515 net yards, while senior wide receiver DJ McLean leads the team with 204 yards in the air.
- Freshman quarterback Koby Peacock has completed 52 passes for a total of 547 yards.
- On the defense side, freshman linebacker Matt Roberts leads with 43 total tackles and 30 solo tackles, while junior Kayin Berger and sophomore Chase Moser each have 3 sacks for 27 and 9 yards, respectively.
The Series vs Mansfield
- Friday's competition will be the 15th against Mansfield for Cornell. Mansfield leads the series 14-0.
- In the teams' first match-up the Mounties won 35-0. The Big Red and the Mounties have met 13 times since but the Mounties have found a victory in each of the games.
Wearing More than One 'C'
- The Big Red announced its three captains for the 2019 season: Will Griffen, Marcus Weeks, and Jonathan Klobus.
- A two-time All-CSFL selection, Griffen is one of the team's strongest returning players. Last season Griffen collected a total of 184 yards rushing, including three touchdowns scored and 112 reception yards, including 2 touchdowns scored. Also a beast defensively, Griffen ranked second on the 2018 team with 23 solo tackles.
- Weeks was also a defensive force on the field totaling 21 tackles during last season.
- Klobus served as an offensive lineman in 2018, making an appearance in every game.
- Terry Cullen, The Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football, has been a coach with the sprint football program since 1964, when he joined the staff with his father, former head coach Bob Cullen.
- In his 54-year tenure, Cullen has an overall record of 239-220-11, and his record as a head coach is 182-157-7. Cullen has had two undefeated seasons (1982 and 2006) 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 then co-head coach Bart Guccia.
About Associate Head Coach Bob Gneo
- Cullen and his associate head coach Bob Gneo are leading the team in tandem for the third season together.
- Before his promotion, Gneo spent a season on the Big Red's coaching staff working specifically with Cornell's defensive backs.
- In his first and second seasons sharing primary coaching responsibilities with Cullen, Gneo helped direct the Big Red to an overall 8-5 record.
Up Next
- Cornell will host the US Naval Academy for its final home game of 2019. The game will be played on Schoellkopf Field on Friday, October 25 with a 7 p.m. start time.
