ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell sprint football team will host Navy for its Senior Day, and the final home game of the season, on Friday, October 25 for a 7 p.m. contest.
Game Information
Navy at Cornell
DATE: Friday, October 25
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: Schoellkopf Field - Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 1-4; Navy 5-0
SERIES RECORD: Navy leads, 58-13-2
STREAMING:
ESPN+
STATS:
CornellBigRed.com
How to Watch
- This game is the last 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 1-4, after beating Alderson Broaddus on Sept. 14 and falling to Penn on Sept. 20, Army on Sept. 27, St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 5 and Mansfield on Oct. 18.
- 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 144 yards.
- Freshman Luke Verzella leads the team with 130 reception yards. He also leads the kickoff return team with 13 returns for 251 yards.
- Junior quarterback Aneesh Agrawal leads the team with 48 completed passes for 364 yards.
- Sophomore Matt Peck leads the defense with 32 total tackles but junior Seth Henks leads with 23 solo tackles.
- Senior captain Matthew Luebke and junior Julian Iacovelli lead with two sacks for a total of 27 yards while Peck and sophomore John Orona have made on interception each.
Work as a Team, Win as a Team
- Cornell ranks #4 in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) in punt return average (8.6).
- Senior kicker Ben Finkelstein has made all but two kicks so now Cornell is ranked #2 in field goals, with a .667 field goal average, and is ranked #3 with a .900 PAT percentage.
- Individually, each of the following athletes falls in the top 10 for the league:
- Connor Young
- Ranks #2 in punting (35.8/game - 430 in five games)
- Matthew Luebke
- Ranks #2 in fumbles recovered (tied) (.40/game - two in five games)
- Ben Finkelstein
- Ranks #3 in field goals (tied) (.40/game - two attempts made in five games)
- Ranks #4 in scoring (kick) (2.6/game - 13 points in five games)
- Luke Verzella
- Ranks #3 in kick returns (19.3/game - 251 yards in four games)
- Ranks #7 in all-purpose (76.2/game - 381 yards in five games)
- Aneesh Agrawal
- Ranks #6 in passing (121.3/game - 362 yards in three games)
- Ranks #7 in total offense (136.3/game - 409 yards in three games)
- Will Griffen
- Ranks #4 in scoring (8.0/game - 24 points in three games)
- Ranks #4 in scoring (TDs) (8.0/game - 4 touchdowns, 24 points in three games)
- Ranks #7 in rushing yards (48.0/game - 144 yards in three games)
- Ian Fox
- Ranks #7 in punting (32.5/game - 358 yards in three games)
- Calvin Hosler
- Ranks #7 in fumbles recovered (tied) (.25/game - one in four games)
- Marcus Weeks
- Ranks #9 in passes defended (tied) (1.00/game - five in five games)
- JR Quinones
- Ranks #10 in rushing yards (45.0/game - 135 yards in three games)
- Matt Peck
- Ranks #10 in tackles (tied) (6.4/game - 32 tackles in five games)
- Seth Henks
- Ranks #14 in tackles (tied) (6.0/game - 30 tackles in five games)
- Peter Sanchez
- Ranks #35 in tackles (tied) (4.4/game - 22 tackles in five games)
- Collin Stockton
- Ranks #3 in fumbles forces (tied) (.33/game - one in three games)
- Ranks #18 in passes defended (tied) (.67/game - two in three games)
- Ranks #30 in tackles (tied) (4.7/game - 14 in three games)
- Julian Iacovelli
- Ranks #41 in tackles (tied) (4.2/game - 21 in five games)
Last Time Out
- Most recently, the Big Red fell, 44-13, to Mansfield.
- In the first half, freshman Justin Mandell caught a pass from junior Aneesh Agrawal for a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter.
- The Big Red scored another touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter after freshman Jacob Wynkoop made a 2yd rush.
About Navy
- The Midshipmen are 5-0 on the season with wins against St. Thomas Aquinas (42-17, 9/13), Army West Point (14-7, 9/20), Chestnut Hill (28-12, 9/27), Caldwell (23-10, 10/5) and Penn (16-7, 10/18).
- Junior quarterback Brayden Chmiel leads the team with 236 yards rushing, while senior wide receiver JT Thompson leads the team with 146 yards in the air.
- Chmiel leads with 23 completed passes for 348 yards.
- On the defense side, senior linebacker David Postma leads with 46 total tackles and 19 solo tackles, while junior Luke Kustra leads with four sacks for 27 yards.
The Series vs Navy
- The series between Cornell and Navy dates back to 1946 with Navy leading 58-13-2.
- The Big Red has not defeated the Midshipmen since 2006, including the last meeting in Annapolis when Navy won 49-14 in 2017.
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 travel to Post University for its final game of the 2019 season on Saturday, November 2.
