ITHACA, N.Y. — The Big Red will look to carry the momentum of its culture shift and statement home opener victory into its first road test of the season against Navy on Friday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m. in Annapolis, MD.
Cornell (1-0) defeated Molloy on Saturday 53-7 to secure the program its first win in almost two years. Navy (1-0) also won their season opener at Mansfield 31-26. Both teams will be coming off of a good start as they meet in Annapolis for this match-up.
The glaring issue for Cornell against Molloy week one, was the amount of penalties that they were assessed.
"We had ten penalties," said Head Coach Michael Huyghue. "We are not going to win a lot of ball games giving up that many yards, so we have to be smart about the things we do. We have to play a much cleaner game if we are going to beat better teams."
The Big Red will be looking to clean up the penalty aspect of the game against Navy.
Cornell's offense and defense were firing on all cylinders on Saturday with key players making big plays.
On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Max Spero had his first Cornell start going 13-for-20 in the passing game, amounting 153 yards and 1 touchdown on the game. He also rushed four times, including two that ended in the end zone. Evan Nicholas led the Big Red scoring efforts with a hat trick of touchdowns, including one 21 yard pass from Spero and two rushing touchdowns that combined for a total of 35 yards. Kevin Lopez took the nod at running back and finished the game with 13 carries for a net total of 72 yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Kruz Meier and Elliot Kim each had one interception, Michael Mosier and Alexei DiDonato each had one sack and the team as a whole forced and recovered three fumbles.
As for Navy, the Midshipmen finished their season opener with 436 yards of total offense, tallying 311 yards rushing with 125 yards through the air. Hunter Gennicks led Navy with 224 total yards rushing and a team-high three touchdowns. Quarterback Luke Wagner finished the game 9-for-18 passing for 125 yards and an interception. He also rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown. Biamunga Nkere led the team with four receptions for a team-high 46 yards.
On the defensive side, Seamas Carrasco had one interception and David Niski forced a fumble for the Midshipmen.
Cornell and Navy have met 76 times since their first match-up in 1946 and the Midshipmen lead the series 61-13-2. Navy is currently on a 14 game winning streak against Cornell with the Big Red's last victory against the Midshipmen coming back in October 2006.
In their last match-up, Navy took the victory 58-6. Midshipmen returner Luke Wagner rushed for 104 yards with a touchdown and returner Hunter Gennicks scored two touchdowns on the ground to secure that win for Navy.
The Big Red will look to continue to change the tide for Cornell sprint football by breaking Navy's 14 game winning streak against them on Friday.
This game will be streamed on YouTube through the Navy Athletics page.
