ITHACA, N.Y. – Beck Berry threw for two touchdowns, Andrew Lay ran for 108 yards and the game-clinching score, and the Cornell defense came up with two late interceptions as the Big Red beat D'Youville 26-17 on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.
Cornell (1-2, 1-1 league) controlled the ball for 36:19 and outgained the Saints (0-3, 0-2) 361 yards to 77. D'Youville's two other touchdowns came on special teams.
Cornell jumped ahead early. Berry hit Miles Mariani for a 77-yard touchdown on the second play of a drive that started at the Cornell 23, giving the Big Red a 6-3 lead with 8:02 left in the first quarter. After a D'Youville penalty, Kyle Melkonian broke off a 19-yard touchdown run with 1:55 left in the quarter, and Cornell led 12-3. Both two-point tries failed, and D'Youville's only points in the first half came on Jacob Ghezzi's 28-yard field goal.
The score stayed 12-3 until late in the third quarter, when Cornell drove to the D'Youville 25 and Stephen Cisz's 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked. R. Bullock Jr. scooped it up and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown with 1:00 left in the quarter, cutting the lead to 12-10.
Cornell answered on its next possession. Berry found Mariani again, this time for 19 yards, to cap a seven-play, 55-yard drive early in the fourth quarter and make it 19-10. D'Youville pulled within 19-17 when Jayvon Johnson recovered a blocked punt at the Cornell 6 and carried it in with 5:49 left.
Jason Milo then sealed it. The linebacker, who finished with eight tackles, picked off his second pass of the game with 3:34 to play. Lay capped a six-play, 48-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:05 left, and Cisz's extra point made it 26-17. Brand Tauscher recovered a D'Youville fumble in the final minute to end any hope of a comeback.
Berry finished 10 of 14 for 168 yards. Mariani caught three passes for 114 yards and two scores. Lay carried 17 times for 108 yards, and Melkonian added 70 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. As a team, Cornell ran for 189 yards and had 21 first downs to D'Youville's four.
The defense held D'Youville to minus-15 rushing yards and 1-for-12 on third down. Cornell had 10 tackles for loss and two sacks, including one from Ben Roerden for a loss of 13 yards. Ethan Qasemi had seven tackles, and Milo's two interceptions helped limit D'Youville quarterback Cooper Bange to 3-of-17 passing for 32 yards.
Cornell also overcame early mistakes. D'Youville recovered two Cornell fumbles on punt returns in the first quarter, and one led to Ghezzi's field goal.
Cornell plays at St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 1 p.m.
