And so begins the quest for the title.
The Cornell Sprint Football looks to open the season with a bang tomorrow,
going head-to-head against last year’s league champion runner-ups, Penn. The Big Red battles the Quakers in a game that doesn’t count for league standings, but clearly defines the season for each team.
The key for the Red will be, simply, to score points — any kind of points,
and any way it can get them. The offense has not scored a point in four
its last five games, dating back to last season.
“Offensively we know what to do, we just need to be able to execute the
plays, especially inside the ten-yard line,” junior fullback Brian Allen
said. “We just have to punch the ball in. We tend to panic when we get [in
the red zone] and it seems like we don’t really believe that we can do it.
Scoring is just a matter of believing in ourselves.”
The Red took extra time out of practice this week to go up against the goal-line defensive set.
Junior quarterback Ryan Dwyer, solid in his first start at the Alumni game,
heads the attack and has two confident running backs behind him in senior
tri-captain Andrew Goodman and Allen.
“For me, I now know what sprint football is all about,” Allen said. “And I
personally know the people blocking me. I know their tendencies, their
adjustments, and their mistakes. I know their style and what they do and
what they don’t do so I can adjust to it.”
Junior wideouts Sunil Gupta, Chris Hood and senior David Minami will have
their work cut out for them, going up against some of the league’s best
defensive backs. Overall, however, the Red offense seems more sound than the Quaker defense.
The good news for the Big Red defense is that it no longer has to face
two-time league MVP Tim Ortman. In last year’s two games against the Red,
Ortman accounted for almost 400 of Penn’s 950 yards of offense.
Unfortunately for the defense, the Quaker offense which led the league in
scoring and total yards returns everyone else – including 2nd team All
Leaguer John Kernan. He led the league in passing efficiency and
touchdowns.
Cornerbacks Bo Sangosanya and Adam Romeiser will have their hands full will
a trio of Quaker receivers, while senior tri-captain Jon Krautmann and
company should have a relatively easier time containing the running game.
“We have a great attitude coming into this game,” head coach Terry Cullen
noted. “We’re going to be super.”
Archived article by Sumeet Sarin