For two minutes and seven seconds, the unthinkable was suddenly palpable. An upset of the ages was suddenly possible. And a dormant offense had suddenly come to life.
With 11 seconds left in the first quarter, senior tri-captain Andrew Goodman took a halfback option pass and nailed freshman tight end Michael Ormsby for a six–yard touchdown. It was eerily similar to the only offensive scoring play against Navy. A missed extra point left the score at 6–0.
“We were all really excited after the score,” freshman quarterback Michael Antonecchia said. “It felt really good, but we knew we had to stay focused because Army has the ability to come back.”
And come back it did.
The Red defense had started the tsunami, forcing the Knights’ quarterback Jon Hall to fumble at the Cornell 36–yard line, midway through the first quarter. But the Red offense couldn’t move the ball. After the ensuing Cornell punt, senior cornerback Bo Sangosanya forced and recovered an Army fumble at the Knights’ 26, leading to Cornell’s first score. Unfortunately for the Red (1–3, 0–2 CSFL), there were still three quarters to play.
Army (5–0, 2–0) only needed the second quarter to answer Cornell’s challenge as it scored on four of its next five possessions, aided in part by crucial Cornell turnovers. Two minutes into the period, quarterback Jon Hall threw a 41–yard touchdown pass to senior split end Chris Waddell. The Cadets then forced a fumble from quarterback Goodman, and three plays later, the score stood 14–6.
Determined to answer, Cornell drove into Army territory on the shoulders of Goodman’s 30–yard gallop. The drive stalled however, as Antonecchia was picked off at the Army 31.
“It was just a mistake on my part,” Antonecchia said. “I felt rushed and I tried to throw it away, but I didn’t see the guy coming.”
The Cadets drove 47 yards and finally scored when Matt Considine won an 8–yard footrace into the endzone.
On the second half kickoff, Cornell tried an onside kick, but failed. Army drove 46 yards to put the game out of reach. Cornell would score one more time, as freshman Evan Andrews nailed a 35–yard field goal.
On the day, the defense recorded four turnovers, raising its season total to 17. Sophomore Adam Romeiser recorded his fourth interception while Sangosanya grabbed his second. Goodman had an impressive all–around game, leading the Red rushing attack with 77 yards while going 9–for–14 for 50 yards under the center. The tight ends led the Big Red receiving corps as Ormsby and senior Sam Walcott combined for four catches for 24 yards.
“Overall, I felt we played well, both offensively and defensively,” sophomore Jay Sackett said. “We just gave up a couple of big plays that led to scores.”
After the game, the team was quite upbeat, looking forward to its game against Pennsylvania this Friday on Schoellkopf Field.
“Army was a really good team, but [it wasn’t] that much better than us,” Antonecchia commented. “We’re really looking forward to our next two games against Penn and Princeton. We feel like we can win both of them.”
Archived article by Sumeet Sarin