The most explosive passing play of the season came at the perfect moment for the sprint football team.
Up by a touchdown against Penn in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Alec Macaulay hooked up with classmate Jon Amoona for a 59-yard touchdown on the first play of the series, to extend the Red’s lead to 14 points. The Quakers were able to convert on a last-ditch scoring attempt, but still fell by a 24-17 margin.
The win dropped Penn to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the CSFL, while Cornell is now 3-3 on the season, and 2-1 in league play.
“I was very proud of our team and this football game,” said Cornell head coach Terry Cullen. “Our offense played well, the defense was strong as usual, and the kicking game with [junior Jason] Zittel was solid.”
Cullen noted earlier this week that some keys to the game would be maintaining ball control with an effective rushing attack, and putting the ball in the end zone. The running game was certainly successful in providing the groundwork for everything the Red did offensively.
Junior running back Mike Fullowan turned in another sterling effort with 156 yards on 28 carries, good for 5.6 yards per carry, before suffering a leg injury during the game. Despite this blow to the offense, the Red didn’t miss a step, as senior fullback Ben Herzberger added 81 yards on the ground.
“We’re obviously concerned with Fullowan’s injury,” Cullen said. “Ben had the biggest run of the game for us and picked up the slack.”
The Quakers got on the board first when Jason Stine scored on a 21-yard field goal in the first quarter.
However, the Red answered on the first play of the second quarter, as Fullowan scored on a 5-yard run. The back-and-forth play continued, with Penn wrapping up a 10-play, 82-yard drive with a score from J.T. Hutchinson from 1-yard out to make the score 10-7 going into the halftime break. The Red evened the score with a 23-yard field goal by Zittel in the third quarter, and set the stage for the fourth-quarter heroics. A Herzberger run set up a 7-yard touchdown run from Macaulay that put the Red ahead by seven. Macaulay’s touchdown pass to Amoona proved to be the game-winner, putting the Red ahead, 24-10.
The Quakers managed to score once more, but could not muster the offense to secure the win at home.
The Red defense continued to shine in the victory, recording six sacks, including 2 1/2 sacks by junior linebacker Derek Johnson, as well as a key interception by senior outside linebacker Brett Morgenstern in the fourth quarter to stall a Quaker drive.
“Our defense has been real solid and we’ve been able to replace some injured, good players throughout the season,” Cullen said. “I was impressed with the whole team performance and winning such a tough game [at] Franklin Field. I can’t remember the last time we won a game there, so it certainly was a real positive game for us.”
The win pushed the Red’s total to for the season to three – the most for this program since it went 3-3 in 1997. The team has a chance to push that number to four with its final game of the season against Army on Oct. 28.
“Obviously winning the championship is a huge goal for us since we haven’t won one in like 20 years,” Cullen said. “We have a lot to work on this week against a tough, hard-nose Army club.”
Archived article by Josh Fox
Sun Staff Writer