Sprint Football faces defeat against fellow Ivy Cornell

On Friday, the sprint football team lost to Cornell University, falling to 0-3 on the season. The Tigers pushed hard to keep up with the Big Red (3-2) during the first half of the game, but Cornell scored a pair of touchdowns during the third quarter to pull away, with a final score of 52-18.

Junior quarterback Chad Cowden led the Tigers in their push with three touchdowns, putting on his best performance so far this season. Cowden completed 14 of 33 pass attempts for a total of 160 yards. Cowden also gained 35 yards as the team’s top rusher. Senior wide receiver/defensive back Patrick Yu played well, catching six passes that totaled 66 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore wide receiver/ punter Tyler Kaye had five receptions for 61 yards. Senior running back/linebacker Mulay Sarbanes also played well, notching 32 yards on four carries, averaging 8 yards per carry.

The game opened with a strong push by Cornell, which scored a quick touchdown before a Princeton fumble allowed the Big Red to score again after gaining just 35 yards in four plays. The Tigers then got on the board with a touchdown, but a failed extra point attempt left the Big Red with an eight-point lead heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter saw Cornell score on its second possession of the game after Kaye managed to punt the ball to the 37 yard line before Cornell’s Karriem Royster returned the ball 14 yards to Princeton’s 23-yard line. A quick Cornell possession saw the Big Red score again to lead 21-6.

The following Princeton possession saw the Tigers in the red zone, but a strong Big Red push kept the Tigers at bay before Cornell scored again. The Tigers then rallied with a pass from Cowden to Kaye for 16 yards to give the Tigers another first down before a pass on the following play to senior running back/ linebacker Nick Barnett resulted in a Princeton touchdown. The Tigers failed on a two-point conversion attempt, leaving the Tigers down 28-12 at the end of the first half.

The third quarter saw Cornell score twice as the Tigers failed to get in the end zone before a field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter was quickly followed by a Tiger touchdown to leave the score at 45-18. Cornell scored one more time during the game on a touchdown that left the final score at 52-18.

The sprint football team’s next game is onFriday, Oct. 30, at Penn, whom the Tigers have not played since 2013. The scheduled game against Penn last year was forfeited by the Tigers due to lack of active players.