Cornell rolls past Lake Forest to set up huge game next week

MOUNT VERNON - So you're saying there's a chance.

The odds of the Cornell Rams getting into the Midwest Conference championship football game aren't great, though they are better than what Lloyd Christmas faced wooing that girl in 'Dumb And Dumber.” It's all how you look at it.

At least Saturday's 31-7 smashing of Lake Forest at Ash Park gives Cornell a lot to play for heading into next week's South Division finale at Illinois College.

IC leads the division and is undefeated, with Cornell and Monmouth right behind with one loss each. In the event of a three-way tie, quarters led in division games is the tiebreaker, with Illinois College sitting first right now, Monmouth second and Coe third.

Monmouth's final-week opponent is Knox and it'll be favored to win.

'We had a tough loss last weekend to Monmouth, but we didn't let that get to us this week,” said sophomore linebacker Maliek Ketchens, a former Cedar Rapids Washington prep. 'We came out and played how we can play. (That game) next weekend means a lot to us. We are going to try our hardest. That was the ultimate goal from the get-go, to win a conference championship.”

Cornell (5-2) clinched back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in two decades with a dominating performance that included 126 yards rushing and two touchdowns from back Preston Ritchie. The Rams defense limited Lake Forest to 171 yards, with the Foresters (2-6) punting 10 times.

'We played Cornell football today,” said Ketchens, who had an interception.

'Last game, we just came out flat and just did not execute like we usually do,” said Ritchie, of a 38-21 loss. 'This game, we came out and executed offensively. Except for the penalties. It felt like we had about 10 of those.”

It actually was 12, accounting for 96 yards. But considering everything, you've got to look past those flags and at the big picture.

This was an impressive victory and sets up a for-the-marbles scenario. Cornell will have one final game in two weeks at home.

The Midwest Conference does a criss-cross thing, in which the first-place team from the South Division plays the first-place team from the North. Number two goes against number two, three against three, etc.

The championship game winner earns an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

'It's coming down to this last game. Hopefully we can pull it out and get the ‘W,'” Ritchie said.

'That's all we asked for at the beginning of the year,” said Coach Vince Brautigam. 'We wanted to put ourselves into a position to have the opportunity to play for a conference championship. Unfortunately, if we are able to win, then it comes down to a formula, and we have no control over that. We'll hopefully go in there and play well, win the game, and then we'll let things shake out the way they do.”

Brautigam has done a fine, fine job reviving this program. The future appears bright, too, considering all the underclassmen playing key roles for the Rams.

Athletic freshman quarterback Daniel Brown, for instance, is a keeper. He threw for 197 yards and a TD and ran for 70 yards and a score.

'You could tell where we are inexperienced and young, to a degree, at certain positions,” Brautigam said. 'We don't use that as excuse around here anymore. Like Daniel. I don't know what his stats were, but I thought he made some great plays, and then there were some plays that you wish you had back.”

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