Cornell tops Iowa Wesleyan in wild opener

MOUNT VERNON - For much of the first half, it seemed more like one of the trains that roll past Ash Park wrecked on Cornell's turf.

Until the 1:54 mark of the second quarter, Cornell and Iowa Wesleyan combined for as many turnovers as total points. Then, the Rams got back on the rails.

Cornell broke things open with two touchdowns in the final two minutes before halftime and then ran away with a 33-9 win over Iowa Wesleyan at Ash Park. They showed resilience to Cornell Coach Vince Brautigam.

'It wasn't played as well as I would have liked,” Brautigam said. 'I thought they fought and came through when we needed them.”

The bizarre appeared to be the norm in the opening half riddled by Cornell miscues.

Iowa Wesleyan's first points came on a safety caused by a snap that bounced out the back of the end zone.

The Rams moved the chains regularly, driving deep into Tigers territory, but had little to show for it, fumbling the ball away twice that led to Iowa Wesleyan drives starting deep in Rams territory.

The freak mistakes prevented them from pulling away earlier, driving 80 yards and then fumbling the ball into the end zone for an Iowa Wesleyan touchback when it looked like an easy TD.

'I didn't get on the kids on the field, but we had a conversation at halftime,” Brautigam said. 'I wanted to see how they would adjust to adversity. We talk about adversity all the time and we had plenty of it. We shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit and that was because of how Wesleyan played. I was proud of the way we fought back.”

The Rams clung to a 3-2 lead when they finally took control. They received a golden opportunity when Iowa Wesleyan misplayed a punt and the Rams pounced on it at the Tigers' 6 yard line.

Two plays later, Wolfgang Strovers plunged in from the 1. The point-after attempt was missed, adding to the unusual occurrences in the opening half. Strovers added another TD run in the third that put the Rams up, 26-9.

Cornell's defense stuffed Iowa Wesleyan on the ensuing possession and forced a punt to get the ball back with 56 seconds remaining.

The Rams produced one of its best drives, marching 60 yards on nine plays. This time, they capped it with points when Daniel Brown hit Riley Bell in the end zone for a 16-2 lead six seconds before the break.

'I felt it was huge,” Brautigam said. 'I feel real comfortable with our kicking game and Kaleb's (Whiting) ability to kick, but I wanted to see if we could put pressure on them.

'We practice those scenarios and we were able to get a score in the last 10 seconds. I thought that was a huge boost going into halftime.”

Brown was impressive, orchestrating the last-minute drive. He hit Bell on passes of 10 and 13 earlier in the drive for first-down conversions, stopping the clock when needed. Brown also hit Tommie Dorsey for a touchdown for a 33-9 lead in the third.

'He just had to play,” Brautigam said. 'We gave him a call and he has his options.

'The thing about Daniel in his sophomore year is sometimes he tries to outthink himself and it gets him into situations. We just have to get him to where he is just going to play and then we will cut down on mistakes.”

He proved to be a dual threat, throwing for 189 yards with two TDs and rushing for 76 yards. Dorsey led Cornell with 77 receiving yards on four catches.

The Rams defense shined, turning away the Tigers whenever they had good field position including their opening possession that started at the Rams' 12. They forced four turnovers with Kenny Smith intercepting two passes in the end zone.

'We just kept working hard and didn't back off,” said Mike Faison, who had five tackles, including a sack and two stops for loss. 'We wanted to keep after them.”

Brautigam said it was one of the best defensive performances he has seen in his six seasons at Cornell. Different players made an impact at crucial times. It was a good building block for the season.

'We just have to get better,” Faison said. 'We are going to get better every game, offensively and defensively.”

Cornell will face rival Coe next week at Clark Field in Cedar Rapids, beginning at 1 p.m.

'It's going to be a battle,” Brautigam said. 'We have to take a step forward in game two and take care of the football. If we do that, we will put ourselves in position to be successful.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8679; kj.pilcher@thegazette.com