St. Norbert Holds On at Cornell

From Sports Information Director, October 6, 2012 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - St. Norbert College made its first trip to Cornell College in 20 years a victorious one with a 20-16 triumph in a Midwest Conference game at Ash Park.

The Green Knights (4-2, 4-1 MWC) played the Rams (2-3, 2-2) in Iowa for the first time since 1992 and met for the first time overall since 1993 since Cornell returned to the MWC this year.

St. Norbert survived a last-ditch fourth-quarter rally by the Rams, who trailed the Green Knights 20-7 entering the fourth quarter. Cornell cut the deficit to 20-14 with 11 minutes 30 seconds left on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Juan Flores to Ben Knake on a fourth-and-six play.

The Rams forced a St. Norbert punt and then had a first down at the Green Knights' 15-yard line, but on second-and-nine from the 14 Flores was intercepted at the 1 by Austin Arts with 3:21 to go. St. Norbert could only move out to its own 4, and wisely took a safety with 2:06 left to make it 20-16.

Cornell couldn't get a first down on its series, but got the ball back with 27 seconds left after the Rams exhausted their time outs. Cornell drove to the St. Norbert 34 with 10 seconds left, but a pair of Flores passes to the end zone were incomplete.

St. Norbert opened the game with a 17-play, 48-yard drive that melted 8:58 off the clock, and took a 3-0 lead on a 41-yard Randy Hill field goal. The Green Knights boosted their lead to 10-0 on a 23-yard Austin Williams run with 2:20 left in the second quarter, but the Rams answered with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Flores to Justin Cox two plays later.

The Green Knights scored on their first two possessions of the second half to take a 20-7 advantage. Hill nailed a 34-yard field goal with 6:27 left in the third quarter, and James Tringali found Joe Green on a slant for a 7-yard touchdown with 53 seconds left in the period.

Tringali completed 19 of 29 passes for 195 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Williams rushed 21 times for 72 yards, while Green caught six passes for 43 yards.

Cornell, which outgained St. Norbert 359-319, got 324 yards from Flores, who completed 23 of 41 passes with two touchdowns but had three interceptions. Ra'Shad Green caught 10 passes for 116 yards, while Cox had five catches for 107 yards for the Rams.