St. Norbert Wears Down Cornell to Move to 4-0

From Sports Information Director, October 3, 2015 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College used a methodical offensive attack to wear down Cornell College and post a 31-3 non-conference win in a divisional crossover matchup of Midwest Conference schools at Schneider Stadium.

The Green Knights, off to their first 4-0 start since 2009, had four possessions of at least eight plays in their first eight drives in building a 24-3 lead early in the third quarter. St. Norbert held possession for 33 minutes 18 seconds and had 44 rushing attempts in 71 plays.

St. Norbert took the opening kickoff and needed 11 plays to march 87 yards to grab a 7-0 lead. The Green Knights maneuvered their way out of a second-and-24 situation and also converted a fourth-down opportunity to set up Elijah Fort's 2-yard touchdown run with 10:01 left in the quarter.

Cornell (1-3) had an efficient opening drive of its own, with the Rams needed four plays to reach the St. Norbert 27-yard line. Following a St. Norbert timeout, the Rams could muster just six yards and had to settle for a Kaleb Whiting 38-yard field goal.

Late in the first quarter, St. Norbert had a first-and-goal at the Cornell 8, but had to kick a field goal of its own on a 28-yard triple by Spenser Thompson-Meyers with 26 seconds left in the period for a 10-3 lead.

St. Norbert broke the game open midway through the second quarter. The Green Knights faced a fourth-and-13 from the Cornell 29-yard line, and Jack Becker found Fort coming out of the backfield for a touchdown with 5:30 left before halftime.

The Green Knights' opening series of the second half put the game out of reach for the Rams, with Fort scampering 28 yards on fourth-and-3 for a 24-3 advantage. Fort then scored his fourth touchdown of the game on the first play from scrimmage of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard plunge.

St. Norbert outgained Cornell 413-264 in total offense, with the Green Knights totaling 264 yards on the ground. Brandon Carter rushed 13 times for 96 yards, while Fort had 22 carries for 95 yards. Becker completed 11 of 22 passes for 149 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Zach Reeves caught five passes for 97 yards.

Daniel Brown led Cornell with 199 yards passing, completing 20 of 35 attempts with four interceptions. Ben Knake, who became Cornell's all-time receptions leader during the game, hauled in 11 passes for 119 yards. Devan Clark led the Rams on the ground with 31 yards on 12 carries.

Alec Swanson and Jacob Wells both had 10 tackles apiece to lead the St. Norbert defense. Swanson, Michael Olijnyk and Alex Macke all had two passes defended. Wells and Tommy Gonzales both had two tackles-for-loss.