MOUNT VERNON – An inspired Cornell football team gave perennial power Monmouth all it could handle Saturday afternoon in the 106th Homecoming Game, falling 27-14 in a Midwest Conference South Division battle at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.

The Rams (2-5 overall, 0-3 South) had an upset brewing with the score tied 7-7 at halftime and then had chances to build momentum in the third quarter, when the game quickly turned in favor of the Fighting Scots (4-2, 2-0 South).

Monmouth forged ahead 10-7 on a short field goal with 8:37 left in the third quarter. On Cornell's next offensive snap, the Fighting Scots recovered a fumble and returned it nine yards for a touchdown that made it 17-7.

The Fighting Scots capitalized on four Cornell turnovers in the second half and escaped Mount Vernon with a hard-fought victory, extending their MWC winning streak to 29 games.

Cornell outgained the defending South champions in total yards, 322-280, and had more first downs, 17-16. The Rams defense also created four turnovers and collected four sacks on the day.

A bizarre third quarter saw just about everything on the field, including two on-side kicks recovered by the kicking team, two lost fumbles, one interception, one blocked punt, and five penalties, one which negated a 76-yard pass reception by Blake Langhurst (JR/Lisbon, Iowa).

Monmouth slowly built the lead to 27-7 with a field goal and TD in the fourth quarter. Cornell's Isaak Hahn (JR/Marion, Iowa) scored on an 8-yard run with 39 seconds remaining, capping a 10-play, 71-yard drive that provided the final margin.

Hahn finished 15-of-30 passing for 206 yards, which included a 15-yard TD strike to Langhurst that gave Cornell a 7-0 lead with 11:08 left in the second quarter. Langhurst had a big day with 126 yards on seven receptions.

Cornell's Peni Waqairatu (JR/East Melbourne, Australia) netted 74 tough yards on 24 carries against the MWC's top-ranked rushing defense. Hahn carried 14 times for 51 yards.

Freshman Elijah Jones (FR/Ocoee, Fla.) had nine tackles (all solo), an interception and a forced fumble. Tylor Fairbanks (JR/Marion, Iowa) and Eddie Del Castillo (SO/Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) added nine tackles apiece. Devin Roettger (SR/Colorado Springs, Colo.) was disruptive from his linebacker position with 4.0 tackles for loss, one sack and an interception.

Del Castillo finished with 1.5 sacks, Kale Kuhiiki (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) with 2.0 tackles for loss.

Coming up – The Rams travel to play Knox (2-4, 0-2 South) in their final divisional game next Saturday, Nov. 2 in Galesburg, Ill. Kickoff is 1 p.m.