MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's 111th Homecoming was a battle the Rams never led, but were certainly never out of before falling one possession short in a 22-14 Midwest Conference football loss to Ripon Saturday at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.   
 
The Rams (2-3 overall, 2-2 MWC) fought back from an early 9-0 hole and 16-7 halftime deficit, slicing the margin to 16-14 on a 2-yard touchdown pass by Mason Dew to Silas Heimos with 12:03 remaining.
 
Ripon (3-2 overall, 3-1 MWC) answered Cornell's impressive 17-play, 75-yard scoring march with a pair of field goals in the final four minutes that provided enough cushion in the end.
 
Ripon's Ben Crock connected on a 41-yard field goal, and Cornell's ensuing drive stalled on downs at its own 34-yard line. Crock added a 30-yard field goal with 50 seconds left that increased the lead to 22-14.
 
Senior Rommel Pinner gave the Rams a chance late with a 53-yard kickoff return to Ripon's 47. But the Red Hawks delivered a key sack on second down and forced an incompletion on 4th-and-10 that ended the game.
 
Cornell's defense, which entered the contest with an MWC-best seven interceptions, added three more to its season tally on Saturday. Senior safety Conner Lewis picked off Ripon quarterback Aidan Keyes twice, including a pivotal interception at the Cornell 7 on the Red Hawks' first possession.  
 
Lewis finished his dynamic day with a game-high nine tackles (one for lost yardage), a forced fumble, a pass breakup and the two picks. Joshua Martin also had an interception and return of 26 yards for the Rams.
 
Dew finished 19-of-40 passing for 189 yards in a strong second collegiate start at quarterback. He hit nine different Cornell receivers, led by Pinner's 56 yards on three receptions. Heimos, a senior, had four grabs for 35 yards, highlighted by his first TD as a Ram.
 
Junior BooBoo Browning led Cornell's rushing attack with 45 yards on 11 carries. He put Cornell on the scoreboard with a 10-yard TD run midway through the second quarter that pulled the Rams within 9-7.
 
Ripon caught an early break off an errant Cornell punt snap that went into the end zone for a safety. That put the Red Hawks ahead 2-0 and had the Rams chasing points the rest of the way.
 
The Red Hawks outgained Cornell in total yards, 329-263. The Red Hawks relied on a ground game that generated 214 yards, averaging 5.2 per carry.
 
Coming up – Cornell is on the road next Saturday, Oct. 18, to face MWC preseason favorite Monmouth (4-1 overall, 4-0 MWC) for a 2 p.m. kickoff in Monmouth, Ill.