MOUNT VERNON – Cornell cracked a stingy Lake Forest defense with three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 49-24 Midwest Conference football loss Saturday afternoon at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
 
The defending MWC champion, Lake Forest (4-3 overall, 4-2 MWC) had gone 15 quarters without yielding an opposing TD when Cornell's offense got going late, trailing 35-3 entering the final period.
 
The Rams (2-5 overall (2-4 MWC) marched 73 yards on eight plays, capped with a 3-yard TD run by freshman Justin Bender. Cornell forced a 3-and-out on the ensuing possession and then blocked a punt that put the Rams in great field position at the Lake Forest 36.
 
Three plays later, quarterback Mason Dew broke loose for a 30-yard TD run that quickly sliced the margin to 35-17 with 11:07 remaining.
 
Cornell found the end zone once more with less than three minutes to go. Dew spotted sophomore Chase Kennedy alone along the back line for a 6-yard TD pass that made it 42-24.
 
Lake Forest recovered the ensuing onside kick and recorded its fifth rushing TD of the game with 18 seconds left.
 
The Rams played Lake Forest even over the final 30 minutes, after the Foresters built a 28-3 advantage at the half. The Foresters had outscored their last three opponents by a 167-0 margin.
 
Cornell wideout Gavin Soukup provided a strong outing with nine catches for 75 yards, both game-highs. The senior recorded his 100th career reception while also eclipsing 1,100 receiving yards as a Ram.
 
Dew finished 22-of-34 passing for a career-high 202 yards. Cornell's ground game was limited to 39 yards on 17 carries against the MWC's top-ranked rushing defense.
 
Cornell junior Mitchell Frahm had a perfect game in the kicking department, highlighted by a 46-yard field goal that pushed the Rams ahead 3-0 with 4:35 left in the first quarter. It was the longest made field goal by a Ram since the 2013 season (Kaleb Whiting, 49 yards).     
 
Joshua Martin and Luca Schoensee led Cornell's defense with nine tackles apiece. Martin also had two pass breakups and a tackle for loss. Julius Jenkins posted the team's lone sack of the game.
    
The Foresters rolled up 554 yards of total offense, including 247 on the ground. Cornell converted only 1-of-9 third down chances, although was 2-for-2 on fourth down.
 
Coming up – The Rams travel to play Knox (3-4 overall, 3-3 MWC) at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 1 in Galesburg, Ill.