MOUNT VERNON – Cornell lit up the scoreboard with 35 first-half points and rode a career passing day by quarterback
Mason Dew in Saturday's 42-28 football victory over Ripon before a large Homecoming crowd at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
The Rams (2-3 overall, 1-2 MWC) celebrated their highest-scoring Homecoming win since 2017, thanks to a break-out offensive effort that saw them accumulate 256 yards on six touchdown plays alone. Cornell exploded for 559 total yards on the day.
Dew finished an exceptional performance 31-of-39 passing for 371 yards and four touchdowns, marking the fifth-most passing yards ever by a Ram. The junior broke the single-game school record for completions, set by Juan Flores in 2012 against Coe.
Dew aired it out to nine different receivers, highlighted by long TD strikes to
Darnell Boyd (45 yards),
Elliott Dyrland (21 yards),
Kaleb Skeffington (55 yards) and
Cole Reed (68 yards). Skeffington's TD was his fourth of at least 30 yards this season.
Sophomore
Justin Bender cracked the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time this season, going for a career-high 128 on 19 carries. Bender set the tone with a 45-yard TD run only 1:42 into the contest. The next series, Bender found pay dirt from 22 yards out and quickly put Cornell ahead 14-0.
Dew fired three TD passes in the second quarter as the Rams went into the locker room with a commanding 35-0 lead.
Dew's fourth and final TD throw – the 68-yarder to Reed that pushed Cornell in front 42-14 midway through the third quarter – proved to be crucial during Ripon's second-half comeback bid. The Red Hawks (1-4 overall, 1-2 MWC) made it a two-possession game at 42-28 with still seven minutes remaining.
Cornell's defense came away with five turnovers on the day, including on each of Ripon's final two drives. Senior ball hawk
Joshua Martin recorded his second interception of the game – and fifth of the season – that stopped a Red Hawk drive in Cornell territory and sealed the victory with 1:42 remaining.
Reigning MWC Defensive Player of the Week
Jamal Thompson tallied a team-high eight tackles and had an interception return of 30 yards. Freshman
Gabe Cisneros also collected an interception.
Zavion Jordan and
Cory Hamilton both posted 2.0 tackles for loss.
Boyd led the receiving corps with 103 yards and eight catches. Reed had six receptions for 94 yards, Skeffington five for 88.
Coming up – The Rams are on the road next Saturday, Oct. 10, to face University of Chicago (3-1 overall, 2-0 MWC) at 1 p.m. in Chicago, Ill.
