Athletics - News

Access the News Release archive

MOUNT VERNON — The Cornell Rams and Simpson Storm will make history Saturday when they tangle in the first football game under the lights between two Iowa Conference teams. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Buxton Stadium in Indianola.

“When (Simpson’s director of athletics) John Sirianni approached me about this over the summer, I thought it was a neat idea,” Cornell head coach Matt Dillon said. “It should be exciting. I’ll be interested to see how this all plays out for both teams. This will be a total change to our game day schedule.”

Change may be good for the Rams, who suffered a 61-21 loss against Dubuque in a turnover-plagued homecoming game Oct. 13 at Ash Park Stadium. The Rams turned the ball over seven times and buried themselves in a 51-14 deficit by halftime. Cornell committed turnovers on its first three possessions. Dubuque scored touchdowns on its first five series.

Dubuque scored 34 points off Cornell turnovers, including two first-half interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. A zero-yard punt by Cornell led to seven more points for Dubuque. For the game, Cornell threw four interceptions and lost three of five fumbles. The 61 points were the most scored by a homecoming opponent in Cornell history.

“We’re not good enough to turn the ball over seven times and beat anybody. Certainly not against one of the top teams in the conference,” Dillon said. “For us to have a chance, we have to learn to value the football. It’s a message we send out to our players each and every week.

“One thing I will say about our team is the kids fought hard to the end.”

The Rams (2-4 overall, 0-4 IIAC) and Storm (2-4, 1-3) meet for the 40 th time on the gridiron. Cornell owns a 23-15-1 edge in the series, but Simpson has won the last five meetings. The Storm scored on an 83-yard pass on the first play of last year’s game and never looked back in a 34-7 victory over the Rams in Mount Vernon.

The Storm, fresh off a bye week, gave seventh-ranked and undefeated Central a scare in a 28-21 loss Oct. 6 in Indianola. That game was tied with less than seven minutes to play. Four weeks ago, Simpson built a 20-7 halftime lead on Dubuque before falling 35-20.

“Simpson has played everybody tough,” Dillon said. “But I think we match up better athletically with Simpson than we did with Dubuque. We just have to learn how to play 60 minutes of football.”

Under the lights – The last time Cornell played a night game was a 7 p.m. start against Iowa Wesleyan Sept. 11, 2004, in Mount Pleasant. The Rams lost the game, 32-14. This is Simpson’s first night game since 1975 when the Storm hosted William Penn.

Kobler clears 1,000 – Senior quarterback Anthony Kobler ( Brentwood, Mo./ Brentwood) went over 1,000 yards passing for the season last week. He threw for 166 yards against Dubuque, including touchdown strikes of 41 yards to Kyle Krogmann (DeWitt/Northeast) and 11 yards to Josh Youngblood (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson). Kobler has completed 77-of-159 passes for 1,135 yards with 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season.

Hardman saves TD streak – Junior running back Travion Hardman ( Oak Park, Ill./ Oak Park River Forest) scored on a 23-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter against Dubuque. He extended the Rams’ streak of six consecutive games with a rushing touchdown. Hardman leads the team with 442 rushing yards and five touchdowns this season.

Yards per catch – Krogmann and Youngblood each average 18.7 yards per pass reception and rank fourth (65.3) and sixth (59.3), respectively, in the IIAC in receiving yards per game. Krogmann, Youngblood and sophomore tight end Alex Macey ( Oceanside, Calif./ Vista) share the team lead with three touchdown receptions apiece.

IIAC’s top tackler – Senior linebacker Chris Gustafson ( Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) leads the IIAC and ranks 12 th in Division III with 13.3 tackles per game. He recorded 11 tackles against Dubuque, the 13 th consecutive game he’s reached double-digits in tackles.

Takeaway, giveaway – The bottom four teams in the IIAC standings also bring up the rear in turnover margin. The Rams have turned the ball over 18 times (most in the IIAC) and taken the ball away only six times (fewest in the IIAC) for a minus-12 turnover margin. Buena Vista is minus-8, Simpson minus-5 and Loras minus-2 in turnovers/takeaways.

Ace (attitude, character, effort) awards – Defense: Nick Hegland (Hampton/Hampton-Dumont); Offense: Mike Thompson ( Eaton, Colo./Windsor); Special Teams: Charles McDonald ( Raymore, Mo./Raymore-Peculiar); Scout Team Defense: Andrew Patzke ( Madison, Wis./ Edgewood); Scout Team Offense: Morgan Campbell ( Harrison, Ark./ Wentworth Millitary Academy).