FINAL STATS

Ithaca, NY – Sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews threw three first-half touchdown passes as Cornell built a 24-0 halftime lead en route a 31-7 victory over Wagner at Schoelkopf Field.
 
In dropping their fourth consecutive game, the Seahawks fall to 1-4 on the season while the Big Red improves to 2-1. Cornell's victory avenged a 41-7 loss at Wagner last season.
 
Sophomore running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Milford Academy) eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the eighth time in his 13-game Seahawk career. Williams, who gained 137 yards on 26 carries, has now reached the century mark in four of five games this season. He entered the game ranked 13th in the nation in rushing at 116.8 yards per game.
 
Sophomore tight end Joe Sidaras (Mastic Beach, NY/ William Floyd) posted career highs with five receptions for 76 yards. Junior quarterback Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic) completed 4-of-13 passes for 44 yards and was sacked four times. Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Misley (Park Ridge, NJ/ Park Ridge) replaced Doscher briefly in the first half and played the bulk of the second half. He completed 9-of-21 passes for 102 yards, all career highs. Like Doscher, Misley was under duress often as he was also sacked four times as the Big Red totaled eight sacks for minus 50 yards.

Defensively, Wagner was led by a trio of who recorded six tackles apiece in junior linebacker Carl-Olivier Prime (Laval, Quebec/ The Kent School), senior strong safety Jeremiah Brown (Brooklyn, NY/ Grand Street Campus) and junior free safety Patrick O'Connor (Leominster, MA/ Leominster).
 
Wagner dug itself an early hole by repeatedly giving Cornell the ball in excellent field position and the Big Red took advantage each time as the longest touchdown drive of the game for Cornell was 44 yards. The others were 37, 25 and 20 yards.
 
With the game still scoreless nine minutes into in the first quarter, Doscher went back to pass on third and five from the Seahawk 28. Before he could deliver the ball, he was hit by defensive end Zack Imhoff from behind and Brandon Lainhart recovered at the Wagner 20.
 
It took the Big Red just four plays to find paydirt as Mathews hit fullback Nick Mlady in the front right corner of the end zone, just inside the pylon, to give Cornell an early 7-0 lead. Wagner's next drive netted minus three yards on three plays due to another sack which brought up a fourth and 13 at the Seahawk 31. Sophomore #A.J. Firestone#'s (Mercersburg, PA/ Mercersburg) punt was blocked by Chris Murray, setting the Big Red up with a first down ate  thSeahawk 21.
 
Cornell marched inside the Wagner five before senior defensive end Derrick Forrest (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Calvery Christian) made a stop on third and goal from the two as the Big Red settled for a 20-yard field goal by Brad Greenway to take a 10-0 lead with 13:36 to go in the half.
 
Wagner stalled again on its next drive. A false start and a sack resulted in a three-play, minus six-yard drive. Following a 23-yard Firestone punt, Cornell took over at the Wagner 37. Mathews needed just three plays to find the end zone again, spreading the ball to three different wide receivers in a quick-strike three-play 37-yard drive that took just 1:02.
 
Following an 11-yard completion to Kurt Ondash, Mathews found Luke Tasker over the middle for 19 which gave the Big Red a first and goal at the seven. On the next play, Mathews found Savage again, this time in the end zone, making it a 17-0 game with 10:22 remaining in the half.
 
Wagner then put together its best drive of the half, highlighted by a Dosher 22-yard dart to Sidaras and a 15-yard run by Williams. On third and 11 from the Cornell 35, Doscher's pass to Williams fell incomplete. On fourth and 11. Firestone mishandled the snap on his punt attempt and tried to get it off on the run but Imhoff blocked it as the Big Red took over on the Wagner five. On first down, Cornell fumbled the ball right back to Wagner as junior linebacker Mike Milone (Ho Ho Kus, NJ / Nothern Highlands) came up with it at the five.
 
After a Seahawk three and out, Cornell set up shop at the Wagner 44. A 34-yard Mathews to Ondash connection set up a six-yard touchdown pass from Mathews to Savage that widened the Big Red lead to 24-0 with 4:01 left in the half.
 
The Big Red took a 31-0 third quarter lead, taking advantage of yet another short field. Following a Misley fumble at the Wagner 25, Mathews led Cornell on a four-play, 25-yard drive which he capped himself with a one-yard touchdown plunge at the 9:50 mark of the third quarter.
 
Misley then sparked Wagner to its lone score of the game, hitting senior wide receiver Justin Matthews (Hillside, NJ/ Hillside) for 11 yards and taking off on a 12-yard jaunt himself. Those were the two big spurts for Wagner that keyed a 10-play 46-drive, capped by a Williams one-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Neither team would score over the final 14:56.
 
Mathews finished 18-of-26 passing for 197 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Ondash was his favorite target with six receptions for 80 yards. Ryan Houska was Cornell's leading ground-gainer with 46 yards on 11 carries.
 
Cornell out-gained Wagner by a slim 295-274 edge. In a pair of statistical anomalies, due in large part to the rapidity in which Cornell scored. Wagner ran more plays won the time of possession battle. The Seahawks ran a season-high 83 offensive plays to the Big Red's 57. Wagner also held a 33:18 to 26:42 advantage in time of possession.
 
The Seahawks return home to play their final non-conference game of the season when they host Patriot League member Georgetown on Saturday, October 8 at 1:00 pm.
 
NOTES – With his 137-yard performance today, Williams upped his average to 120.8 yards per game. The 137 yards are the Williams' third-highest output of his career and for the season, ranking behind his 180-yard game vs. Saint Francis (PA) and his 141-yard effort vs. Central Connecticut St. (9/17). His 26 rushing attempts are tied for second in his career (27 vs. Central Connecticut St./ 9/17/11). Misley's 32-yard third quarter pass to Sidaras was a career-long. It was also a career-long reception for Sidaras.Senior Rory Cregan (Woodside, NY/ St. Francis Prep), Wagner's starting holder and backup punter, attempted the first punt of his career and it came from his own end zone. Against heavy pressure, he got off a 42-yard boot. He wound up with a 38.3 yard average on three punts. This is Wagner's first four-game losing streak since 2008 when Wagner dropped its last four games of the season to finish with a 3-8 record. In the fourth quarter, senior linebacker Julian Stanford (Bloomfield, CT/ Bloomfield) hit Mathews from behind, sending the ball skyward and eventually into the arms of senior defensive tackle Sal Gigante (New Windsor, NY / Cornwall Central Catholic) who picked the ball out of the air for his first career interception. Freshman defensive back Nevon Williams (Teaneck, NJ/ Teaneck) and freshman wide receiver Anthony Carrington (Toms River, NJ/ Toms River North) saw the first action of their careers. Wagner is now 1-2 all-time vs. the Ivy League with all three meetings coming against Cornell.