Luther defeats Cornell, posts second consecutive win

The Luther College football team posted its second win in a row Sat. Oct. 10 in Mount Vernon, defeating Cornell College (Minn.) before the Homecoming crowd with a score of 19-10.

After falling behind 3-0 early in the first quarter, Luther quarterback Chris Reynolds (‘12) broke loose for a 38-yard touchdown run with 3:33 remaining in the half, which gave the Norse a 6-3 advantage at the break. Reynolds put the Norse up 12-3 thanks to a five-yard touchdown scamper at the 8:34 mark of the third quarter.

Cornell racked up 319 yards of total offense, and refused to give up and pulled to within two points with 2:18 left in the game. Ram quarterback Andrew Burdick found Thomas Conner on a two-yard pass, capping off a five-play, 48-yard drive.

Luther’s final score of the afternoon was a 22-yard strike from Reynolds to Trey Scheetz (‘10) on 4th and 10, with just 15 ticks left on the clock.

“When we sit down and evaluate our performance after each game, we always look at turnovers and explosive plays,” Head Coach Mike Durnin said. “Today we won both those battles.”

Offensively, Luther was credited with 308 yards total offense, 213 of which came on the ground. Reynolds led the rushing attack with 91 yards on 12 carries. He was followed by Ryan Monroe (‘11) who saw his first action of the season, tallying 54 yards on nine attempts.

“We were excited to see that we had five players rush the football for over 20 yards this afternoon,” Durnin said. “We really feel that we need to continue this trend because it will allow us to have a more balanced attack.”

Reynolds also threw for 95 yards. Darren Oxton (‘10) pulled in six passes for 52 yards and Scheetz had two receptions for 44 yards.

The defensive unit played well and never gave up an explosive play. Cornell put together just one sustained drive all afternoon, its first of the game, which led to a field goal. Kyle McGivney (‘11) led all tacklers with 17 tackles. He also recorded two interceptions and two pass break-ups.

“Kyle had a heck of a game this afternoon,” Durnin said. “He was all over the field and really made some big plays. The other player that I felt really played well today was Ryan Sonnenburg (‘10). Ryan put a lot of pressure on the Cornell quarterback which really helped us defensively.”

Sonnenburg was credited with seven tackles and one sack. Kyle Stoner (‘10) and Dana Schmitt (‘11) also tallied seven tackles, while Will Bothe (‘10) recorded a sack and six stops.

“Another key to today was the kick return late in the game by Dana Schmitt,” Durnin said. “His return set up our final drive which we needed leading by just two points with plenty of time on the clock.”

The win gives Luther an Iowa Conference record of 2-1, 3-2 overall. Cornell falls to 0-4 in the IIAC, 1-5 overall.

Next week, the Norse will travel to Pella, Iowa to face nationally ranked #8 Central College. This game will begin at 1:00 p.m. Fans can catch all the action via audio stream by Luther student radio station 1240 AM KWLC starting at 12:40 p.m.