NORTHFIELD, Minn. – With only 18 seconds remaining, the Carleton defense came up with a stop on fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line, and the Knights held on for a 27-21 win over Cornell in the season opener. Dylan Gessner (#44/So./Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) broke up a pass at the goal line to preserve the victory. Sophomore quarterback Vaughn Schmid (Mahtomedi, Minn.) ran for one touchdown, threw for three more, and finished with 224 passing yards in his first collegiate start.
“It’s good to get a win, especially with a lot of young guys getting their first experience in a college football setting,” said Carleton head coach Kurt Ramler. “We have to learn from this game. Cornell played a great game. We played hard, with a lot of effort, but there are definitively some things we need to shore up.
“We can’t have turnovers. We have to play all the way though. It can’t take us a quarter to get warmed up on offense. We can’t have lapses on special teams. But that goal line stand was awesome!”
The Rams were first to get on the scoreboard as a 24-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Burdick to Chris Lopez capped an eight-play, 73-yard drive with 2:53 left in the opening quarter.
Early in the second quarter, it looked like Cornell would extend the lead after the Rams recovered a muffed punt at the Knights’ 11-yard line. However, two plays later sophomore DeAngelo Williams (Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle) picked off Burdick in the end zone, shifting momentum over to Carleton.
On the ensuing drive, Schmid completed all three pass attempts for 87 yards and found Billy Shapiro (So./Bronx, N.Y./Fieldston School) for a 27-yard touchdown pass, tying the contest, 7-7.
The Knights grabbed the lead on their next drive when Schmid hit Anthony Kemper (So./Prior Lake, Minn.) from seven yards out, giving Carleton a 14-7 advantage heading into halftime.
On Carleton’s first drive of the second half, Jon Lien (So./Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) ran three times for 17 yards, setting up another highlight play by Kemper, who did not go out for the team as a rookie. The 6-5 sophomore broke a tackle and scampered 47 yards for the score.
Cornell immediately responded with a 10-play, 44-yard touchdown drive as Burdick found Michael Goering from 12 yards out with 5:47 left in the third quarter.
The next Ram drive came up empty as defensive end Zack Armstrong (Jr./Eden Prairie, Minn.) blocked a 21-yard field-goal attempt. The Knights used the momentum to march 90 yards on 11 plays with Schmid’s six-yard dash up the middle giving Carleton a 27-14 lead with about 10 minutes still to play.
It appeared that Carleton might be able to seal the game with a defensive stand, but on third-and-26, Burdick found Harry Herbert on a 51-yard pass down to the six-yard line. Two players later Burdick completed his third touchdown strike, this one to Thomas Connor, pulling the visitors within six points at 27-21.
Cornell got the ball back one last time with about three minutes remaining when the defense came up with a stop on third-and-one. The Rams’ 13-play drive ended at the doorstep of the endzone. On fourth down, Burdick rolled right then tried to feed the ball into Lopez, but Gessner broke up the pass and preserved the six-point victory.
Burdick finished the afternoon 28-for-38 for 350 yards passing. He also rushed 22 times for 86 yards.
Carleton rookie Mike Elder (San Antonio, Texas/Central Catholic) led all players with 11 tackles and added an interception. He also returned three kickoffs for 81 yards.
“Mike Elder did a phenomenal job stepping into the lineup as a freshman,” Ramler said. “We had a number of young players back there in the secondary. On offense Athony Kemper had a great first game as a college football player. There are just so many names.”
The Knights will be back at Laird Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19 when they host Bethel University in the conference opener for both teams. Knights Online will once again feature a live video webcast starting at 12:45 p.m. The game can also be heard on KQCL 95.9 FM.
Follow all the Carleton College varsity athletic teams at
http://twitter.com/CarletonKnights
