QB Tyler Mathews accounts for 191 yards of total offense and three touchdowns

BOXSCORE

(Photo Credit to Michael Moore) QB Tyler Mathews passed for 148 yards and a score, while also rushing for 43 yards and two scores to spark a solid offensive attack for the Ravens.

ASHBURNHAM, Mass. (September 22, 2012) – In its inaugural game in program history on Saturday, the Franklin Pierce University sprint football opened a new era with a valiant effort before coming up just short in a tough 26-21 loss to Cornell at Arthur Hurd Field in Ashburnham, Mass. The Big Red improved to 2-0, while the Ravens fell to 0-1.

Several Ravens produced numerous individual highlights on the afternoon as they nearly picked up a momentous win in front of more than 500 fans to see the first football game in school history.

Among the several impressive performances was freshman running back D.J. MacDonald (Mattapoisett, Mass.), who rushed for a game-high 105 yards on 24 carries. It was part of Franklin Pierce’s 304 yards of total offense as the Ravens outgained Cornell by a margin of 304-279.

Freshman quarterback Tyler Mathews (Lunenburg, Mass.) had 191 yards of total offense as he completed 12-of-27 passes for 148 yards and a score, while also rushing for 43 yards and two touchdowns.

His rushing touchdown came on a 19-yard run on Franklin Pierce’s first offensive play in program history, which put the Ravens up 7-0 early in the first quarter. Mathews’ scoring play was set up thanks in part to freshman defensive back Shawn DeCost’s (Nashua, N.H.) interception on the first play of the game, as he stepped in front of a Cornell pass and returned it 23 yards to the Big Red 19-yard line.

The back-to-back exciting plays energized the terrific opening-day crowd and Franklin Pierce fed off the energy throughout the entire game.

Cornell scored 20-straight points after the opening touchdown, including a Brendan Miller 45-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Gruenenfelder with 3:44 to go in the first quarter. The other impressive scoring play by the Big Red came via a 49-yard field goal from John Rodriguez midway through the second.

Franklin Pierce had several good drives going in the second quarter as it entered deep in Cornell territory, but could not capitalize on any of them.

Miller scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 10:34 left in the third quarter to put Cornell up by a 20-7 margin.

Franklin Pierce, however, countered that touchdown with an impressive 16-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, which spanned 8:45, and was capped by a Mathews 38-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Jahlil Dean (Maple Shade, N.J.) with 1:49 to go in the quarter. The Ravens made several clutch plays on the drive, including converting three fourth-down plays, including Mathews’ scoring strike to Dean to cut the deficit to six. Dean caught five balls in the game for 110 yards.

(Photo Credit to Michael Moore) Nick Trochalakis played on both the offensive and defensive lines on Saturday. He was part of an offensive unit which pounded out 156 yards on the ground. Defensively, he made seven tackles, including one for loss.

The Ravens defense got into the act, forcing Cornell to punt early in the fourth quarter, and then blocking the ensuing kick attempt to set the offense up with great field position. Freshman defensive Mike Abrams (Newark, N.J.) penetrated through the line to get his hand on the ball and swat the kick away. It was part of a strong game for Abrams, who had an interception, another pass breakup and five tackles.

Franklin Pierce took advantage of the great field position, as Mathews connected on a pair of passes to freshman wideout Michael Holdridge (Peru, N.Y.), spanning 12 and 16 yards, respectively, setting up the Ravens with a first-and-goal at the Cornell four-yard line. Mathews capped the scoring drive with a three-yard QB plunge to put the Ravens on top 21-20 with 7:26 remaining.

Cornell, though, answered on its ensuing drive with a Miller eight-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clausner to take a 26-21 lead. The drive spanned 11 plays and 58 yards in 5:13, but there was still enough time for the Ravens to potentially pull off a comeback.

Abrams had a good kickoff return for the Ravens as he took it out to near the 40, but Cornell held strong and forced Franklin Pierce to turn the ball over on downs, thus sealing the victory.

Despite the loss, it was a good building block for a very young Ravens team, which is featuring 28 freshmen on the roster.

Defensively, freshman linebacker Connor Rogowsky (Nashua, N.H.) led the Ravens with eight tackles, including two for loss, a sack and three pass breakups. Franklin Pierce limited Cornell to 65 yards rushing.

Franklin Pierce returns to action next Sunday when the Ravens play host to Pennsylvania at 12 p.m. at Hurd Field in Ashburnham.

For more information on Franklin Pierce sprint football, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).