Cornell quarterback John Smith accounted for two second-half touchdowns in Saturday’s 56-12 loss to Midwest Conference unbeaten Monmouth in the Rams’ 108th Homecoming Game at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
The Rams (2-5 overall, 2-4 MWC) hung tough in the early going, trailing 7-0 through one quarter. Monmouth (6-1 overall, 6-0 MWC) then showed its explosiveness by scoring 29 unanswered points, building the margin to 36-0 early in the third.
Cornell put its first points on the board with a nine-play, 89-yard touchdown drive midway through the third, highlighted by a 36-yard run by Tony Gomez. Smith capped the march with a four-yard TD run with 8:38 left in the third.
The Rams found the end zone once more late in the fourth. Senior wideout Aaryn Hailpern came down with his first collegiate TD reception, a 32-yard strike from Smith with 2:33 remaining.
Gomez had a solid day in Cornell’s backfield, netting 77 yards on 17 carries against the MWC’s No. 1 rushing defense. Smith finished 6-of-18 passing for 89 yards and was sacked four times. Hailpern had three receptions for 39 yards.
Freshman Cole Reed broke off a long 51-yard kickoff return. He finished the day with 126 yards on five returns.
Fifth-year linebacker Thomas Horne registered a team-high seven tackles. He tallied two stops for losses, including a sack. Nicholas Sells had six tackles.
Safety Anthony Hoffmann collected five tackles and came away with his second interception of the season. His pick and return of 20 yards gave Cornell possession at the Monmouth 11-yard line in the first quarter, although the Rams couldn’t convert the turnover into points.
Monmouth’s balanced attack accumulated 277 yards on the ground and 396 through the air. The Fighting Scots had four TDs cover at least 35 yards.
The Rams managed 160 total yards. Landon Lockington punted six times, including a career-best 68-yarder.
Coming up – Cornell travels to Illinois College (3-4 overall, 2-4 MWC)) for a rare Friday night game at 7 p.m. in Jacksonville, Ill.