Cornell rolls past Riverview in battle of Raiders
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Saturday, September 7, 2024 | 4:13 PM
Members of the Riverview football team, from left, Rio Stotts, Cam Long, Alex Schultheis and Landon Johnson, head to midfield for the coin toss before their game against Cornell on Sept. 7, 2024, at Riverside Park.
Members of the Cornell football team take the field before their game against Riverview on Sept. 7, 2024, at Riverside Park.
Members of the Riverview football team take the field before their game against Cornell on Sept. 7, 2024, at Riverside Park.
Members of the Cornell football team, from left, Nick Bennett, Demarr Williams, Ashton Jones and Mikey Keyes, head to midfield for the coin toss before their game against Riverview on Sept. 7, 2024, at Riverside Park.
Cornell served notice early that it would be the better of the two Raiders on Saturday at Riverview Park.
Khylil Johnson ran back the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score, and that set Cornell on its way to a 52-9 victory against host Riverview. That momentum carried throughout the game.
Johnson also had a 75-yard punt return, a 3-yard touchdown run and caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from M.J. Stuckey. He tallied 264 all purpose yards.
“It was pretty easy with the team I got,” Johnson said. “My coach says boot for your man. They always block for me, and we always get the job done to take it home.”
Walter Clarit spearheaded Cornell’s offense running for 115 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
“If it wasn’t for our line, none of this would be possible,” Clarit said. “They finished through. They made holes, letting me do what I got to do.”
“We have a lot of guys that can score the ball,” Cornell coach Ed Dawson said. “(Clarit and Johnson) made it work. Every week is someone new, but Walt’s been with us for four years, and he’s a grind-it-out person who makes a lot of the right decisions.
“Khylil, I’ve known for a long time, and it’s a blessing to have these kids here. … I’m beyond proud of all our kids, but those two guys as well.”
Cornell’s defense also shined. Mikey Keyes and Damarr Williams had interceptions and forced two fumbles each, one recovered by Keyes. The Raiders gave up their first touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter.
“On defense, you can’t get anything on us,” Clarit said. “In the air, it’s over. On the ground, we’re locking it up. It’s just us. We go out there and play as a team and as a family. We don’t play selfish. We do what we have to do to make our plays and go back to the huddle.”
Dawson talked about the challenges of playing on a Saturday, but he was ecstatic with how the players performed.
“We are all creatures of routine,” Dawson said. “It’s difficult when it’s broken. The kids did a good job maintaining focus. “They’re (Riverview) a tough team, so it was very important to stay disciplined and stay healthy early to get out to a fast start.”
Quarterback M.J. Stuckey threw for 67 yards, completing 4 of 7 passes.
For Riverview, Johnny Bertucci led the offense by running for 109 yards on seven carries. One of those carries went for 53 yards on the drive after Johnson’s kickoff return, but the drive stalled. Drew Hunter nailed a 47-yard field goal that had plenty of leg to make it 6-3.
Cornell then went to its running attack. Clarit had a carry for 30 yards to the Riverview 3-yard line, where Johnson finished it off to extend the lead to 12-3.
Johnson wasn’t done, taking a punt 75 yards to push the lead to 19-3 after Sam Da Silva’s extra point.
On Cornell’s next drive, Stuckey found Johnson for a 32-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-8, making it 26-3.
Deep in its own territory, Riverview went three-and-out on its next drive and was forced to punt. Trying keep the ball away from Johnson, the elected to angle the punt out of bounds, but it traveled only 8 yards, giving Cornell the ball at the 10-yard line.
Clarit scored from 3 yards to make it 32-3.
On Riverview’s ensuing possession, Demarr Williams picked off a Rio Stotts pass at the Riverview 12-yard line. Stuckey connected with Mikey Keyes for a 12-yard touchdown pass on the first play after the turnover, giving Cornell a 39-3 lead.
Clarit tacked on another touchdown, scoring from 42 yards on another one-play drive.
Keyes notched an interception a the end of the half, and Cornell went into halftime comfortably ahead 46-3.
Paris Green finished off a long Cornell drive with a 3-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter quarter, making it 52-3.
Riverview finally got into the end zone. Bertucci’s running keyed the drive, and Stotts found Max Kratt for a 4-yard touchdown pass to set the final score.
“Our conference is a meat grinder,” Dawson said. “We’ve had some good games to get us prepared for some quality teams. Now it’s ‘go some more’ time. We got what we got and it’s time to play some more football.”
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