Yale's special teams come up big in 27-16 win over Cornell

Published Sep. 28, 2019 5:02 p.m. ET

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — J.P. Shohfi returned an onside kick for a 49-yard touchdown and helped Yale thwart a late Cornell rally with a 27-16 win on Saturday in an Ivy League opener.

Kurt Rawlings led Yale (2-0) on a 12-play, 79-yard scoring drive that ended with his 5-yard scoring toss to make it 17-10 for the Bulldogs with 11:21 left to play. Sam Tuckerman's 33-yard field goal with 2:48 to go made it a 10-point lead.

Cornell (1-1) responded when Richie Kenney marched the Bulldogs down the field and led a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive in 53 seconds that ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Delonte Harrell. Yale's special teams came up big and blocked the point-after try for a 20-16 margin and set up Shohfi's game-clinching score.

Rawlings finished 15-of-21 passing for 181 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Kenney completed half of his 28 pass attempts for 210 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. Harold Coles had 17 carries for 141 yards for Cornell and Harrell had 134 yards receiving on six catches with two scores.