MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – A pair of third quarter touchdowns lifted host Cornell College past the Prairie Fire 49-29 in a Midwest Conference South Division game on Saturday at Ash Park Stadium.

Knox led 15-14 at the half, but Cornell scored 14 unanswered points to go up 28-15 going into a fourth quarter that featured a combined 35 points between the teams.

The Prairie Fire (2-4, 0-2 MWC South) struck first when first-year Terry White (Hillsdale, IL, Riverdale) scored on an 8-yard run, followed by a two-point conversion with 2:59 to go in the first quarter.  Knox junior defensive back Jordan Zanger (Quincy, IL, Quincy) picked off a pass on Cornell's third drive of the game to set up the score by White.

First-year linebacker Cody Hipp (Crown Point, IN, Crown Point) forced a fumble by the Rams on their next possession that was recovered by sophomore linebacker Beau Gabel (Bourbonnais, IL, Bishop McNamara).  The Prairie Fire moved the ball five yards on offense before missing a field goal from 41 yards out.

Cornell followed with a four-play, 76-yard drive that included a 50-yard pass play and pulled within one, 8-7 with 29 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Knox came back with seven-play, 64-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown by senior running back Adam Brooking (Oswego, IL, Oswego), who initially rushed for eight yards before fumbling and recovering the football in the end zone with 11:22 left in the first half.  First-year kicker Drake Sykes (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) connected on the PAT to give the Prairie Fire a 15-7 lead.

The Rams trimmed the deficit to 15-14 with a 12-yard touchdown reception by Ben Knake with just under eight minutes left in the first half.

The Prairie Fire marched to the Cornell 29 yard line on their next possession, but the drive – which consumed more than six minutes – stalled when the Ram defense held on fourth down.

Cornell (4-1, 2-0 MWC South) grabbed a 21-15 lead on a 2-yard run with 10:49 to play in the third quarter, the first of three consecutive touchdown drives by the Rams – who found the end zone on five of their six second half possessions.

Cornell stretched the lead to 35-15 on touchdowns by Knake – a 44-yard reception late in the third quarter and a 2-yard run early in the fourth.

Knox came back with a 3-yard touchdown pass from first-year quarterback Matt Mc Caffrey (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) to junior wideout Ilir Emini (Yorkville, IL, Yorkville) with 7:02 in the fourth stanza to trim the deficit to 35-22.

The Rams countered with a 33-yard pass and catch for a touchdown at the 3:58 mark to regain a 20 point cushion, 42-22.

The Prairie Fire struck back less than a minute later with a 56-yard pass from Mc Caffrey to senior tight end Ryan Schulz (Abingdon, IL, Abingdon) to cut the Cornell lead to 42-29.

The Rams added a 15-yard touchdown reception by Knake to round out the scoring with 2:02 to play.

Knox finished with 459 total yards of offense to Cornell's 456.  The Prairie Fire passed for 239 yards and ran for another 220.

Mc Caffrey was 25-of-43 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions.  Junior receiver Mathew Hemmingsen (Galesburg, IL, Carl Sandburg College) led the Knox receivers with seven catches and 86 yards.  Schulz added 56 yards receiving and Emini had seven receptions for 55 yards.

White had a big day on the ground with 134 yards on 19 attempts – an average of 7.1 per carry.  Brooking followed with 42 yards on eight rushing attempts.

Knake paced Cornell with 13 receptions for 187 yards and three touchdowns while he ran for 27 yards and one score.  He wound up with 284 all-purpose yards.

Senior safety Will Ruzicka (St. Louis, MO, St. Mary's) made 14 tackles for the Prairie Fire defense.  Hipp and first-year linebacker Trent Wooten (Paxton, IL, Paxton-Buckley-Loda) were next with seven stops each.

Knox returns home to face Grinnell College on Saturday, October 25 at 1:00 p.m.  The Pioneers (1-5, 0-2 MWC South) fell 35-10 at home against Illinois College on Saturday.