GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College's offense put up one of its strongest performances of the season Saturday in a 52-20 loss to Cornell College on Senior Day.
The Pioneers' passing attack was particularly stellar, as
Tony Bergida '17 threw a season-high three touchdown passes. He also completed 19 passes, which ties a season-high, for 279 yards.
Erik Henderson '19 had a 75-yard TD reception from Bergida, the longest score for the Pioneers since the 2013 season.
Jacob Bernholtz '17 finished with 70 yards rushing, giving him 1,727 for his career. That ranks fifth in Pioneer history.
On the other side of the ball, the nation's leading tackler didn't disappoint.
Ryan Slager '19 had a game-high 19 tackles to give him 154 for the season, which ranks third in Pioneer history and is just seven off the school record.
Slager now has 288 career tackles, which is seventh all-time for the Pioneers.
Besides Slager, other top defensive efforts came from
Kent Hoover '17, who had 12 tackles,
Vinny Pavoni '19 with 11 and
Hassan Thompson '19 with 10.
On offense,
David Taylor '20 had six catches for 78 yards and Henderson five grabs for 82 yards.
Cornell scored on its first two drives before the Pioneers scored on the first play of the ensuing drive. Bergida found Henderson open for a short gain, and the Pioneer saw open space and outsprinted the opposition down the left sideline for a 75-yard TD.
The extra point was no good, leaving it 14-6 with 7:20 to go in the first period.
Cornell added two more touchdowns before Grinnell scored with just 22 seconds left in the first half. The drive included a 14-yard run by Bernholtz and 25-yard completion from Bergida to Bernholtz before Taylor hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass. The point after by
Ibuki Ogasawara '17 made it 28-13 at halftime.
Cornell upped its lead to 42-13 after three quarters. In the fourth frame, Bergida hit
Zach McGriff '17 with a 29-yard scoring strike. Bergida also had a 10-yard pass to Henderson during the drive, and Ogasawara's point after made it 42-20 with 14:47 left in the game.
Cornell added a touchdown and field goal to close out the contest.
Grinnell wraps up its season at 0-8 in the Midwest Conference and 0-10 overall. Cornell is 4-4 in the league and 5-5 overall.
