GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College's football foundational campaign has drawn to a close, and the team saw several great things both Saturday and during the 2021 season.
 
Grinnell, which rebooted football this season after having its 2019 campaign cut short due to low numbers and 2020 scrapped because of CoVID, closed things out with a 34-14 loss to Cornell College at Rosenbloom Field.
 
The Pioneers saw some star-studded performances on the defensive side of the ball. Luke Stefan '25 intercepted two passes, which is fourth-most for a game in program history, and Adam Khater '22 had 4.5 tackles for loss which is tied for fifth all-time.
 
Khater led Grinnell (2-8, 2-7 Midwest Conference) with 14 tackles, Hugh Werner '25 added eight and Chaz Del Mar '22 celebrated Senior Day with seven. Khater and TJ Lawrence '25 each had sacks.
 
Grinnell, which had two more first downs than Cornell (4-6, 4-5 MWC), completed a season-high 19 passes on 35 attempts. Hayden Moses '25 was 12-of-21 through the air and Grayson Woodhouse '24 was 7-of-13 for 117 yards. Each had a touchdown throw.
 
Dustin Saia '22 caught seven passes for 85 yards and a score. He finished the season 11^th in program history with 797 reception yards and 13^th in receptions with 53. Nick Rhinehart '25 added six catches for 84 yards and Woodhouse was the leading rusher with 51 yards.
 
Cornell opened up a 14-0 lead by the end of the first period, but Grinnell got into the scoring act with 12:09 left in the half when Nat Jordan '22 caught his first career touchdown pass from Moses. The series began on a good note when Clayton Burton '23 recovered a fumbled punt at Cornell's 36-yard line. Five plays later, Moses hit Jordan with a 17-yard scoring strike. Rhinehart booted the extra point to make it 14-7.
 
Cornell scored again before halftime to make it 20-7, and added a TD early in the fourth period to go up 27-7.
 
Grinnell got its final score of the season on Saia's 23-yard pass reception from Woodhouse. The eight-play, 97-yard drive included completions of 24 and 17 yards to Rhinehart and a 23-yarder to Saia before another 23-yarder to Saia resulted in a score. The extra point by Rhinehart was good, making it 27-14 with 3:15 left.
 
Cornell got one more TD to finish off the scoring.
 
Saia and Danny Carter '22 each made their marks on Grinnell's career charts during the season. Saia finished 11^th in pass receptions with 111 and 13^th in reception yards and TDs with 1,441 and 11, respectively. Carter wound up ninth in rushing attempts with 403 and 11^th in both rushing yards and touchdowns with 1,441 and 12.