FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mounties Travel to Cornell for 2014 Season Finale – Maniscalco and Offense on Record Pace

MANSFIELD –The Mansfield University sprint football program will hope to take the momentum and energy generated from last week's shutout win over Princeton into the 2014 season finale when the Mountaineers travel to Ithaca for their traditional season-ending game with the Big Red of Cornell University Friday night.

Kickoff is set for 7 pm at Schoellkopf Field with audio coverage by Doug Page of ESPN Radio Williamsport starting at 6:50 pm. The ESPN Radio broadcast, along with Cornell's live stats and live video, will be linked at GoMounties.com.

Mansfield (1-5) has played well in five losses this season and dominated in the win over Princeton. The Mountaineers set school sprint football records in points, scoring margin and total offense in the 67-0 win. Cornell fell to 2-4 overall with a heartbreaking 17-14 loss when Post scored the winning touchdown with 36 seconds remaining.

After five close calls, Mansfield picked up its first win of the season with a 67-0 win over Princeton. The Mountaineers scored 53 second half points after holding a 14-0 halftime advantage and set a school record with 510 yards in total offense.

Quarterback Mike Maniscalco passed for more than 250 yards for the third game in row, throwing for 268-yards and two touchdowns to become the first player in school sprint history to pass for more than 1500 yards in a season. Maniscalco now has thrown for a CSFL-best 1549 yards and has 13 touchdowns with just six interceptions. Senior Jeremy Estremera started at running back for the first time this season picking up 78 yards on 15 carries to become MU career sprint rushing leader.

The Mountaineers have not beaten the Big Red in eight tries since becoming a full-time member of the CSFL in 2009. However the last three games have been battles including last year's 26-24 setback when Cornell scored on a touchdown pass on a fourth-down on the last play of the game.

 Maniscalco completed 14-of-21 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown in that game while rushing for 75 yards. Kurt Logan and Eddie Larcom each caught touchdown passes.

Mansfield ranks second in the CSFL in passing averaging 259.8 yards per game in the air and has the league best pass defense allowing an average of just 124.3 yards per game. Mansfield will be challenged by a balanced Cornell offense that has rushed for 964 yards on the season and passed for 958 yards. The Mountaineers, who rank seventh in the CSFL in rushing offense (66.3 ypg), ran for a season best 232-yards against Princeton.

Maniscalco has developed into one of the top quarterbacks in the CSFL this season and has shattered all the school season and career passing records. He has twice thrown for more than 300 yards in a game including a CSFL season-high 380-yard, five touchdown performance against Army.

Despite being under heavy pressure for much of the season, Maniscalco has been successful because of the exceptional performance of four receivers in Kurt Logan, Joe Bucek, Eddie Larcom and Jeremy Estremera. The talented foursome all rank in the top 10 in the CSFL in receptions per game.

A sophomore, Logan is the top receiver in the league with CSFL best 34 catches for 504 yards and six touchdowns. Bucek isn't far behind with 28 receptions for 311 yards. Larcom and Estremera rank sixth and tenth receptively in the league with 26 catches for 355 yards and two touchdowns while Estremera, who moved to running back for much of the Princeton game, coming in with 17 grabs for 196 yards.
The secondary has been the strength of the defense for much of the season and currently ranks first in the CSFL with 11 picks on the season led by Kyle Post's league-leading 3 interceptions.

Junior Spencer Underdown has stepped up to be one of the top tacklers in the CSFL and currently ranks third in the league with 43 total stops. Senior Anthony Mazzone ranks in the top 10 in the tackles with 38. Fellow senior defensive lineman Tim Carr is second in the league in tackles-for-loss with 9.5 on the season.

Cornell, which scored 30 points on Navy, has an outstanding offense led by sophomore quarterback Rob Pannullo who has thrown for 845 yards and nine touchdowns on the season with 11 interceptions.

Senior Jonathan Roth has been Pannullo's go-to guy with 21 catches for 276 yards on the year. The Big Red also have a potent running game keyed by junior Benjamin Herrera who ranks sixth in the league averaging 66.5 yards per game and Pannullo averaging 46.5 yards per outing.

Sophomore linebacker Chris D'Ambrosio tops the defense with 38 tackles on the season