Mounties and Cornell Battle for Trophy in 15th Annual Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic

The Mansfield University Mountaineers will host the Big Red of Cornell University this Saturday in the 15th Annual Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Karl Van Norman Field.

The game will be broadcast live by Kurt Lowe on ESPN Radio Williamsport and streamed worldwide at GoMounties.com. Highlights of the game will also be available Monday at wellsborohomepage.com.

The Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic is named for former Mountaineer football player and assistant coach Josh Palmer who overcame Hodgkin's Disease to return to the gridiron. While he was undergoing treatment and recovery, Palmer started the Josh Palmer Fund to support area young adults afflicted by cancer. To date the fund has raised and distributed more than one million dollars to local individuals and organizations.

The Palmer Pigskin Classic was first started in 2001, five days after 9/11. All proceeds from t-shirt and raffle sales from today's game go directly to the Josh Palmer Fund. 

Last week, both teams suffered disappointing setbacks in the opening games of the CSFL season. Penn scored the last 21 points of the game in a 31-7 win over the Mountaineers in the nationally-broadcast LUMA 2016 while Cornell dropped a 40-7 decision to CSFL defending champion Navy.

Mansfield had numerous outstanding performances despite the loss. Senior linebacker John Capwell had a career-best performance with 12 tackles including nine solo as well as 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack to be named the CSFL Defensive Player of the Week.

A young Mountaineer offense managed to rack up 299 yards in total offense in the opener including 158 passing yards and 141 yards on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Adam Hutchison completed 15-of-30 passes including one for a touchdown.

Freshman running back Devyn Nelsen averaged 5.1 yards per carry on 11 attempts with Hutchison picking up 45 yards, also on 11 carries. Keith Brown and LeRon Strothers combined for 37 yards.

Senior Kurt Logan had an eye-catching game in the opener, pulling down seven passes for 78-yards and returning four kickoffs for 92 yards while picking up an additional eight yards on a carry. Freshman D.J. Mclean Jr., caught his first collegiate touchdown pass on a 24-yard toss from Hutchison.

Defensively the Mountaineers were led by Capwell and fellow senior Kyle Post. In addition to seven tackles including five solo, Post blocked a field goal attempt. Seniors Dylan Flexer, Mike Bucek and Brandon Pace combined for 15 stops.

Cornell drew a tough Navy squad in the season opener. Head coach Terry Cullen and co-head coach Bart Guccia have a veteran team that was able to pick up 168 yards on the ground against Navy led by Kevin Nathanson who ran for 81 yards on the afternoon averaging 6.8 yard per carry. Three different quarterbacks saw action with Connor Ostrande completing 6-of-11 passes for 50 yards. Conrad McCarthy and Alfonso Nazzaro topped the defense with seven tackles each.

Mansfield hits the road for the first time this season when they travel to Army West Point next Saturday.