The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Yale runs past Cornell to win Ivy opener
Freshman Dudek finishes 12 yards shy of rushing record
NEW HAVEN — Zane Dudek’s high school rushing record fell this past week, less than a year after he had set it.
Dudek nearly set a different record at the collegiate level on Saturday afternoon.
The freshman running back gained 173 yards on just 16 carries to help lead Yale to a 49-24 victory over Cornell in its home and Ivy League opener at the Yale Bowl. Dudek fell 12 yards short of Yale’s single-game freshman rushing record of 185, set in 2001 by Robert Carr against Dartmouth.
“That’s how I ran throughout my high school career,” said Dudek, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound spitfire from western Pennsylvania. “I still have to adapt to the college game a little bit.”
It seems Dudek is adapting just fine: he gained 131 yards on a mere nine carries in his college debut a week earlier — a 56-28 Yale win at Lehigh.
Dudek wasn’t the only impressive runner on Saturday for Yale (2-0). Senior Deshawn Salter rushed for 143 yards on just 12 carries and scored three touchdowns, including a huge, 82yard sprint midway through the fourth quarter after Cornell had crept to within 11 points.
“We’ve got some good running backs ... we’ve got a great offensive line,” said head coach Tony Reno. “I feel like those guys keep moving the chains. They work really well together. It’s not always gonna be easy on the ground, but these two guys (Salter and Dudek) as well as the stable of running backs we have, along with the offensive line, work really well together.”
Alas, not all was perfect for Yale. The Bulldogs racked up an unsightly 14 penalties for 124 yards. Cornell also dominated the time of possession in the first half, particularly the opening quarter, when the Big Red (0-2) had the ball for 10 1/2 of the first 15 minutes of play.
In all, Yale’s defense was on
the field for 50 plays in the first half. To its credit, it only allowed 10 points, limiting Cornell to a field goal after a 14-play opening drive to inside the Yale 10, and also picking off a pair of passes.
“Fifty plays in the first half, on a day like (Saturday, 80 degree temperatures at kick-off) was a lot,” said Reno. “We’ve got to continue to try to get ourselves off the field.”
Dudek took over in the second half. His 47-yard run from midfield set up Salter’s 3-yard scoring run on the next play. A 29-yard Dudek scamper to the Cornell 9 on Yale’s next possession ultimately set up another short Salter TD run, and after Kurt Rawlings hit Jaeden Graham on a four-yard scoring pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, it appeared the Bulldogs were well on their way to a blowout win.
However, Harold Coles quickly countered with a 90-yard touchdown run — the second-longest in Cornell’s history. And when Dalton Banks hooked up with James Hubbard on a 57-yard scoring connection, the Big Red were within 11 (34-24) with 8:23 to play.
That’s when Salter stepped up with his 82-yard run — Yale’s longest run from scrimmage since a 94-yard rush by Kahlil Keys in 2013.
“Really, I got on the corner and there was nobody there,” Salter explained. “The O-line did a great, great job.”
Dudek’s performance capped an interesting week for him. His Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League singlegame rushing record of 492 yards, set last year, was broken by Mapleton’s Dylan Rush, who gained 524 yards on 39 carries.
“Yeah, I saw the record was broken,” Dudek said afterwards. “I was a little disappointed that it only lasted, like, 10 games. But that’s alright. I expect my records to be broken at some point.”
If he keeps playing like he’s played in his first two collegiate games, his name could appear in plenty more record books.
“You can tell what a football team is made of when they’re not playing well,” Reno summed up. “It’s easy to be on top and stay on top when you’re playing your best. But it’s really hard to come back when you’re not playing your best, and in a game, make the adjustments you need to make to be successful. To me, that’s the mark of a good team. How good it will be, time will tell.”
QUICK KICKS
Yale defensive back Tosan Agbeyegbe was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter for targeting Banks. Agbeyegbe made contact with Banks’ helmet. By NCAA rules, he’ll have to sit out the first half of Saturday night’s game at Fordham, though he can appeal and have the league look at video to see if he was unfairly penalized.
Saturday was the new Handsome Dan’s birthday. Yale’s band played “Happy Birthday” for him at halftime.
Yale improved to 48-30-2 all-time against the Big Red. The series began on Oct. 16, 1889, when Walter Camp coached the Bulldogs to a 60-6 win in New Haven.