GILMAN 37, CORNELL 0 - Pirates win shortened game in Cornell

It was a short night of work Friday for the Gilman football team, who built a 37-0 lead through one quarter at Cornell. The game was terminated at that point after injuries thinned Cornell’s roster.

As the score indicates, it was a mismatch in the first 12 minutes. The entire quarter took place on Cornell’s side of the 80-yard field and the Pirates scored five touchdowns on just seven offensive plays.

Alex Copenhaver’s deep kickoffs pinned Cornell on its 15-yard line on touchbacks five of six times. The Chiefs’ short first punt gave Gilman the ball at the 25-yard line and Tony Syryczuk bounced out to the right and scored on the first play. Starting its next drive on Cornell’s 14-yard line, Gilman got a 9-yard run by Copenhaver and, after a 2-yard loss on a run by Dawson Grunseth, a 7-yard touchdown pass from Logan Halida to Sawyer Winger.

Another short 14-yard drive took one play. Halida dumped a pass to Syryczuk, who took it the rest of the way to make it 24-0. Cornell lost the ball on a fumble and Lucas Halida scored on a 17-yard run. Logan Halida’s 24-yard punt return set up Lucas Halida’s 25-yard touchdown run that closed the scoring with 2:07 left in the quarter.

Gilman finished with 95 yards of offense in the quarter and held Cornell to minus-1.

The Pirates, now 4-0 and the state’s top-ranked eight-player team according to this week’s BoundWisconsin.com coaches poll, host second-ranked McDonell Central in a major mid-season showdown Friday at 7 p.m.