Cornell’s Tim Henderson is all about speed. He mentioned it a couple times after his game Friday night. Heck, he even has the Twitter handle @Tim_Speedy7.
And when his Class 1A No. 5 Raiders took on second-ranked Rochester, he let his speed do the talking as soon as the game kicked off.
Henderson returned the opening kick 80 yards for a score and added a 53-yard burst down the sideline for another touchdown in the third quarter and that was all Cornell (6-1, 5-0) needed to secure a 14-7 triumph at Rochester (5-2, 3-2) and maintain the top spot in the Big Seven Conference.
Henderson was so fast, he was in the end zone before the crowd had even filed into the stadium. After a quick cut, he outran the Rams and put his team up early.
“I believe in my speed,” said Henderson. “Just keep going, no stopping. Once I hit that cut, I just took it home.”
That lead was crucial and allowed the Raiders to play ahead against a team with a tough defense. The Rams began the day with the top scoring defense in 1A, allowing just 7.7 points per game.
“He’s a special football player,” Cornell coach Ed Dawson said of Henderson. “Any time he touches the ball, he has the potential to score. This is what he does when he touches the ball.”
In the second quarter, Rochester answered at the 9:15 mark when quarterback J.D. Azulay took a keeper up the middle, broke a few tackles and raced 67 yards into the end zone to tie the score.
From that point, there was a combination of good defense and poor offensive execution from both teams. Each fumbled three times in the game, with Rochester losing two.
The Rams’ final two drives of the first half saw Rochester move the ball into Cornell territory, only to turn it over both times. The first came on a jarring hit that knocked the ball from the grip of Antonio Laure and was recovered by Eric Dennis. After a defensive stop, Rochester again moved the ball into Raiders side of the field, but a halfback pass was picked off with 1 second left before halftime.
Dawson pointed out that the Raiders, too, have a few playmakers on defense.
“Everybody talks about our offense and all that, but nobody looks at our defense,” said Dawson. “We try to play fast and physical every play and just give our offense opportunities and give the special guys opportunities. These kids love to play defense and I love that about them.”
Penalties were a problem for both squads. Cornell was flagged 12 times for 100 yards. The Raiders faced a fourth-and-42 in the third quarter after a series of penalties. Aside from the big plays from Henderson, one of which came on special teams, the Rams kept the Raiders, who scored 34 points in each of their past four games, bottled up.
“We gave up 7 points on defense to a high-powered team,” said Rochester coach Gene Matsook. “We had a couple penalties at the wrong time and that didn’t help us.”
It was after that series of sloppy drives that Henderson took an option pitch and turned on the jets, outracing defenders for what ended up as the game-winning score.
“I told my QB [Sincere Kimbrough], to pitch it, I’m going to be there with speed,” said Henderson, who ran for 89 yards on four carries. “I said, ‘You give it to me, I’m taking it home.’ He gave it to me and I proved it.”
Dawson said he and his players had heard some chirping this season that they didn’t have a marquee victory to go with their great start. Now they do.
First Published: October 16, 2021, 3:56 a.m.
