This weekend, the Penn sprint football team found itself on the right end of a thrilling finish.
Pushed to victory by a 73-yard touchdown catch by senior Whit Shaw with only nine seconds left in the game, the Red and Blue defeated Franklin Pierce, 24-20.
Twenty-one seconds earlier, it looked as if the Quakers were headed to a loss equally as painful as their six-overtime heartbreaker to Cornell on Sept. 14.
With 30 seconds to go, D.J. MacDonald scored on a 15-yard pass from Tyler Mathews, giving the Ravens a 20-17 lead, the fifth lead change in a game that would see six overall.
Thirty seconds, though, proved to be just enough time for sophomore quarterback Keith Braccia.
After missing sophomore Nick Longtin on first down from his own 27, Braccia hit Shaw downfield for the decisive score.
It was Shaw’s second touchdown of the day, as he notched six receptions for 143 yards.
Shaw and Braccia were not the only ones providing heroics on the day for the Red and Blue.
Sophomore Mike Beamish pounded away at the Ravens’ defensive front, recording 134 yards rushing on 25 carries.
It was Braccia, though, who scored the only rushing touchdown on the day for the Red and Blue, plunging in from one yard out with 12:30 to go in the fourth quarter to give the Quakers their first lead since the second quarter, 17-14.
After all of the late-game heroics, Penn sits at 1-1, and will return to Franklin Field Friday for a showdown with Mansfield at 7 p.m.
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