Sprint Football breaks streak

The Quakers finally defeated perennial league nemesis Navy. The Penn sprint football team is off to its best start ever after the Quakers (3-0, 1-0 Collegiate Sprint Football League) beat Navy, 17-14, for the first time since 1989. "We finally held on to it. We didn't let it slip away," Penn senior co-captain Neil Batiancila said. "We played with a different attitude. There was no way we were going out of there without a win." Prior blowout losses to Navy (1-4, 0-2) and last year's narrow defeat were very much on the minds of Penn's veterans during and leading up to the game on Friday. "This was the first time I've beaten Navy, and I've been on the team for four years," Penn co-captain Carter Byrnes said. "I was so happy for Coach Wagner." Most of Penn's 7 points could be attributed to junior running back Tim Ortman-- who broke his own school record of yardage in a game with 262 yards on 49 carries with two touchdowns. Dating back to last season, this is the fourth consecutive game that Ortman achieved 200 yards or more. "I'll take whatever comes, but our number one priority is winning games," Ortman said about his record braking performance. "It really isn't my record. It's the offense's record." Ortman was quick to give credit to the offensive line, the receivers and the fullback for a great job blocking. Penn coach Bill Wagner stated that "the offensive line and Tim Ortman did a great job." The Quakers owe a large part of their win to the outstanding performance by the defense throughout all four quarters. After playing three perfect quarters, a very tired defense allowed two late touchdowns, but these 14 points were the only ones Navy would score for the rest of the game. "Our defense came up big in the latter part of the game when Navy made its run at us, when the game was getting really physical," Wagner said. Penn attributed the Navy touchdowns to a tired defense and to officiating that was very kind to the home team. Wagner stated that "[Navy was] desperately trying anything to win," and that the Midshipmen were "very aggressive" in their blocks. The Quakers will not have time to savor the victory for long, as they are preparing to face Cornell this Friday. According to Wagner, the Navy game will not have any meaning if the Quakers do not beat Cornell. "This win is just a stepping stone toward the championship," Batiancila said. "It proves that the first two weren't a fluke." "We're feeling pretty good, but we know we have a tougher Cornell team this time around," Byrnes said. Although Penn demolished Cornell 41-0 earlier in the season, they are expecting a much improved performance from the Big Red. Cornell has recruited some new players. It will also have home field advantage and will be looking to avenge its earlier loss. "We need to take the momentum with us, but we can't look past them," Wagner said. "It was a great win overall. It was fantastic to beat an academy team. Our goal is to beat both the academy teams, and we're halfway there," Byrnes said. For now, the Quakers are looking ahead to next week, and they hope that this victory can give them the lift that they need to capture the league title.

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