Sprint trounced by Navy

Jimmer Donapel, John Pinto and their Penn sprint football teammates had this matchup against defending champ Navy circled on their schedules since the outset of the season.

After last year's 9-6 heartbreaking home loss to the Midshipmen -- which ended the Red and Blue's title hopes -- the young squad was forced to mutter the bittersweet "there's always next year."

On Friday night, all the incentives were there, including the chance to beat a Navy team that the Quakers had not defeated since 2000 and even a shot at the league title.

The Red and Blue went out and played the game with all the determination and intention of a team possessed.

Problem is, they played it without their star quarterback.

Donapel, the spearhead of a multi-faceted, pick your poison, score-at-will Penn offense was restricted to watching the biggest game of the year from the sideline because of a sprained ankle he sustained on the second offensive series.

"It sounds like a bad pun, but our offense was literally crippled," senior running back Mark Gannon said.

Instead, the Quakers watched as Navy's dominant offense -- often starting in Red and Blue territory -- danced over, around, and through a porous Penn defense to the tune of a 48-0 blowout.

Navy reminded Penn that Donapel is not the only star QB in the CSFL, as reigning league MVP and player of the week Chris Ashinhurst led the onslaught.

Ashinhurst was 16 of 27 for 169 yards and three scores, and the beneficiary of his brilliance was often Adam Matthews. He snagged six passes for 112 yards and an astonishing four touchdowns.

For his performance, Matthews earned this week's CSFL Offensive Player of the Week award.

The Penn offense was stifled by the Middies' dominant defense all night, as the Red and Blue's usually prolific attack could muster only 129 total yards of offense.

After Donapel went down, Brandon Gebers took the helm -- and did an admirable job -- but it was simply not enough.

"Brandon actually did a good job filling in," Gannon said, "but we were expecting [him] to play a lot of other positions."

Turnovers plagued the Penn offense all afternoon, as they committed an uncharacteristically careless seven, constantly putting the defense in adverse situations.

Navy is "not 48 points better than us," said junior defensive lineman John Pinto, who had nine tackles. "They had a lot of big plays."

"The score got out of hand, but it shows us we need to continue to strive to get better. They're the best team in our league right now."

But at least for Donapel and Pinto, there's always next year.

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