Quakers get clawed

Saturday’s football score was a bit misleading.

On the one hand, Villanova needed just 14 seconds to score its first touchdown of the night. On the other, the Wildcats put up just seven points in the remaining 59:46.

Either way, Penn dropped its season opener at Franklin Field, 14-3, to Villanova. For the sixth year in a row, the Quakers lost to the Wildcats (3-0).

That 14-second score came on the opening kickoff, when Villanova junior Matt Szczur ran up the middle untouched, then took it down the sideline for 87 yards to the endzone.

After picking up just one first down in their next two series, the Quakers looked like they might not score the rest of the night.

But so did Villanova.

Penn held the Wildcats to 29 yards rushing and 38 yards in the air the entire first half, and gave up just 187 yards overall.

Senior captain Jake Lewko and the rest of the Penn defense hounded quarterback Chris Whitney early, allowing the versatile junior a meager three completions and three rushing yards before halftime.

Senior noseguard Joe Goniprow and junior defensive end Owen Thomas each added a sack in the first half, and cornerback Jonathan Moore notched his second career interception at the start of the second quarter.

“Defensively, you have to play pretty well if you hold the second-ranked team in the country to seven points,” coach Al Bagnoli said.

’Nova put up 27 and 38 points, respectively, in its previous two games.

“I think the one thing we did great was pass coverage,” said Lewko, who set a career high with 13 tackles and had a second-half sack to boot. “It gave all the inside guys plenty of time to get to the QB.”

Andrew Samson nailed a 22-yard field goal for the Quakers in the second quarter, bringing the score to 7-3, where it stayed until after halftime.

The Wildcats gave Penn something new to think about in the third quarter, subbing quarterback Antwon Young for Whitney.

Young tossed four interceptions last year at Franklin Field, but this time around, the 6-foot-4 senior used his legs. He racked up 36 rushing yards before completing the scoring drive with a five-yard touch pass to a diving Brandyn Harvey in the corner of the end zone.

“We play Antwon on the third series of every game to give him an opportunity to do what he did tonight: to be able to come in and turn the flavor of the game our way,” Villanova coach Andy Talley said.

Talley also thought the Penn offense was pretty bland.

“They actually showed us everything they’ve done in the past,” he said. “They didn’t give us a lot of stuff we haven’t seen. They played a lot more vanilla than we thought they would.”

The Quakers again tried to establish the run early, with junior back Mike DiMaggio carrying the bulk of the load. However, as the team totalled just 1.6 yards per carry for the game, Penn needed quarterback Keiffer Garton to use his arm.

The junior hooked up with last year’s team leader in receiving yards, Kyle Derham, for 44 yards on five completions. Not to be outdone, junior Matt Tuten snagged four passes for 82 yards — both career highs.

Penn utilized Derham and DiMaggio, as well as junior tailback Bradford Blackmon, on a number of screen passes, which Garton indicated will likely become a staple this year.

The offense also implemented the option, which was largely ineffective. Garton came under heavy pressure all night and suffered six sacks.

The Quakers still have a tune-up against Lafayette next Saturday before conference play begins at Dartmouth Oct. 3.

Expectations are still high, and not only from the Penn sideline. Talley became prognosticator at the postgame press conference, making his prediction for the upcoming Ivy season.

“I told Al after the game that if they don’t win the Ivy League title I’m gonna [tell] the alumni to get after him,” Talley said.

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