Champions on and off the turf

Nothing can take the place of a championship ring.

Though senior football players Josh Powers and Jared Mollenbeck were honored with ESPN First-Team Academic All-District honors earlier this month, the accomplishments of the Quakers over the past four years are much more significant to them.

“It’s nice to be recognized for doing both those things well … but I can’t claim that it’s that much compared to winning an Ivy League championship,” Powers said.

Powers, a defensive back, received the honor in 2009 as well. He and Mollenbeck, an offensive lineman, are both Wharton students and admitted that it can be difficult to manage academics and football.

At the same time, however, Mollenbeck noted that football actually helps his time management and daily structure.

“In the spring semester, when I have more time on my hands, it’s easy to procrastinate,” he said. “In the season, when you’re really busy, you have to plan ahead and get down to the work.”

The All-District honors make the players eligible for the Academic All-American awards to be announced next week.

While receiving the All-District honor for a second time wasn’t as important to Powers as winning another title, he did say that being All-American would be special.

“Anytime you can win anything that says All-American, that’s a pretty cool title to have,” he said.

Mollenbeck agreed, saying that it “would be special to be put in the same category with some of the brightest student-athletes in the whole country.”

“Some of the guys will play professionally,” he added. “It’d be really special to be in the same group with those guys too.”

While it would be an incredible feat to be recognized on the national level, it’s clear that the only thought on the two players’ minds is beating Cornell this weekend and finishing the season undefeated in the Ivy League.

“Twenty years from now, I’m going to remember having two rings and back-to-back championship, and hopefully undefeated ones if we can beat Cornell,” Mollenbeck said.

Though the two seniors may have been the only players recognized, they acknowledged that the academic integrity of Penn — which doesn’t offer athletic scholarships — helps the on-field play of the entire team.

“We have one of the most complicated defensive schemes that I’ve ever heard of,” Powers said. “I’m not sure other programs could handle it. … With the type of students we are and the intelligence level that we have, it definitely makes us more coachable.”

“I think the rigors of the classroom train you to be prepared on the field and put your best foot forth for the game,” Mollenbeck added.

That extra preparation is exactly what the Quakers will need if they wish to beat Cornell and clinch the outright Ivy title.

“Everybody on the team is more concerned with going back to back than with individual efforts,” Mollenbeck said. “We just want to win another championship and go down as one of the special teams in Penn football history.”

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