Friday Night Lights: Penn football prepares for must-win matchup with Yale

Who is going to shine the brightest under the lights at Franklin Field this Friday?

That’s the question on everyone’s minds as Penn (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) takes on Yale (3-2, 0-2) during this year’s Friday Night Lights matchup. The two teams, historical heavyweights in the Ancient Eight, currently sit at the bottom of the standings. With both teams looking to get in the win column, the stakes have never been higher.

“We’re hungry,” junior wide receiver Jared Richardson said. “We need that first conference win, and we’re going to be playing another team that’s 0-2 so they’re looking for one. [So] they’re going to come here hungry as well. So we just have to match their intensity — if not, it has to be through the roof — so we can leave Friday with a dub.”

The road to that dub will be no easy task. Firstly, since the game takes place on a Friday, the team loses one day of preparation. But the shortened schedule does not mean a lessened intensity or focus. Throughout practice this week, there has been an elevated attention to detail to tighten up on both sides of the ball.

“[Coach Benson] was telling us as a collective group we have to raise our level of commitment right now because this is literally all or nothing,” senior defensive back Shiloh Means said.

The defense, led by Means and junior linebacker John Lista, will face off against a ground attack anchored by running back Josh Pitsenberger, who is third in the standings for most rushing yards with 336. But, last week against Columbia, Penn shut down Columbia running back Joey Giorgi to only 49 yards. They held all of Columbia to under 100 yards — a good omen for limiting Yale’s offensive potency.

Furthermore, the Quakers will look to stop the Bulldogs’ new starting quarterback Grant Jordan. After a blowout loss to Cornell, they gave Jordan the nod. Despite never seeing very limited game action his first three seasons, Jordan has adjusted into the role well, putting up a five-touchdown performance in a shootout against Dartmouth. His star receivers include David Pantelis and Mason Shipp, the former of whom is top five in receiving yards in the Ivy League.

“They are a very senior-led team. We just got to make sure we focus on ourselves and do that,” coach Ray Priore said. “At the end, it takes a lot of series of one plays, obviously collected together to win it. And we just saw the short end when you lose your games by less than the touchdown.”

The team has been focusing on execution in practice — limiting penalties, making those key catches, setting players in the right position to intercept the ball, protecting the football. Limiting turnovers will be key against a strong Yale defense that has forced six fumbles and five interceptions thus far. And, as always, it has been a focus for senior quarterback Aidan Sayin in practice this week.

Sayin currently sits 365 yards behind the all-time leading passing-yards record. Last season, he lit up the Yale defense with 364 yards and two passing touchdowns. That same game, Richadson had 191 yards and a touchdown off of 17 receptions. It was a big game for the offensive duo. But in regards to this year, senior wide receiver Julien “Juice” Stokes and junior Bisi Owens will likely be strong contributors.

“Just be on the same page, talk, communicate,” Sayin said of the strategy of him and the receivers. “And if we do that, they can’t cover our receivers.”

The Red and Blue will need a big game from both sides of the ball to tie it all together. But despite the defeats in Ancient Eight play, the team’s faith is not shaken. The team knows exactly who they are.

“We just need to execute better on both on all aspects of the game. We’re so close. We played two real good football teams,” Priore said. “We’re a good football team. We just got to show it Friday night.”

The stars will shine on Franklin Field for a Friday Nights Lights matchup airing nationally on ESPNU. Only time will tell who will shine the brightest.