Penn sprint football played Molloy at Franklin Field on Oct. 18.
Credit: Darren SaitoOn a beautiful evening in West Philadelphia, the Molloy Lions came to town for their inaugural battle with Penn sprint football. By the end, the final score was nothing short of ugly.
Throughout the night, Penn put on an absolute clinic including an early offensive barrage of five consecutive touchdown drives to start the game. In the end, the Quakers shut out the Lions 49-0, continuing their unbeaten season at 4-0.
The opening kickoff was returned for 37 yards by sophomore defensive back Josh Johnson and this explosive play proved to be a preview of what was to come. After a quick 34-yard pass from freshman quarterback Michael Malone to sophomore wide receiver Andy Falletta got the Quakers into the red zone, senior running back Tom Rebstock ran the ball in for a four-yard touchdown just 45 seconds into the contest.
“Offensive line doing all the work for me," Rebstock said. "They made my life easy, and I get to take all the credit.”
After a quick Molloy three-and-out, the Quakers' special teams unit blocked a punt, allowing the offense to pick things up from across midfield. Seconds later, a pass from Malone was tipped by two Molloy defenders in the air but ultimately caught by freshman wide receiver Jason Sheairs in the end zone to make it 14-0.
Then came the trickery: An onside squib kick by senior kicker Adrian Montemayor was recovered by senior linebacker Matt McKillop, creating an instant opportunity for the Quakers. Two plays later, Rebstock got the nod again, this time going five yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night.
“[It’s] a lot of fun to score that much. Felt great out there,” Rebstock said.
With 9:24 remaining in the first quarter, Penn was on track to score 200 points. It seemed the Red and Blue were ready to test the lights on the scoreboard, which says a lot — Franklin Field opened its doors in 1895.
After the Penn defense forced another three-and-out, sophomore running back J.T. Goodman joined the party with a 27-yard touchdown to put Penn up 28-0.
Shortly after, Rebstock ran in his third touchdown of the night to extend Penn’s lead to 35. Penn's punting unit took the field for the first time on the sixth possession, but the Rebstock show quickly continued with yet another rushing touchdown on the seventh. He would finish the game with 122 rushing yards along with four touchdowns.
“[Rebstock is] a leader," coach Jerry McConnell said. "He works really hard for us every day in practice. He works as hard as he does during the games. Kids see that, and he just continues to get better for us. So it's really, you know, [the] culmination of him getting better every time we snap the ball.”
The Lions did not gain a first down until the final five minutes of the first half. At halftime, the head coaches from both teams decided with the referees to shorten the third and fourth quarters to 10 minutes each.
It wasn’t until halfway through the fourth quarter that the scoring resumed, with freshman running back Ben Lu capping off a seven-play drive with a three-yard score, making the score 49-0. This score proved to be the final, a shutout for the Quaker defense.
"Our defense has been great all year. I don't think that there's been a game that they haven't dominated for us,” McConnell said. “[Defensive coordinator] Bobby Ray Harris does a great job with the kids, gets them ready to play and motivated [and] you know, the kids just, they get it done. They play hard.”
Friday’s game marks the end of Penn’s CSFL South play, with their final three opponents all coming from the north. The Quakers will look to improve to 5-0 next Saturday when they travel to New Jersey to take on Caldwell.
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