PHILADELPHIA - After honoring its nine seniors prior to kickoff, the University of Pennsylvania sprint football team scored 35 unanswered points to defeat visiting Mansfield, 35-13, and cap off an undefeated season within the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) South Division. Senior wide receiver
Marcus Jones hauled in his team-leading sixth touchdown pass in his final game at Franklin Field, while the defense caused six turnovers and held the Mountaineers scoreless in the final three quarters.
HOW IT HAPPENED
*The Quakers were off to a slow start offensively in the early going, allowing the Mounties (1-5, 1-3 CSFL South) to race out to an early 13-0 lead. Quarterback Nick Cherasaro put the first points of the night on the board with a one-yard rushing score, before Mansfield made it a 13-0 advantage on a Jakob Woods touchdown reception, stemming from a Penn fumble on its ensuing drive.
*It was not long before the Quakers began to work on cutting into the early deficit, as
Jake Klaus capped off a four-play, 52-yard drive with a six-yard rushing score. Penn quarterback
Joshua Trybus connected with wideout
Barry Klein on a 39-yard pass to set up the score just two plays prior.
*On the ensuing Mansfield drive, the Penn defense came to life when
Jack Hennigan halted the drive with his first interception of the season, setting up Penn with great field position. However, an interception on the very next play negated the progress as the the Quaker defense went back to work. The Mounties answered by marching down to the Penn 18 on nine plays and opted to line up for a field goal on fourth & ten to try to make it a two possession game.
Michael Doulong fired off the right edge on the snap and timed it perfectly to block the kick as Mateo Murgia was there to scoop it up and take it 56 yards to the Mansfield 24.
*Trybus redeemed himself of the early turnover, taking the option-keeper from five yards out to the left edge of the hash marks to give Penn its first lead of the night, 14-13. With under five minutes to play in the half,
Dan Smith picked off a Cherasaro pass at the line of scrimmage to set up Penn at the Mounties' 33 with a chance to score before the break. The Quakers did just that, as Trybus lofted a pass to the right corner of the end zone to
Marcus Jones who snatched it out of the air and over the head of the Mansfield defender as Penn took an eight-point lead into halftime.
*The second half was all Penn, as Trybus opened the third quarter with a perfectly placed pass to
Alex Fruhbeis down the seam for a 76-yard touchdown pass. With five minutes remaining in the third quarter,
Tom Console came up with Penn's third interception of the night, this time cutting across the field to snag a fading pass attempt on the sideline before it could get to the receiver. Klaus took advantage of the short field, finding the end zone on a drive that lasted just over 90 seconds with a seven-yard rushing touchdown.
*Senior
Adam Yunus made the most of senior night, recovering his first-career fumble in the fourth quarter to close the book on Mansfield.
*Klaus finished the night with 119 yards on 30 attempts out of the backfield with two scores, culminating in 146 all-purpose yards on the night. Fruhbeis was the leading receiver for the first time this season, logging 96 yards and a touchdown while Trybus threw for 169 yards on 8-of-11 passing. Murgia and
Quinn Karam each had a team-leading nine tackles, and
Tracey Woods Jr. finished the night with four pass breakups.
WHAT'S NEXT
Penn (6-1, 4-0 CSFL South) turns its attention to next week's CSFL Championship Game at Army West Point in a rematch from week three. Kick off from Shea Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.
#FightOnPenn
