Penn-Ohio Dominican Box Score (PDF)
 
PHILADELPHIA – It took a half for the University of Pennsylvania football team to hit its stride on Saturday afternoon against Ohio Dominican, but once the Quakers found momentum they did not relinquish it on the way to a 42-24 victory over the Panthers.
 
Penn scored 35 of its 42 points after the break and was especially effective with the run, gaining 236 yards on just 19 second-half carries (a 12.4 yards-per-rush average). Karekin Brooks had 142 yards on the ground to lead the attack, while Abe Willows had 73 and Isaiah Malcome had 49.
 
As for the All-America candidate Justin Watson, he caught eight balls for 134 yards and had two TD catches.
 
The teams traded short possessions to start the game, before Dominican put together a solid drive to draw first blood. Covering 79 yards over seven plays, the Panthers went up 7-0 when Cedric Washington won a jump ball thrown by Grant Russell at the goal line. The scoring play covered 40 yards.
 
Penn tried to respond, driving to ODU's 22-yard line before the defense held. Jack Soslow then bounced a 39-yard field goal off the right post, and Penn came away empty.
 
The Penn defense caught a break late in the first quarter when Grant put the ball on the ground and it was recovered by the Quakers' Nick Miller on ODU's 28-yard line. However, just three plays later the Red and Blue gave it right back to the Panthers with a fumble at the 25.
 
After starting the game with Will Fischer-Colbrie at quarterback, Penn made a scheduled switch to start the second quarter with Nick Robinson under center.

It is always nice when a plan comes together. The Quakers' first play was a rush for 22 yards, and then Robinson found Watson down the middle for a 59-yard touchdown after Watson made two defenders run into each other trying to tackle him.
 
Ohio Dominican tilted the field in its favor when a Logan Neidhardt punt was downed at the Penn 1-yard line. That paid off, as the Quakers could not get a first down and then punted only to its own 35. Penn's defense stood tall and held ODU to just three points despite the short field. The Panthers used 10 plays and got as close as Penn's 3-yard before settling for a 27-yard Jed Quackenbush field goal to go up 10-7. It remained that way to the half.
 
Fischer-Colbrie was back under center to start the second half, and he found Watson twice for a combined 42 yards, the second connection a two-yard score on the right side to push the Quakers ahead, 14-10. The scoring drive took seven plays and covered 65 yards.
 
ODU looked like it might respond, but on a second-down play Sam Philippi stood a ball carrier up and then stripped him off the ball near midfield and teammate Louis Vecchio recovered. The Quakers then needed just three running plays to gash 55 yards through the Panthers defense. Brooks went for 24 and then 18 to hit paydirt and give Penn a 21-10 advantage.
 
Penn made it 28-10 in short order on its next possession, needing three plays to go 60 yards with the scoring play a nice Fischer-Colbrie touch pass that Nick Bokun caught in stride down the left sideline for a 30-yard score.
 
Ohio Dominican ended the Penn scoring run with a six-play, 72-yard drive that was finished in standout fashion by Brandon Schoen. He took an out pass from Russell at the left sideline, shook off a tackler, then outraced the Quakers defense to the end zone to make the score 28-17.
 
The Panthers still had momentum after they intercepted Fischer-Colbrie near the end of the third quarter on their 27 and drove to the Quakers' 36-yard line. However, the Penn defense stiffened on a fourth-and-1 and took over on downs early in the fourth. On the next play, Brooks broke off right tackle, cut back to the left, and was off to the races for a 64-yard score along the left sideline. That sudden turn in momentum made the score 35-17.
 
Penn's next drive was Malcome's turn to shine, as the freshman ran three times for a combined 49 yards. Robinson then closed out the drive with a six-yard run to put the Quakers up, 42-17. ODU closed out the game's scoring with 4:44 left as Austin Ernst found David Turner for a 22-yard touchdown pass on the left side of the end zone.
 
Penn returns to action next Saturday at Lehigh, kicking off with the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem at 12:30 p.m.