PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team completed the non-conference portion of its 2019 season with a 38-24 win over Sacred Heart on Saturday, improving to 2-2 on the season.
On a sun-splashed day at Franklin Field,
Karekin Brooks led the way for Penn with 178 rushing yards and four touchdowns, three on the ground and one on a reception.
Nick Robinson threw for 267 yards to aid the cause, hitting eight different receivers in the process.
Penn took the opening kickoff and immediately drove the field for the game's opening score. Robinson had two big-play passes to cover 74 of those yards, hitting
Rory Starkey, Jr. for 42 yards on a third-down play and then
Ryan Cragun for 37 more which put Penn on Sacred Heart's 1-yard line. From there, it took three plays but eventually Brooks powered up the gut into the end zone for a 7-0 Quakers lead.
The Red and Blue doubled its lead late in the first by taking advantage of a shanked Sacred Heart punt which gave Penn the ball on SHU's 35. Brooks led a drive that exhibited Penn's punishing ground game, his 26 yards coming on six carries. It only seemed appropriate that he should end it with another push up the middle from a yard out.
It looked like Penn might make it 21-0 shortly after that when
Adam Conyer intercepted Logan Marchi's pass at SHU's 40-yard line and returned it all the way to the 2. However, the teams switched ends at the quarter and Sacred Heart rose to the occasion, stuffing Penn on four plays to take over. The Pios then went on a sustained drive that got the ball to midfield before the Quakers stopped them, but the field was effectively flipped by a punt that put the ball on Penn's 16-yard line.
No matter. Penn rode Robinson's arm down the field, the junior completing four passes for 48 yards before the Quakers stalled on SHU's 26-yard line. From there,
David Perkins kicked a 43-yard field goal that grazed the right post and slid through for a 17-0 Red and Blue lead.
Sacred Heart got on the board on its next drive. The Pioneers sped things up and nicely mixed their air and ground games to cover 62 yards in just seven plays before Penn stopped them at the 13. From there, lefty field-goal kicker Dane Borges was true from 30 yards to make the score 17-3.
Penn quickly responded. Needing just seven plays and 1:33 of game time, the Quakers marched 75 yards to a 24-3 lead. The final 17 yards came when Robinson dumped a pass to Brooks and he charged into open field before flying into the end zone among three Sacred Heart defenders.
As it turned out, the Red and Blue left too much time on the clock. Sacred Heart started on its own 22 with 1:45 left but needed just 1:05 to cover the 78 yards. The scoring play was a lofted pass from Marchi that Naseim Brantley caught in stride along the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown. That made it 24-10 Penn at the half.
The only points in the third quarter came from the defense. Penn had the ball deep in its own territory when a muffed snap went through Robinson's legs and the junior failed to corral the loose ball at the goal line. Instead, Sacred Heart's Kevin Peprah emerged from a pile in the end zone with the ball and six points and the teams went to the final quarter with Penn's lead a precarious 24-17.
Penn fixed that quickly in the fourth. On the third play of the period, a fourth-and-3 near midfield,
Ryan Glover (51 rushing yards on the day) came around the right side for nine yards and a first down. On the next play, Robinson found Starkey on the right sideline, the junior shaking off a defender and taking it all the way to Sacred Heart's 1-yard line. Penn went backwards a bit after that, with two false starts, but eventually Robinson found Starkey again and the Quakers' lead was 31-17.
It lasted all of two plays. On second down from SHU's own 26, Marchi found Tyrese Chambers in the seam and the Pioneers freshman took it from there, racing to the end zone for a play that covered 74 yards and made the score 31-24.
Penn again had the answer. The Quakers embarked on a 13-play drive that ended with Brooks up the gut for two yards—his fourth score—to give the Red and Blue a 38-24 lead with 6:51 to play. It was a nervy drive that was aided greatly by a fortuitous bounce on a double-reverse that allowed Starkey to get a first down, and then a pass-interference call against SHU on a Robinson pass to Cragun near the goal line.
Any chance Sacred Heart might get back in were snuffed out when Marchi had a pass intercepted by
Sam Philippi in the Penn end zone with 2:25 left in the game. From there, the Quakers ran out the clock to earn the victory.
Penn has nothing but Ivy League games the rest of the way, starting next Saturday when the Quakers make the trip to New York City and a meeting with Columbia. Kickoff with the Lions is slated for 1:30 p.m.
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