PHILADELPHIA – Mansfield got the best of the University of Pennsylvania sprint football team Friday night at Franklin Field, getting a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter to spoil Senior Night, 27-24.
The Quakers (3-4, 2-1 CSFL South) finish their 2022 season on a sour note, falling in their final pair of contests.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn finishes the year with a losing record for the first time since 2013, also going 3-4.
*The Quakers scored 17 points in the third quarter, the most points scored in a single stanza since tallying 21 in the second quarter against Caldwell on October 22, 2021.
*Senior quarterback
Andrew Paolini closed out his Penn career with a turnover-free performance, slinging 13 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 14 times for 34 yards.
*
Kyle Zeitlian led the way with four catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Danny Coale and
Jake Wang both finished with three catches.
*
Cam Janock had a team-high 10 total tackles (with five solos), along with a forced fumble.
Gavin Griswold finished with nine tackles, while
Matt McKillop had eight. Griswold and
Travis Legum combined for a sack on the night.
*
Adrian Montemayor had a punt of 50 yards during the game, a new career high. He also had a fumble return for a touchdown and two pass breakups.
*Penn's loss to Mansfield is its first in the all-time series. The Quakers had won 13 straight against the Mounties prior to Friday night and now lead the series, 13-1.
*Penn honored seniors
Davis Buchanan,
Stuart Harris,
Travis Legum,
Adedotun Bello,
Andrew Paolini,
Lewis Evans,
Caleb Pierce,
Cullen Breen and
Preston Brailer with a pre-game ceremony.
Gallery: (10-28-2022) Sprint Football vs. Mansfield - 10/28/22
How It Happened
The Quakers and Mountaineers went back-to-back opening drives three plays and out as Mansfield set back up on offense with 12:36 on the clock. Driving 65 yards down the field on five plays, Cahsid Raymond aired out a pass 52 yards to Terrance Quaker for the first touchdown of the night, putting Mansfield ahead 7-0.
Despite a 15-yard first down play in which Paolini found Wang downfield, the Quakers turned the ball over on downs on the Mountie 35-yard line.
Penn finally got itself on the scoreboard with 12:11 to play in the second quarter, a six-yard run up the middle by linebacker
Jake Inserra who secured his first career collegiate touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.
After forcing a Mansfield punt on the next drive, Penn used up some clock on a nine-play, 67 yard drive to take the lead following a gorgeous 28-yard touchdown pass from Paolini to Zeitlian.
The Mounties cut the Quaker lead to one point following a late 25-yard touchdown pass. The point after attempt was blocked by Legum, who kept Penn's lead at 14-13.
Montemayor hit a 25-yard field goal with time expiring in the first half as Penn headed into halftime with a 17-13 advantage.
On Penn's opening drive to the third quarter, a costly turnover by
Levi Gans (a fumble) gave the ball back to Mansfield with 14:01 to go.
After the takeaway, Raymond found Quaker for 21 yards and the score to give the Mountaineers a 19-17 lead.
Penn's defense provided a game-changing moment with 1:54 to go in the third quarter as Raymond completed a pass 13 yards to Marcus Melle, when Bello forced a fumble, recovered by Montemayor and taken back 44 yards for the TD, handing Penn a 24-19 edge.
Trailing by five points, Mansfield bled the clock down from 13:32 to 7:28 to go after Raymond tallied his fourth touchdown of the night, a three-yard pass to Randle. With Raymond converting the two-point conversion attempt, the Mountaineers pulled ahead 27-24.
Penn got into Mansfield territory with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but Paolini was tackled for a three-yard loss on fourth down to turn the ball back over to the Mountaineers.
With a limited number of timeouts remaining by the Quakers, Mansfield used the final 3:23 of the contest to come away with the come-from-behind, 27-24 win.
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