PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania sprint football team started the 2022 season off in style, cruising to a 30-7 victory Friday night against Alderson Broaddus at Franklin Field. The Quakers (1-0) out-scored the Battlers, 14-0 in the second half en route to the win.
 
Senior quarterback Andrew Paolini kicked off his campaign with four total touchdowns, while freshman wide receiver Brandon Graves had a debut to remember with five receptions for 128 yards and two scores.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*The Quakers win their first season opener since 2018 (54-21 vs. Mansfield).
 
*Penn is now 3-0 all-time against Alderson Broaddus.
 
*Senior QB Andrew Paolini completed 20 of his 34 pass attempts for 320 yards and three touchdowns (zero interceptions). He also rushed 16 times for 40 yards with a score.
 
*Friday marked the first time in Paolini's career in which he registered above 300 yards in a single game.
 
*Penn's first points of the game came on a safety. It was the second matchup in a row against Alderson Broaddus in which the Quaker defense recorded a safety to open the game's scoring.
 
*The Quaker rushing attack had a solid night against the Battler defense, recording a net yardage of 84 yards, led by Levi Gans' 46 yards on 15 carries. Paolini rushed 16 times for 40 yards and a touchdown.
 
*What a debut it was for freshman wideout Brandon Graves. The rookie pass-catcher caught five passes for 128 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one of which was a gorgeous 52-yard highlight reel that gave the Quakers a 16-7 lead in the closing seconds of the first half.
 
*Two other Penn wide receivers also totaled more than 60 yards in Jake Wang (69) and Danny Coale (60). The former hauled in the Quakers' first touchdown of the new season, a 21-yard pass from Paolini at the 11:02 mark of the second quarter.

*The Quakers totaled 404 yards of total offense - 320 passing and 84 rushing - racking up a total of 19 first downs and 32:22 time of possession.
 
*Penn's defense held Alderson Broaddus to 249 yards of total offense – 266 yards passing and -17 yards rushing – as Charles Tauckus finished as the Quakers' leading tackler (7). Penn totaled two sacks as a team with Travis Legum recorded one for a loss of seven yards. He also had three tackles for a loss of 14 yards on the night. Adrian Montemayor picked off Battler QB Tim Tillman with 12:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
How It Happened
Penn started contest slowly after fumbling the football on the opening kickoff, giving the Battlers spectacular field position in the first seconds of the contest. Alderson Broaddus would then turn the ball over on downs after Legum sacked Tillman for a loss of seven yards to the Penn 31.
 
Both teams were scoreless through the game's first 15 minutes when Penn started the second quarter the same way it started the first, by way of a fumble recovered by Alderson Broaddus.
 
Pinned to its own one-yard line, Matt McKillop made quite the play on defense, nailing Hunter Sullivan in the Alderson Broaddus endzone for the safety, giving Penn a 2-0 lead.
 
Andrew Paolini's 21-yard pass to Jake Wang with 11:02 remaining in the second quarter capped a seven play, 30-yard drive to put the Quakers up, 9-0.
 
Alderson Broaddus cracked the scoreboard with 2:03 left, an 11-yard pass to Jacob Perez from Tim Tillman to cut the Penn lead to 9-7.
 
With just nine seconds to play in the half, Paolini launched a ball deep to Brandon Graves, who gathered the ball for the 52-yard touchdown. The Quakers took a 16-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Going almost the entire third quarter without any scoring, Paolini proved he's much more than a passing quarterback after he ran three yards, leaping over the goal-line for touchdown, his third of the game to extend Penn's lead to 23-7.  
Graves continued his incredible debut with another touchdown catch, this time a 31-yarder from Paolini, who bobbled the ball off a defender, making the catch and scampering into the endzone with 13:11 to play as the Quakers took a 30-7 lead, proving to be the final score.  
Up Next
Penn travels to Saint Thomas Aquinas in the second game – first on the road – of the 2022 schedule. The matchup kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.