PHILADELPHIA – It's good to be home! The University of Pennsylvania sprint football team had a successful home opener, topping Mansfield 24-13 at Franklin Field on Friday night.
 
Running back JT Goodman scored his first two rushing touchdowns of the year to lead Penn to its first home victory in 2024.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*The defense shared the wealth in the win as Jake Inserra, Adrian Montemayor, and Charles Tauckus each tallied five tackles.
 
*The reigning CSFL Rookie of the Week, Michael Malone, was an offensive force, going 11 for 20 with 152 yards, to go along with 17 yards on the ground and a score.
 
*Goodman led the rushing, going for 80 yards and two tallies, while Jake Wang caught five receptions for 93, including a touchdown.
 
How It Happened
The first three drives of the game ended quickly with three-and-outs for both teams. Sophomore Goodman was on a mission on Penn's second drive, rushing on six straight snaps for 34 yards to bring Penn down to Mansfield's 27. Quarterback Malone brought the Quakers close with a six-yard dash to bring up fourth down, but the Mountaineers' defense got the stop to keep the score at 0-0.
 
Mansfield caught a spark off their fourth-down tackle as quarterback Marcus Quaker passed to Cahsid Raymond for 45 yards to bring the Mountaineers to the Quakers' 39. On the next snap, Raymond hurried down the field for 39 yards to put Mansfield on the board to lead 7-0 with less than three minutes left of the first.
 
Tom Rebstock tried to muster some offense as the first was expiring, rushing 19 yards to bring Penn to Mansfield's 45 to end the quarter. Malone opened the second with a three-yard pass to Colin Ambrosius, but not much else came from the drive. Luckily for the Red and Blue, the defense made up for it as Jacob Rios recovered a fumble on the punt at Mansfield's nine-yard line to give the offense another chance. Goodman would not be denied on the drive, capitalizing on Rio's fumble recovery with a three-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at seven with 11:48 left of the first half.
 
The Mountaineers tried to answer back, steadily moving down the field, highlighted by a 21-yard pass to LaTrenton Randall from Quaker that brought Mansfield to Penn's 21. Mansfield kept bringing the rock down the field, going on fourth down at Penn's 18 and completing in the end zone, but an illegal touching call negated the touchdown to keep the game at 7-7 with 6:10 left of the second.
 
The Quakers closed the second with possession of the ball and a point to prove before the break as running back Goodman started the drive with a 13-yard rush to Mansfield's 47, followed by Malone slinging an 11-yard pass to tight end Wang, which had a penalty on it that brought the Red and Blue down the field further Mansfield's 44. Another penalty on the Mountaineers allowed Penn to move closer toward the end zone at Manfield's 29. Though the offense couldn't move much further down the field, Adrien Montemayor came out on fourth down to nail a 25-yard field goal to extend Penn's lead to 10-7 to end the first half.
 
The Quakers came out of the break on a roll, as Malone passed for 28 yards to senior Wang on the fourth snap to quickly bring Penn down to Mansfield's 23. One snap later, Malone hurled another 25-yard pass to Wang in the end zone to push the deficit to 17-7 as Montemayor slammed his second extra point kick of the game.
 
Penn could not be stopped as the defense tallied a three-and-out on Mansfield's first possession of the third. The Malone and Wang connection continued to stay strong as they connected for 27 yards on Malone's second snap to put The Red and Blue and the Mountaineers' 13. Goodman rushed in for eight yards to score his second touchdown of the night, but a penalty called it back. Luckily, Goodman would not be stopped and rushed the rock home again to lengthen the lead to 24-7 with 7:24 on the clock.
 
Mansfield would not go down silently, as quarterback Quaker passed to Raymond for 91 yards on the opening snap to cut the lead to only 24-13 as the extra point kick was blocked by Penn's defense. The Mountaineers stayed hot almost adding another tally to the board to end the third as Raymond passed to Randle for 48 yards to bring Mansfield deep in Penn's territory, but the Quakers' defense prevailed as Montemayor got the stop on fourth down to hold the score at 24-13 heading into the fourth. The Mountaineers stayed hot, almost adding another tally to the board to end the third as Raymond passed to Randle for 48 yards to bring Mansfield deep into Penn's territory. The Quakers' defense prevailed though as Montemayor got the stop on fourth down to hold the score at 24-13 heading into the fourth.
 
Penn's defense stayed hot in the fourth as Josh Johnson picked off Quaker in Mansfield's opening possession to give the Red and Blue the ball at Penn's 12 with 6:59 left of the game. The Mountaineers tried to muster one final offensive attempt with 3:42 on the clock, as Quaker nailed a 15-yard pass to Randel, then a 28-yard pass to Raymond to land at Penn's 18. Ultimately, Mansfield could not score on the play as Cam Janock sacked Quaker to keep the game at its final tally of 24-13.

Up Next
The Quakers do not return to the field till Saturday, Oct. 12, traveling to Cornell for a 4 p.m. Ivy League battle.