Box Score MANSFIELD, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania sprint football team dropped its first road game of the year on Saturday night, falling 15-9 to Mansfield.
 
A fourth-quarter touchdown and two-point conversion led Mansfield to a 15-9 season-opening victory, while Penn fell to 0-2, 0-1 CSFL South on the year.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Jason Sheairs led the offense in the road contest, scoring the sole Quaker touchdown to go along with eight receptions for 143 yards.
 
*Quarterback Jaxson Nield completed 15 of 30 passes for 176 yards against Mansfield.
 
*Marcus Butler and Colin Cross co-led the defense with eight tackles each. Butler's eight solo stops account for a career-high outing for the junior.
 
*Josh Johnson tallied an interception in the game, returning the rock for 24 yards.

 
How It Happened
The Quakers opened the battle trying to prove a point as quarterback Nield threw on three of four opportunities before tossing a pass to Jake Wang, who got the first down near Penn's 40-yard line. Ultimately, the Mountaineers were able to hold the offense off to force Ezra Granet to punt for the first time of the day.
 
Mansfield opened the scoring with 3:19 left of the first, picking off Nield on third down during the Red and Blue's second possession to take an early 7-0 lead. The Quaker defense tried to ramp up the energy to close the first, tallying back-to-back sacks on Marcus Quaker to end the first 15 minutes.
 
The Mounties opened the second with a fake and rushed up to their own 46 to gain some heat after the back-to-back sacks. On third and three, Mansfield was able to sneak through the defense to get the first down at Penn's 30-yard line.
 
Junior Grant Coulson squashed any energy quarterback Quaker had, recording his first sack of the contest, followed by an interception from junior Johnson on the next drive.  Senior Nield steadily brought the offense down the field off Johnson's pick, tossing a huge pass to sophomore Sheairs around the 50-yard line. The Nield to Sheairs connection continued off a pass the sophomore caught at the two-yard line with a little over 4:30 left of the first half. Two tosses later, Sheairs finally caught the pass from Nield in the endzone to put the Quakers on the board. Kicker Granet missed his first extra point opportunity of the battle to put the game at 7-6.
 
During the final offensive opportunity of the second, Mansfield quickly made its way down to the redzone, being five yards away from first and goal on fourth down, but the Quaker defense held tough with a huge stop to end the half with a one-point deficit for Penn.
 
Coming out of the break, the defense continued to stay hot for the Red and Blue as freshman Xavier May IV sacked quarterback Quaker to start the second half. Penn had a point to prove on its first possession of the half, as JT Goodman steadily rushed the Quakers down the field, followed by a long reception from Sheairs at Manfield's ten-yard line. Freshman Granet pushed the Red and Blue ahead 9-7 off a field goal with 5:03 left in the third.
 
Penn's defense continued to stifle the Mounties as junior Butler nearly intercepted the offense near the 40-yard line on third down. Unfortunately for Nield, he was intercepted on his first pass of the drive to give Mansfield the ball again with less than three minutes on the clock.
 
The Mountaineers were able to hold on to the ball to end the third, leading into the fourth, but could not muster any offense to give Penn the rock back with less than 13 minutes left in regulation. Mansfield applied pressure again on the Quaker offense, intercepting their third pass of the day with time dwindling. The Mounties were able to capitalize on the defense's interception, scoring a rushing touchdown and successfully going for two points to take a 15-9 lead with 7:46 on the clock.
 
Wide receiver Sheairs tried to revive the offense on the next drive for the Quakers, getting the first down at Mansfield 40 to bring Penn closer to scoring position. Nield tried again at Sheairs on fourth down, but Mansfield's defense broke up the pass to end the possession at midfield with less than three minutes left of the game. The Mountaineers held strong in the final few minutes, running down the clock on their final possession to keep the score at its final tally of 15-9.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (0-2, 0-1 CSFL South) return to Franklin Field on Friday, Oct. 3, hosting St. Thomas Aquinas for a 7 p.m. contest.