PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team scored 14 fourth quarter points to come from behind and take down the Howard Bison, 24-20, on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field.
"I'm really happy with the resolve of the team," said head coach
Rick Santos. "We lost a couple tough ones, so the message of the week was to double down. We needed to double down on our preparation, our commitment level and how much we love the game. When you hit adversity, it's easy to make excuses but we had to look inward. I'm proud of how we kept fighting, especially after some self-inflicted errors in the first half. We were able to make plays when it mattered most."
Trailing 20-10 entering the fourth quarter, Penn (2-2, 0-1 Ivy League) cut the deficit to three on a Philly special wide receiver reverse pass from receiver
Isaac Lee to backup quarterback
Karson Siqueiros-Lasky. Siqueiros-Lasky replaced starter
Miles Teodecki, who left with a knee injury in the second quarter.
A pair of defensive stops sandwiched a missed field goal for Penn, but with 3:12 left the offense got the ball back. Siqueiros-Lasky led the team down the field in nine plays before tossing a game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass to
Isaac Lee to put the home team up 24-20. The Quakers faced fourth and seven from the Howard (2-4, 0-0 MEAC) 49 with 2:00 left and KSL found tight end
Jack Donnelly for an 18-yard strike to keep the drive and the game alive.
"I want to give a big shoutout to Karson," Santos said. "I'm so proud of him. When I made the decision to not name him starter, I know that cut him deep to his core. As I mentioned before, his leadership ability, staying connected with his teammates through it all, and to keep preparing for his moment was huge. He had moxy, he hung around in the pocket and ran when he needed to. He was extremely accurate despite a ton of blitzing and pressure from Howard."
The Quakers ended the game on the next drive when
Ezra Fearon picked off Howard's quarterback on the second play of the drive.
Siqueiros-Lasky threw for career-highs in yards (226) and touchdowns (2) on 19-29 passing. He also caught a six yard touchdown pass as well.
Ronan Johannson had a career day at wideout, snagging seven passes for 113 yards. Jack Donelly and
Isaac Lee had career-bests of 44 yards each and they both had receiving touchdowns.
"I wasn't really nervous at all, I felt ready for the moment," Siqueiros-Lasky said. "I wanted to make sure Miles [Teodecki] was okay, and I hope he feels better. I was super excited to finally get an opportunity to go on the field. I had a good game, but it wouldn't have been possible without our defense playing lights out. They gave us an opoortunity to go with the game."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn's first drive went five plays for 16 yards before it stalled out, leading to a punt.
Howard's first drive lasted 7:00, going 14 plays and 88 yards before quarterback Ja'Shawn Scroggins capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal.
Penn got the ball back and made their way down the field to the Howard four yard line before settling for a
Mason Walters 20-yard field goal. The big play of the drive was a 30-yard strike from Teodecki to
Mason Page.
After forcing a Howard punt, the Quakers made their way down the field once again, paced by a 41-yard scramble from Teodecki on the last play of the first quarter. He would run out of bounds at the Bison 24-yard line. Two plays later, Teodecki would exit the game after getting hit while throwing. Backup
Karson Siqueiros-Lasky replaced him. The drive would end on a missed field goal from Walters.
Penn's defense forced a three and out on the next drive.
Jayden Drayton returned a punt 21 yards to the Howard 44-yard line to set up Penn in excellent field position. Drayton also had a 41-yard kick return to set up the Quakers' first field goal.
Siqueiros-Lasky completed a 16-yard pass to
Mason Page on third and 14 to keep the drive alive. After another first down, KSL found tight end
Jack Donnelly on a run/pass option play for a 12-yard touchdown pass, the first career collegiate score for either player. The touchdown put Penn up 10-7.
Penn got another defensive stop on the next possession, but the momentum turned on a botched exchange by KSL and
Tommy Lafayette. Howard recovered the fumble at the Quakers 40. Four plays later, Howard retook the lead on a 30-yard strike from Scroggins to Zaden Jackson to go up 14-10.
After another solid return from Drayton, Siqueiros-Lasky threw a pass that was intercepted at the Howard 39-yard line, making it two consecutive offensive plays for Penn that ended in a turnover.
The defense did its job, forcing another punt, but a roughing the punter penalty kept the drive alive and tacked on 15 yards for the Bison. They would settle for a field goal to go up 17-10 after 30 minutes of play.
Howard's first drive of the second half lasted 6:10 and went 71 yards over 14 plays. The drive ended with a 34-yard field goal, putting the visitors up 20-10.
Penn nabbed one first down on its next drive before electing to go for it on fourth and one from their own 37.
Donte West was stuffed on a run up the middle, turning it over on downs. A three-and-out forced by Penn's defense forced a punt and the Quakers took over at their own 13.
The Quakers next drive was their best of the day, going 87 yards over 13 plays, ending with a touchdown pass from Lee to Siqueiros-Lasky to make it 20-17.
The Penn defense kept up its stellar play, forcing another punt. The offense drove all the way down to the Howard 20 before their drive stalled out. A
Mason Walters 37-yard field goal missed wide, keeping the score 20-17.
Another Howard three-and-out forced a punt and Penn got the ball back at its own 48 with 3:12 to play. KSL was sacked on the first play before throwing an incomplete pass on second down. A third down pass for 11 yards to Donnelly made it fourth and seven with 2:00 to play. A backfoot corner route to Donnelly kept the game alive for Penn and covered 18 yards.
The Quakers would get into the red zone and end the drive after
Isaac Lee caught a slant for a 13-yard score to take the lead, 24-20.
The Bison had one more chance to respond, but a sack from
Joey Holliday and a pick from
Ezra Fearon ended the game. The Quakers kneeled out the rest of the clock and the celebration was on.
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
*Penn now leads the all-time series against Howard 1-0.
*The nation's No. 1 overall defense held its third opponent in four games to less than 300 total yards (247).
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Miles Teodecki exited the game in the second quarter due to injury. He finished with six completions for 63 yards and rushed for 48 yards.
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Karson Siqueiros-Lasky replaced Teodecki and finished the game 19-29Â for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
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Jack Donnelly caught his first collegiate touchdown on a 12-yard score in the second quarter. He finished with a career-high five catches for 44 yards.
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Isaac Lee tallied his first career touchdown to go along with a career-best 44 yards.
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Zach Darche led the team in tackles for the fourth straight game with 12. He also had a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
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Liam Forster had four tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss.
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Duncan McPherson had the night of his career, tallying a career-best 2.0 sacks and 2.0 tackles for loss.
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Ezra Fearon had his first career interception and two pass breakups.
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Jayden Drayton had a career-best 142 return yards, including 110 kick return yards.
UP NEXT
Penn hosts Columbia for a conference home game on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. ESPNU will stream.
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