1995 IVY LEAGUE FOOTBALL STANDINGS: Total effort keys Penn's domination

Quakers rout Brown 58-21 Nobody had to tell Penn coach Al Bagnoli and company how important this game was for the season. With Princeton and Columbia undefeated in league play, this was a must-win game for the Quakers, who could not afford to continue their two-game slide any longer. Penn (4-2, 2-1 Ivy League) responded like it knew what was at stake, pummeling Brown early and often en route to a 58-21 laugher on parents' weekend, falling just shy of the Ivy League record of 59 points scored. "We played 60 minutes today," senior Tom McGarrity said. "The last two weeks we didn't play 60 minutes -- we played a half, we played 10 minutes. We didn't play like we should have been playing and today we did." The destruction of the Bears' defense was a team effort -- coming from the air, ground and special teams. The game was over before the first quarter, but the pounding did not stop until the third quarter ended with Penn leading 58-14. The score was 24-0 after the first quarter and 41-14 at halftime. "We've been waiting to break out for a long time and I think this is real good for us in terms of getting our self-esteem back," Bagnoli said. "I thought it was the biggest game of the year." It was definitely quarterback Mark DeRosa's biggest game of the year. With a 14-0 lead -- courtesy of a 48-yard touchdown run by Aman Abye (13 carries, 110 yards) and a 53-yard punt return by Mark Fabish -- he put on a passing clinic that left Brown's corners in an extended daze. DeRosa, who has been plagued by interceptions all season, avoided the errant pass Saturday, throwing for three touchdowns without committing any turnovers. "There was a lot of pressure to prove ourselves to everybody," DeRosa said. "I think I put a lot of heat on myself coming into today." DeRosa handled the pressure masterfully. In all, Penn's starting quarterback went 12 for 14 -- amazingly, his two incompletions were drops by all-American receiver Miles Macik -- for 183 yards until he was taken out as the third quarter was closing. His first of the three touchdown passes was a 28-yarder to little-used tight end Trevor Arbogast, which gave the Quakers a 21-0 lead with more than half the first quarter remaining. "They came out and took it to us from the beginning," Brown coach Mark Whipple said. "We thought we could hold up on a run defense, but I don't think we had three and out until it became a J.V. scrimmage in the third and fourth quarter. They played great, we played awful, and the score reflected that. They're just better all the way around. They scored on an interception. They scored throwing the ball. They scored running it. So it was just a good butt-kicking." By the end of the game, both teams nearly emptied their benches. The Quakers had an opportunity to play backup quarterback Steve Teodecki in an extended manner for the first time this season. He completed two of six passes for 43 yards. But before the subs came into the game, the starters executed enough great plays to make a season highlight reel. Included in the film would certainly be Jeremiah Greathouse's 50-yard field goal -- just four yards short of the Penn record -- that bounced on and then over the crossbar. Also included would be Miles Macik's miraculous three-yard touchdown grab, a catch he had to lunge high and far to pull down. But leading off the highlight reel would be McGarrity's interception and 36-yard rumble to the end zone that gave the Quakers the commanding 48-14 advantage in the third quarter. Said McGarrity: "Once I saw the daylight I just took off." You could say the same thing for the entire Penn team.