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Quakers hold on for 12-3 win Penn and Columbia met for the first time on a football field more than a century ago. In that inaugural contest Nov. 16, 1878, defense was the order of the day. In fact, it was the only thing on the menu -- the two teams played to a scoreless tie. When the Quakers and Lions met for the 74th time Saturday, defense was again on display. Both teams did put points on the board, but neither could crack the end zone in the gritty 12-3 Penn win. Penn (4-0, 2-0 Ivy League) used another dominant defensive performance and a school record-tying four field goals from senior Andy Glockner to overcome determined Columbia (2-2-1, 0-2) at Franklin Field. The Quaker defense has been virtually impenetrable all season, and Saturday was no exception. After a Lion field goal opened the scoring, the Columbia two-quarterback system was shut out. The Lions ended the game with 188 yards of total offense. "The defense had to play well today, and I thought it did," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Except for that first drive, they really shut [Columbia] down." The defensive effort was a complete one. Senior strong safety Nick Morris provided critical support against the Columbia option and recorded eight tackles. Senior linebacker Pat Goodwillie earned defensive Ivy League Player of the Week honors with 11 tackles and two sacks. "We really had some senior leadership out there on defense," Morris said. "The coaches definitely had us prepared for [Columbia's] system. I don't think losing ever really crossed our minds." Losing may not have crossed any Quaker's mind, but it was senior cornerback Jamie Daniels who made things certain. With just under six minutes to play, and the Penn lead at only six, Columbia faced a long fourth down. Lion quarterback Jamie Schwalbe tried to find wideout J.J. Jones, but Daniels broke up the play. The play gave Penn the ball deep in Columbia territory. Three minutes later, Glockner connected from 37 yards out. The kick ended the scoring and put the game out of Columbia's reach, 12-3. It was Glockner's fourth field goal of the game. His four kicks, from 32, 28, 21 and 37 yards, tied a Penn record set by Rich Friedenberg in 1988. More importantly, Glockner put points on the board. This was critical because the offense was unable to penetrate the Lion defense in the red zone. The Quakers were inside Columbia's 30-yard line nine times, and inside the 20 seven times, but never crossed the goal line. "It was frustrating because we were moving the ball," Bagnoli said. "Thank god Andrew was kicking well." Bagnoli's frustration came despite a workhorse effort from senior tailback Terrance Stokes. Stokes, coming off a sprained ankle, carried the ball 37 times for 192 yards. He consistently found holes in the Lion defense on left-side pitches and right-side draw plays. His heroics included a 45-yard first-quarter scamper that set the table for Glockner's first field goal. "We started out running some counters, and then they adjusted to it," Stokes said after his second 100-yard rushing game this season. "After that we ran both to the middle and to the boundaries. A lot of it was just a matter of reaction and finding the hole." Stokes' impressive effort helped open the field for sophomore quarterback Mark DeRosa. DeRosa was forced to find a variety of targets Saturday as the Lions held all-American junior wideout Miles Macik to just five catches. The signal caller did mix things up effectively, completing at least two passes to seven different receivers. For the day, he was 22 of 34 for 263 yards. But DeRosa did have some problems in the red zone. The sophomore threw his first two interceptions of the season, and both came close to the Columbia goal line. In the second quarter at the Lion 10-yard line, DeRosa tried to hit Michael "Pup" Turner -- who had been inserted at fullback-- in the flat. But the pass was behind Turner and linebacker Jim Lill picked it off. "In the red zone, their defense really buckled down," Stokes said. "We're not going to score a touchdown every time, but we were able to move the ball." The Quakers did move the ball -- at least far enough to get Glockner in field-goal range. The upstart Lions, however, found themselves unable to put any points on the board in crunch time. "I think we earned respect from [Penn]," Schwalbe said. "I'm pretty sure they didn't expect this kind of ballgame from us. On the same token, it's great we played them tough, but we came out here to win the ball game. That's the bottom line." The bottom line Saturday had defense as the special of the day at Franklin Field. When the game ended, Columbia left the table still hungry for respect. Penn, meanwhile, had cleaned its plate. And the Quakers grinded out their 16th consecutive win in the process.

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