Quakers move into first place

Football squeaks past Yale, 14-6 When it was over, Yale simply had nothing left. Even from the upper deck, the look on the Elis' faces as they trudged off the field was plain to see. It was the look of a team that had given everything and come away with nothing. Penn had a hard-fought 14-6 victory, the 700th win in the program's history. It also marked the Quakers' 18th consecutive victory, the longest streak in Division I-AA and second longest in the nation behind Auburn's 19. Penn takes sole possession of first place in the league, because Brown upset Cornell, 16-3, in Ithaca, N.Y. Yale (3-4, 1-3 Ivy League) threw everything in its arsenal and then some at Penn Saturday at sun-baked Franklin Field. But all the fake punts, bootlegs and daring passes could not overcome the Quakers (6-0, 4-0) at their homecoming party -- the top-ranked defense in Division I-AA just would not allow it. The Penn 'D' bent, but it never broke. Six times the Elis ventured inside the Penn 35, but only once did they come away with even a single point. While everyone contributed to the Quakers blockade, but a few shone. Defensive linemen Michael "Pup" Turner and Tom McGarrity put all kinds of pressure on the two Yale quarterbacks. Linebacker Kevin DeLuca had a game-high 13 tackles, and safety Nick Morris had two interceptions and a fumble recovery to go with his 11 tackles. "I just give Pennsylvania all the credit in the world," said Yale quarterback Kevin Mayer, who replaced an ineffective Chris Hetherington after intermission. "They have a hell of a defense, that's all it comes down to." Yale's final drive was a fitting conclusion to its afternoon of frustration. Behind Mayer, the Elis drove to the Penn 20 with 36 seconds left. But Mayer twice overthrew receivers, and then was sacked by DeLuca on third down. DeLuca got to Mayer again on fourth down, forcing a fumble that nose tackle Chris Johnson recovered, and the issue was decided. "We came up big when we had to," Morris said. "The guys just really came up strong. The look in our eyes -- [a touchdown] just wasn't going to happen." The final sequence marred a solid performance by Mayer, who entered in the second half to throw for 151 yards and lead several long drives. Down 14-0 in the middle of the third quarter, Mayer led a 13-play, 56-yard drive featuring three completions for successful third-down conversions. Running back Bob Nelson took the ball in from three yards out to cut the Quakers' lead in half -- almost. Kicker John Stalzer missed the extra point. Having been on the field virtually the entire third period, the Penn defense showed signs of fatigue heading into the final stanza nursing a one-score lead. "You're tired," Turner said. "But at that point in the game, you really don't have room to be tired. So you just suck it up and play." And while the Elis continued to move the ball in the fourth quarter, they were too often unable to finish what they started. On Yale's first possession of the quarter, kicker John Lafferty missed a 49-yard field goal. Next, the Elis had to punt, and then Mayer was intercepted by Morris. Yale held after that turnover, and regained the ball for its final possession with 90 seconds remaining. After the game, Penn coach Al Bagnoli was just relieved to be done with the whole thing. "No one believed me when I said this would be a tough game," he said. "They made some great plays?. We were never able to get that third touchdown and get up by two scores in the second half." The Quakers should have had three touchdowns by halftime. Up 7-0 in the first quarter after Turner snuck in from less than a yard out, Penn's defense pounced. Johnson blasted Hetherington on Yale's next possession, and the ball popped out. Morris recovered the fumble, and Penn was in business at the Yale 19. But now it was the Elis' turn to spring to life on defense. Yale refused to let the Quakers into the end zone. Four consecutive Penn runs from the Yale 1-yard line were stopped cold. That series seemed to take the starch out of the Quakers attack. Terrance Stokes ran for 155 yards on 34 carries, but more often than not, Penn seemed incapable of grinding out yardage. Quarterback Mark DeRosa was 11-for-23 passing with two interceptions and a 16-yard touchdown strike to Miles Macik in the last minute of the first half that was set up by yet another Morris interception return. The only two sustained Penn drives ended in missed Andy Glockner field goals. "I really don't have an answer for the problems we were having," DeRosa said. "But we better get our act together, or every game is going to be like this. "For now, we're just going to take the win and go from there. Hats off to the defense."

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