Navy sinks Lwt. Football in Annapolis

Quakers keep paceQuakers keep pacewith with favoredQuakers keep pacewith with favoredMidshipmen for half After a strong start, the Penn lightweight football team succumbed to Navy's superior size and strength on Friday night at the Midshipmen's Rip Miller Field. The final score, 51-14, was more of a tribute to Navy's unstoppable offense than a reflection of Penn's effort. Penn took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter after a nine-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Greg Grabon and the subsequent extra point by senior Dan Malasky. The touchdown by the Quakers was the first score allowed by Navy this season. "In the first quarter, we played great football," Penn defensive back/punter Keith Lotman said. Behind strong offensive line play, Grabon ran for 92 yards on 27 carries and caught one pass for 17 yards. Freshman Tim Ortman and senior fullback Joel Correia added another 46 yards on the ground. "The biggest plus of the game was our offensive line," Quakers coach Bill Wagner said. However, Penn's defense had problems all day with the speed of Navy's offense. The Midshipmen scored three times within three minutes at the start of the second quarter and quickly assumed a 20-7 lead. With less than two minutes to play in the half, Penn's offense capped an 80-yard drive with a one-yard score on fourth down by Ortman. After another Malasky extra point, Penn trailed only 20-14. Navy, however, roared back with a drive of its own that took barely a minute. Matt Sobecki's seven-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion gave Navy the 28-14 halftime lead. The run, in which Sobecki bounced off a number of Penn defenders, left the Quakers stunned. "It was deflating," Grabon said. After halftime, Penn's offense was kept off the field as Navy added three more touchdowns in the third quarter against a tiring Penn defense. With both teams substituting freely in the fourth quarter, Navy's final score came when Penn freshman quarterback Zach Shinar was sacked in the end zone for a safety. Even the weather got the better of the Quakers. At the start of the second half, Penn chose the side that would give the Quakers the wind in the fourth quarter. But as the fourth quarter began, the wind shifted to remain in Penn's face. Navy's offense sailed through the second half with the wind and rain at its back on its way to amassing 467 yards of total offense for the day. "I was disappointed that we could not shut down the things we needed to shut down," Wagner said.