Lwt. Football drubbed in Ithaca

Last Friday, the Penn lightweight football team kicked off its season at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. Due to poor play on both sides of the line and a lack of discipline, Penn lost its opener, 21-7. Quakers coach Bill Wagner also blamed Friday's loss on the need for an exhibition game. Wagner said he would rather play the alumni game, which pits the team against former lightweight players and scheduled for this weekend, before the start of the season. It would, therefore, serve as a tune-up and a chance for the rookies to play in a game atmosphere before the actual season begins. Cornell (1-0) has already played its alumni game and performed less sloppily Friday. Despite the lackluster performance, the Quakers (0-1) had a few highlights. Sophomore tailback Tim Ortman ran the ball 129 yards, including a 53-yard run. He scored the Quakers' lone touchdown and averaged 32 yards on two kickoff returns. Senior captain Jordan Matusow had a solid defensive performance, as he led Penn in tackles. Cornerback Justin Reger also played well for the defense. The best play for the Quakers may have come from the special teams. They amassed 111 return yards. They also blocked an extra point on Cornell's second touchdown to keep the score at 13-7. Wagner attributed the loss to poor tackling, blocking and bad penalties -- nine for 60 yards. Also, the Cornell quarterback was able to covert on third-and-long a number of times. This enabled the Big Red to control the time of possession, as they had the ball for almost three quarters of the game. Since the Quakers' next official game is not until October 3 against Princeton, Wagner plans to use the extra week of practice to his advantage. He said he was going to work on the aforementioned problems and also try to sort out the quarterback situation. Starting quarterback Zachary Shinar had difficulty in his first career start. He went 4-of-22 for 35 passing yards. Freshman John Kernan took a few snaps but then hurt his hand. According to Wagner, Kernan should get limited time in the alumni game, but he will be back for the Princeton game. The Quakers suffered another key injury in Friday's game. Defensive back Keith Lotman broke a metatarsal bone in his thumb and is expected to be out for the Princeton game. The coaches are hopeful he will be back in the lineup for the October 17 game against Army, which is the first Eastern Lightweight Football League game of the season. Despite erratic play by the Quakers, the team trailed only 13-7 at the half. After failing to score on the opening drive of the second half, Cornell marched down the field and scored a touchdown. The score was then 21-7, following a successful two-point conversion.Wagner pinpoints this and the Quakers' failure to score later on when they drove all the way to the Cornell 22-yard line as the turning points of the game. Nevertheless, Wagner and his players are optimistic about the rest of the season. With two weeks of practice ahead, Wagner said, "We will be ready for Princeton." Cornell travels to West Philadelphia later in the season and Wagner is confident that "we can beat Cornell." The Red and Blue hope they have gotten the bad game out of their system and will go on to repeat last season's championship performance.