Marrow bows out early, defense sticks

Penn tackle Mitch Marrow was injured in the middle of the second quarter, but the defense remained as stalwart as ever. When the final score was up on the board and the Big Green had tallied 23 points, the Penn defense would not have been expected to be the most dominating part of the Quakers game. Surprisingly, it was. "I really thought our defense played great considering the field position they were put in," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. In a game marred by turnovers, lack of experience and sloppy play, the Quakers defense played like every down was the most important for 60 minutes. The defense held Dartmouth to five first downs and made new Big Green starting quarterback Peter Sellers look ineffective all day. "Defensively we played great in every category," Bagnoli said, "except creating turnovers and shortening the field up." Going into last weekend's game, one major focus of the Quakers' season was the play of heralded defensive lineman Mitch Marrow. The 6'5", 280-pound behemoth was expected to be the anchor of an experienced defense, and the Quakers high hopes for keeping opposing points off the board seemed high. Not only did the defense keep the game within reach, their play became the Quakers' only highlight. Furthermore, they shut down the Big Green offense without Marrow after midway through the second quarter. "I was proud to be out there with those guys," Penn safety John Bishop said. "I thought they played hard, and that we didn't give up for four quarters." The Penn defense established themselves from the first Dartmouth drive of the game. After two quick rushing attempts by Dartmouth tailback Dylan Karczewski for negative yardage and an incomplete pass, Penn set the defensive tone for the rest of the day. Dartmouth's only route to the end zone came by way of five Quakers turnovers in the first half. The turnovers kept the defensive unit on the field, seemingly forever, yet they held strong in the midst of a series of injuries and severe cramping. Holding the Big Green to only 113 yards and three first downs in the first half, it seemed as though the defense had survived its first test. But with the loss of Mitch Marrow in the second quarter, after the defensive unit had spent more than 60 percent of the game on the field, it seemed as though their stamina and mental fortitude may be at stake. In what seemed to be a gust of second wind, the second-half play proved to be better yet. With Marrow gone, the play of the other defensive linemen, as well as the linebacking corps stepped up its play. Doug Zinser, Larry Rascoe and Justin Gallagher simply controlled scrimmage and stopped the run with Marrow out of the game. Dartmouth gained only 13 rushing yards in the second half, on their way to gaining only 36 total offensive yards. The secondary managed to perform equal wizardry. After Sellers completed 12 of 18 passes for 100 yards in the first half, the Quakers challenged him to continue throwing. With this challenge taken, Sellers watched his numbers dwindle away with only six more completions and 49 more passing yards. The Quakers shut down the Dartmouth offense, although it proved not to be enough. "I guess when you lose a game, whatever side you're on, you didn't do enough," Bishop said. "We didn't get the turnovers, we didn't strip the ball. We came a little short." The upperclassmen proved their leadership qualities, as free safety Bishop began moving all over the field. Bishop filled holes left in the run defense. The senior captain finishes with a team-high seven tackles and three assists. Other standout individual performances were given by Darren MacDonald and Tim Gage. MacDonald came up and made hit after hit on Dartmouth backs, three for losses. Gage epitomized the fight Penn needed to make during the comeback run. One could only wonder what was going on as the senior linebacker continually seemed to be slow getting up. Gage fought through a series of cramps to continue the Quakers' suppression of the Big Green offense. After two kickoff fumbles, and three interceptions thrown on the offensive side of th ball, Penn still found itself within a touchdown and two-point conversion (23-15) because of the efforts of a talented, motivated defensive corps. Although the offense couldn't make the final push, the defense had stood strong. As ugly as the game was last Saturday, it was equally as physical and gave hope for the future of the team. Penn games will be won and lost with defense, unless of course the offense turns over the ball six times a game.

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